E-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket will have to remove all drinks such as Bournvita, Horlicks and Proteinex from the health drinks category following a recommendation from the Commerce Ministry.
On April 10, the ministry stated that there is no such thing as a “health drink” as defined by the country's Food and Safety Standards Act, and instructed platform companies to do so. The government has therefore requested all e-commerce companies to remove all such drinks from the healthy drinks category from their portals.
“The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a statutory body established under section (3) of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, As a result of our investigation, we have come to the following conclusion: There are no health drinks as defined under the FSS Act, 2006, Rules and Regulations submitted by FSSAI and Mondelez India Food,” Ministry of Commerce and Industry, All E-Commerce Recommendations for businesses state.
Analysts say manufacturers of these brands are not affected because they do not label their products as health products on their packaging, but do label their products as “healthy” and “nutritious.” If they have advertising inventory, they will have to display it in this way. Please withdraw them.
However, it is unlikely that there will be significant stockpiling as the food safety standards regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)'s branding and advertising directives are already in place.
In the case of marketplace platforms like Flipkart and Amazon, it is the sellers on these platforms who have to change the category as they do not have inventory. This may take time as it requires changes to technology solutions. Sellers will need to log into the account they use to list products on these platforms and make the changes.
However, e-commerce platforms like BigBasket, which are inventory-driven companies, will have to implement this measure faster as the onus of making changes will be placed on them.
As on Saturday, all e-commerce platforms still classified these products as health and energy drinks.
