Amid an ongoing debate on whether Cadbury's Bournvita can indeed be categorised as a health drink after a social media influencer called out the product for its high sugar content, billionaire and Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath suggested an intervention for such "health drinks".
Without naming Bournvita or Cadbury, Kamath, father to a little boy Kiaan, said that such products should have front-of-package food labelling. "An intervention that could help people make healthier food & beverage choices is to have front-of-package food labelling, like FSSAI proposed in their 2018 draft paper," he tweeted. "Indicate fat, sugar, and salt per serving, and a warning if per serving percentage is beyond a percentage of the daily requirement."
Nithin Kamath also recommended mentioning the maximum number of servings per day. "Even the healthiest foods on the planet are healthy only when consumed in moderation," he said.
The Zerodha CEO and co-founder's comments come a day after a scientist and liver specialist said that Cadbury's claim of Bournvita helping muscle and bone growth, immunity enhancement, and brain development is misleading because there are no controlled studies to support them.
According to Dr Abby Phillips, Cadbury issued a statement that they have designed the product on a scientific basis, "which means there has to be published studies backing their claims," he said. But the only published research that the liver doctor could find were those that supported Instagram influencer Revant Himatsingka's (Food Pharmer) made in the now-deleted video.
In his video from April 1, Himatsingka had criticised Cadbury for misrepresenting the Bournvita's “nutritional value.” He remarked that the brand’s tagline of “tayyari jeet ki” should instead be changed to “tayyari diabetes ki.”
But in a statement shared on April 14, Himatsingka said he decided to take the video down after receiving a legal notice from “one of India’s biggest law firms on 13th April, 2023.”
“I apologise to Cadbury for making the video. I did not plan or intend to infringe any trademark or defame any company, nor do I have the interest or resources to participate in any court cases,” he had written.
In its clarification, Cadbury Bournvita stated: “Bournvita contains nutrients namely Vitamin A, C, D, Iron, Zinc, Copper and Selenium which help build immunity. These have been part of our formulation for several years. We have always called out ‘Helps with the healthy functioning of the immune system’ on the back of our pack for several years (even before the Covid-19 pandemic)."
Cadbury Bournvita’s statement from April 9 added that each serve of Bournvita contains 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is less than the daily recommended sugar intake for children.
Read more: Bournvita controversy a wake-up call for Big Food
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