According to the food authorities, depicting food goods as ORS will be viewed as misbranded food, and such food enterprises would face penalties.
“It is clarified that the use of the term ‘ORS’ or terms similar to ‘ORS’ and/or depiction of food products as ‘ORS’ on labels or through advertisement is not permitted under the FSSRs, and use of such terms may result in the products being labelled as ‘Misbranded Food,’ as defined in Section-3 of the FSS Act.” Such acts/products are in violation of Sections 23 and 24 of the FSS Act, 2006, and may subject such FB0s to penalty under Sections 52 and 53 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006,” stated an FSSAI directive in this respect.
The FSSAI received complaints about the misuse of the term ‘ORS’ (Oral Rehydration Salts) by certain fruit-based or non-carbonated or Ready to Drink beverage manufacturers licenced by the FSSAI by labelling and using terms similar to the ORS such as ‘ORSL’, ‘ORSL Rehydrate’, ‘Electro Plus ORS’, and so on.
The product ‘0RS’ is classified as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, and it is used to treat acute diarrhoea. It has a particular composition prescribed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
According to the FSSAI statement, marketing and labelling of fruit-based beverages, etc. manufactured by FBOs (Food Business Operators) under FSSAI licences, and naming such products with terms containing ‘ORS’ is not only misleading for ordinary consumers, but also harmful for patients who may consume such products as ORS, especially in the case of children suffering from diseases such as diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, etc., may have serious health consequences.
FSSAI has instructed state Food Safety Commissioners to take action against such rogue FBOs, including giving them improvement warnings.