An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Misleading Food Advertisements in India

Abstract

Nutrition is incorporated into our everyday lifestyles spanning from newspaper articles to diet books. Healthy nutrition reaches all age groups from children to the elderly and it plays a critical role in maintaining the well being of society and health in general. In the increasingly health-conscious society we live, the benefits to the advertisers of making health claims about their products and services cannot be understated. Advertiser must make valid claims which can stand the test of factual truthfulness and nothing misleading should appear in the copy that goes public. Unethical advertisements are the advertisements which show false claims, misleading and deceptive practices to manipulate the consumers to buy the unnecessary products. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) put many products under its scanner over the misleading claims and have begun prosecution proceedings in more than 19 cases under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act. In order to protect consumer interest, the government should establish an independent broadcast regulator that will design a strict code of practice particularly for tele marketing services so that only those products that do not go against FSSAI act and proven significance get endorsed in media. Consumers and their organizations must use their rights against dishonest businessmen indulging in such practice and bring such cases to the notice of the enforcement group, which in turn will play important role in the interest of consumers.