Regulator fines J&J ₹16-L over misleading advertisement

MUMBAI: The Mumbai division of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has fined personal care products giant Johnson & Johnson ₹16 lakh for falsely advertising its ORSL brand as an immunity boosting medicine. The fruit drink was being positioned as a drug despite being a food item, the FDA said.

Under the ORSL brand, the company manufactures several fruit-flavoured drinks. However, the name and the marketing of the products was done to position them as oral rehydration salts (ORS) used to treat dehydration, especially due to diarrhoea. The products in question—orsl, ORSL Plus, ORSL Rehydrate, ORSL FOS— have been fined ₹4 lakh each.

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Delhi high court last year, which alleged that the drinks were being marketed as a medication even though it was not made in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) formulation of ORS. The court had directed the petitioner to approach the FDA over the matter.

“The advertisements of the product also positioned it as a medicine, which is highly misleading. The Mumbai division of FDA even sent a notice to the company in this regard last year,” said a press release issued by the department.