'Bournvita confidence' jolted? No 'health drink' label on ecommerce sites

‘Bournvita confidence’ jolted? No ‘health drink’ label on ecommerce sites

NEW DELHI: Generations of children have guzzled it with milk or hot water. Others just munch it, a spoonful at a time. Their parents did the same – indeed, some still do so. Some restaurants put it in their beverage menu. And, some will remember it being sprinkled on coffee, or what went by the name of coffee, that came from big, boxy coffee machines, popular in pre-reforms India.

Bournvita is one of those brands that seep into collective consumer consciousness – its ad taglines like “Tann ki Shakti, Mann ki Shakti” and “Do you have Bournvita Confidence?” are all too familiar.

So, the news that govt has advised ecommerce companies to remove Bournvita, as well as other drinks and beverages, from portals’ health drinks category, will likely stir up memories. Bournvita isn’t banned, of course. But this product from Mondelez, which owns other well-known brands like 5-Star, Cadbury, Oreo and Toblerone, can’t be sold online as a health-booster.

The advisory was issued by dept for promotion of industry & internal trade, following a probe by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which took its decision under Food Safety and Standards Act. Bournvita is the only brand named in the advisory. Govt has left it to ecommerce firms to decide what other brands should be removed from the ‘health drinks’ category.

Bournvita sold as ‘nutrition brand’ on e-platforms

NCPCR had taken up the issue of Bournvita with Mondelez last year, asking it to take down ‘misleading’ advertisements after it received complaints over high sugar content in the product. The company had argued Bournvita was a ‘scientifically formulated’ drink with ‘permissible’ sugar content. Mondelez had also served a notice on an online influencer, who had raised concerns.

On platforms such as Amazon, Bournvita is currently sold as a “nutrition brand” that should be “consumed as a part of a daily balanced diet and healthy lifestyle”. The product has multiple variants. Mondelez did not issue an official response to the advisory. But sources said that it has been issued to e-commerce platforms and the company itself labels Bournvita as a ‘cereal-based beverage mix’, not a health drink.

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