Govt to restrict terms like ‘fresh’ & ‘natural’ in food advertisements

NEW DELHI: The health ministry has proposed sweeping changes in the law to restrict the use of terms like "fresh", "natural", "traditional" and "original" in advertisements for food products.

For instance, the draft Food Safety and Standards (Advertisement and Claims) Regulation lays down that the term "fresh" can only be applied to products which have not been processed in any manner except washed, peeled, chilled, trimmed and put through other processing necessary for making it safe for consumption, without altering its basic characteristics. The draft, prepared by the Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI), also clearly mentions that "fresh" or "freshly" shall have no other connotation than the immediacy of the action being described.

"A food containing additives and/or subjected to packaging, storing or any other supply chain processes that control freshness shall not be termed as "freshly stored" or "freshly packed".

The draft, which is with IANS, also seeks to restrict the use of the word "natural" to only food derived from a recognised source such as a plant, animal, micro-organism or mineral and to which nothing has been added. Such products should only have been subjected to processing that would render it suitable for human consumption like smoking without chemicals, cooking processes such as roasting, blanching and dehydration, freezing, concentration, pasteurisation, and sterilisation. The packaging should be done without chemicals and preservatives.

"Natural" can also not be used for compound food products, which may be described as "made from natural ingredients".

"Compound foods shall not themselves be described directly or by implication as natural but such foods may be described as 'made from natural ingredients'. This will also apply to words such as 'real' and 'genuine', when used in place of 'natural' in such a way as to imply similar benefits. Provided however, claims such as 'natural goodness', 'naturally better' and 'nature's way' shall not be used," says the draft proposal, which has now called for suggestions from stakeholders before it is finalised.

It says that term "traditional" can only be used to describe a recipe, fundamental formulation or processing method for a product that has existed for a significant period running over generations and should have been available substantially unchanged over time.

"The term 'original' shall only be used to describe a food that is made to a formulation, the origin of which can be traced, and that has remained essentially unchanged over time. It should not contain replacements for major ingredients. It may similarly be used to describe a process, provided it is the process first used in the making of the food, and which has remained essentially unchanged over time, although it may be mass-produced," the draft says.

The draft, which has five schedules clearly mentioning the restrictions, also deals with the health claims of products.

"Health claims for fortified food articles should be like Vitamin A for helping in preventing night blindness, Iron for fighting anaemia, Iodine required for normal growth, thyroid and brain function. Thiamine is required for normal nerve and heart function," says the draft. NEW DELHI: Telecom czar and Chairman of India's largest mobile company Airtel, Sunil Mittal, on Thursday said the Bharti family has pledged about Rs 7,000 crore to philanthropy and will open a new university to offer free education to meritorious but underprivileged students.

The Bharti family's commitment to give away 10 per cent of their personal wealth, also includes three per cent of their stake in telecom firm Bharti Airtel.

The pledged amount, totalling Rs 7,000 crore would mostly go into setting up of a new technology-oriented university in North India, while some part of it would also be used for expanding the existing Satya Bharti School Programme - Bharti Foundation's flagship initiative.

"We are not in this for business," said Sunil Mittal, who was flanked by his brothers Rakesh and Rajan at a conference to announce the family's philanthropic plans.

The proposed university will come up on a 100-acre land and "active discussions" are on with various States including Punjab and Haryana to finalise the location.

Mittal said he expected the ground breaking ceremony to take place by early next year and the first academic session would commence by 2021.

The proposed Satya Bharti University for Science and Technology would focus on advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality and Internet of Things in addition to offering degrees in electrical and electronics engineering and management.

"Given our attachment to technology we would like it to be very significantly focussed on technology on the lines of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Stanford, Berkeley..," said Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and Bharti Foundation.

Mittal's philanthropic move comes just days after Infosys cofounder and tech titan Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani committed half of their wealth to philanthropy by joining the 'The Giving Pledge', a movement spearheaded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

The new university will seek partnerships and industry linkages with tech giants like Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Apple, among others.

Over a period of time the fully-residential university will have 10,000 students, Mittal said. "About 10 per cent of our family wealth is being earmarked and pledged to Bharti Foundation, the Group's philanthropic arm. There are certain structuring and restructuring that are right now being undertaken by lawyers and accountants (in this regard)," Mittal said.

The setting up of the university will require Rs 1,000 crore initially and a "large amount" will be needed to run it thereafter, he noted.

"In Satya Bharti School programme there is zero fee, we do not charge anything, and even here, the idea is to bring meritorious underprivileged students to give them education...

it will require a lot of money," Mittal said.