THE Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a notification saying companies can no longer use the picture of a food item on the packaging of their product unless it is actually an ingredient. This means that an eatable with, say, a mango flavour cannot use the picture of a mango on the pack since the fruit is not really an ingredient.
Companies have been given one year to change the packing of their products.
If the ingredient is not actually present, manufacturers cannot hint through a visual that it is included. This way of luring consumers has now been restricted with the notification. It was found that many firms were indulging in this misleading practice and there was a strong need to crack the whip, a ministry official said.
The need for the notification was also felt, the official added, as it was found that many consumers were being mislead with pictures of fruits on the package to make them think that the eatable was not a synthetic product. The ministry, therefore, has also made it mandatory for companies to specify nutritional and quantitative value of their product on the packaging. They will also have to specify if the product contains any trans fats.
The notification also bans the use of tobacco or nicotine in food products. This mill mean that gutka, which counts tobacco as an ingredient, will no longer be classified as a food product and will now have to be registered as a tobacco product.
From: The Indian Express, Sep-21,2006
