Bournvita is no longer a 'Health Drink'

Bournvita, the most widely used ingredient to drink with milk is no longer considered a health drink. The central government has sent a notice to all e-commerce companies ordering them to stop listing drinks and beverages under the 'health drinks' category on their portals as there is no ‘health drink’ category defined under Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS Act 2006), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In the letter, dated 10 April, the Ministry of Commerce advised the e-commerce companies to remove Bournvita and other beverages from ‘health drinks’ category.

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"National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a statutory body constituted under Section (3) of the Commission of Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 after its inquiry under Section 14 of CRPC Act 2005 concluded that there is no 'health drink' defined under FSS Act 2006, rules and regulations submitted by FSSAI and Mondelez India Food Pvt Ltd," the ministry said in a notification, dated April 10," said the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in its letter.

The NCPCR had earlier written to the Commerce and Industry Ministry on this issue.

The row about Bournvita not being a health drink started in April 2023, when Revant Himantsingka, a nutritionist and an influencer shared a video on his Instagram account and spoke about the ingredients that go in Bournvita.

Revant had criticised Bournvita,  which is owned by Mondelez, and said that it has high sugar content and said: Bournvita's tagline is 'tayyari jeet ki' (preparation for victory), but in reality Bournvita is preparing kids for diabetes, due to high sugar content. He also claimed that Bournvita has certain ingredients that could cause cancer.