ASCI and FSSAI join hands to curb misleading claims in food and beverage advertisements

• ASCI has partnered with FSSAI.
• With this partnership, the industry bodies aim to safeguard consumers against misleading claims in food and beverage (F&B) advertisements.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has signed an agreement with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to safeguard consumers against misleading claims in food and beverage (F&B) advertisements. The agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI, and Professor Bejon Misra, Adviser, Public Affairs, ASCI, on July 1st. As per the agreement, ASCI will identify advertisements which prima facie violate provisions of Food Safety And Standards (Advertising And Claims) Regulations, 2018, and FSSAI would further investigate these. Under the agreement, ASCI will set up a three-member expert panel to evaluate F&B advertising identified by the ASCI monitoring team.

There has been a marked increase in the number of complaints against F&B ads during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last financial year (FY) ASCI has processed a total number of 285 complaints compared to 175 in FY 2019-20. So, claims by F&B brands, particularly those related to health and nutrition, are under greater scrutiny. Food and health continue to be important focus areas for ASCI. With this association, ASCI further strengthens its 360-degree approach of protecting consumers as well as guiding brands, agencies, and influencers towards greater responsibility.

Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, ASCI, said: “With this agreement, ASCI will intensify its scrutiny of the F&B sector. We will tap our National Advertising Monitoring Service, which monitors over 900 TV channels and publications, and over 3,000 websites. Besides national brands, we will examine regional and local ones. Our experts, with decades of experience in the F&B sector, will shortlist those advertisements that require further scrutiny by FSSAI.”

Subhash Kamath, Chairman, ASCI, added: “This is a significant collaboration. The common goal of consumer protection drives us all to share skills, expertise and resources in the most effective way to curb the menace of misleading advertising.”