People will now be able to complain about any misleading claims made by food products directly to the country’s apex food safety regulator.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has created a link on its website and a section on its app allowing people to file complaints. To register a complaint against misleading claims, one just needs to upload photographs of the front-of-pack and the back label that shows the composition and the nutritional information of the food.
The complainant will also have to mention the name of the brand, the name of the product, the license or registration number — usually displayed on the packs along with an FSSAI logo, and the misleading claim made.
The complainants are also asked whether the product is available online.
“For misleading claim complaints, the process has also been simplified. The complainants do not have to register themselves on the app — they can complain anonymously, without providing their own details. This is usually not the case for other complaints to the food safety authority,” said an official from FSSAI.
All complaints are sent to the appropriate licensing authority — the state licensing authority if the manufacturer holds a state license or the Central Licensing Officer of the state where the product is manufactured if the company holds a central license, which most bigger brands do.
“They will give the company an improvement notice. The company either has to comply and change their packaging or they have to provide scientific evidence for making any claim. Take for example, if a company says that their baby formula strengthens bones, they will have to provide research in support of the claim,” the official said.
These documents are then forwarded to the scientific committee for examination. If they are not satisfied, the companies are given some time to change packaging. If they don’t comply, legal proceedings can be initiated and their license may be cancelled or suspended.
Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports.
Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan.
She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times.
When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor.
