Sugar-free products that contain sugar. ‘Natural’ fruit juices made of artificial ingredients. Energy drinks with hazardous compositions. Unproven remedies claiming to control diabetes. Health drinks for children loaded with excess sugar.
These products have one thing in common: their advertisements were flagged as misleading by India’s food safety regulator. And almost none of them were ever acted upon.
Scroll has accessed the food safety regulator’s internal database of 170 advertisements identified as deceptive and likely in violation of the law. Our analysis reveals a serious failure of enforcement at a moment when ultra-processed foods high in sugar and fat are fuelling a rapid rise in chronic diseases across the country, threatening your health and that of millions of other Indians.
This is India’s first systematic investigation into food advertising regulation.
Help us take it from the database to the ground.
Fund this investigation by clicking here.
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