Bournvita, a brand of health drink, has been in the spotlight lately due to allegations made by a social media influencer claiming that the age-old Cadbury health drink contains excessive amounts of sugar. The influencer’s video went viral, prompting the Mondelez India-owned company to refute the accusations on Monday. The company stated that the influencer’s video was “unscientific” as it “distorted facts and made false and negative inferences.”
Nithin Kamath, the CEO and Co-founder of Zerodha, weighed in on the current health issue by suggesting that health drink manufacturers should incorporate front-of-package food labelling. While refraining from mentioning Bournvita or any other specific health drink, Kamath stated that drinks brands should follow the guidelines proposed by FSSAI in their 2018 draft paper, which highlights the fat and sugar content on the front-of-package labelling.
“An intervention that could help people make healthier food & beverage choices is to have front-of-package food labelling, like FSSAI proposed in their 2018 draft paper,” he tweeted.
“Indicate fat, sugar, and salt per serving, and a warning if per serving percentage is beyond a percentage of the daily requirement,” Kamath wrote.
Kamath also said that food or drinks should be taken in moderation for healthy benefits. “Even the healthiest foods on the planet are healthy only when consumed in moderation,” he said.
In a video released on April 1st, influencer Revant Himatsingka alleged that Bournvita contained high levels of sugar, cocoa solids, and cancer-causing colourants. He further suggested that Bournvita’s tagline “tayyari jeet ki” be revised to “tayyari diabetes ki.”
As a result, the company issued a legal notice to Himatsingka, accusing him of spreading misinformation through his video.
On April 9th, Cadbury Bournvita released a statement declaring that each serving of Bournvita contained 7.5 grams of added sugar, which falls below the daily recommended sugar intake for children.
After deleting his video, Himatsingka apologized to the company. However, despite the removal of the video, it had already amassed 12 million views, and some iterations of the video continue to circulate on social media platforms.
Bournvita stated that it had secured the trust of Indian consumers over the last seventy years by producing scientifically formulated products that adhere to quality standards and comply with the country’s laws.
“We would again like to reinforce that the formulation has been scientifically crafted by a team of nutritionists and food scientists to offer the best of taste and health. All our claims are verified and transparent and all ingredients have regulatory approvals. All the necessary nutritional information is mentioned on the pack for consumers to make informed choices,” a Bournvita spokesperson was quoted by PTI.
To reassure its consumers, Bournvita emphasized that its formulation had been developed scientifically by a team of nutritionists and food scientists to provide a balance between great taste and health benefits.
“All our claims are verified and transparent and all ingredients have regulatory approvals. All the necessary nutritional information is mentioned on the pack for consumers to make informed choices,” it added.
In its statement, Bournvita additionally specified that the ideal way to consume the drink was by mixing it with a glass of 200 ml of hot or cold milk, as indicated on the packaging.
“All ingredients are safe, approved for use, and within permissible limits as per the regulatory guidelines,” it said.
Another claim:
Within a day of Himatsingka’s allegations, another scientist and liver specialist, known as The Liver Doc on Twitter, contested Cadbury’s assertions that Bournvita supports muscle and bone growth, improves immunity, and aids in brain development. The Liver Doc stated that these claims were misleading since there were no controlled studies to substantiate them.
On a Twitter thread, Dr. Philips stated that Cadbury’s claim of designing the product based on scientific research implied that there must be published studies supporting their assertions. However, the only research published that The Liver Doc could locate were those that corroborated Himatsingka’s assertions, which had been made in the now-removed video.
Of the four research papers discovered by Dr. Philips, one indicated that the caffeine content in Bournvita was greater than that found in other comparable cocoa-based products.
Another study identified that Bournvita’s color can alter due to inherent pH changes resulting from its “sugary” composition. A third study referred to the partnership between UNICEF and Cadbury as “sugarwashing.”
In one of his tweets, Dr. Philips stated that Bournvita’s assertion of employing scientific techniques or research to support everything printed on their product is not supported by substantial evidence. Consequently, the claims made by Bournvita about aiding in muscle and bone growth, enhancing immunity, and improving brain development are misleading.
