A day after the Supreme Court of India (SC) pulled up Baba Ramdev & Acharya Balkrishna over misleading advertisements, the Central Government has passed a directive to e-commerce websites refraining them using certain words or terms. As per reports, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a directive to all E-commerce websites to label certain beverage categories accurately. FSSAI in its directives issued to companies like Amazon, Flipkart, etc has barred them from using terms referring to dairy-based, cereal-based, or malt-based beverages as 'health drinks' or 'energy drinks.'
The modus operandi of behind the latest directives of the FSSAI is to outline the clear definition of the term 'health drink' within the country’s food laws. Furthermore, the term 'energy drink' is specifically reserved for carbonated and non-carbonated water-based flavored beverages under existing regulations.
FSSAI recognised that such terminology is incorrect and can be misleading for consumers. FSSAI has urged e-commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs) to promptly rectify any misclassification. They should remove or de-link such beverages from the category of 'Health Drinks / Energy Drinks'.
As per the report, FSSAI stated that the term 'Health Drink' lacks standardization within the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 and related rules and regulations governing the food industry. On the other hand, the use of 'Energy Drinks' is permissible only for products falling within the specified criteria.
Adverse effects of consuming Energy Drinks
As per the US CDC, Energy drinks beverages that typically contain large amounts of caffeine, added sugars, other additives, and legal stimulants such as guarana, taurine, and L-carnitine. These legal stimulants can increase alertness, attention, and energy, as well as increase blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. CDC has mentioned four dangers of consuming extra amounts of Energy drinks-
- Dehydration (not enough water in your body).
- Heart complications (such as irregular heartbeat and heart failure).
- Anxiety (feeling nervous and jittery).
- Insomnia (unable to sleep).