When India’s food-safety regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), wrote to its state units on 10 March to take action against non-compliant nutraceuticals and health supplements, it did something unusual: it sent a copy of the letter to Dr Dhir Singh, a former director of the regulator.
Since 2019, Singh has been leading a campaign, through the Association of Consumer Protection (ACP)—a group of non-profit consumer organisations—to spread awareness about misleading claims being made by food-business operators (FBOs).
The association, along with former FSSAI officials and experts from other fields as members, alleges that these products are being sold—especially on e-commerce platforms—without checks and balances.
In February 2021, the ACP surveyed more than 50 nutraceutical and health-supplement products sold online and found worrying results. For instance, vitamin-D supplements contained 5,000 international units (IUs)—more than 8X the prescribed maximum RDA RDA Recommended dietary allowance Average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of healthy individuals of 600 IU per day for men and women.It sent the report to the Union health ministry and the regulator to highlight the same.
Two years later, the FSSAI’s deputy director Inoshi Sharma wrote on 7 March to food commissioners of all states and Union territories to carry out a special drive to check nutraceuticals and health supplements for quality and safety throughout its manufacturing and sale process.
Until early 2020, special dietary foods or protein powders dominated the country’s nutritional market. But as preventive healthcare became a top priority during the pandemic, the nutraceutical market expanded dramatically in India.
India’s nutraceutical market—products with specific health benefits like those containing garcinia cambogia, a popular weight-loss supplement—is estimated estimated Ministry of food processing and industries Emerging trends in the nutraceutical industry Read more to be worth US$4-5 billion and expected to touch ~US$18 billion by 2025, according to the ministry of food- processing industries.
Both nutraceuticals and dietary supplements are non-pharmaceutical products; the former provide health benefits beyond its basic nutritional value and aid in preventing and treating diseases.
Dietary and health supplements and nutraceuticals come in various forms, like tablets, capsules, gummies, powders, health drinks, and energy bars.
“Today, the consumer spends huge amounts of money on safeguarding their family’s health, but are these supplements and products really healthy? How much awareness does the consumer have? Do any of them check the label and study the ingredients?” Pradip Chakraborty, former director at the FSSAI and a member of the ACP, questioned.
A February 2022 report report EY The Sunrise Consumer Health and Nutrition Sector Read more by the consulting firm EY said 82% of Indians saw “healthy” as a more important buying factor now versus before Covid-19, compared to 57% globally.
