The Protein Foods and Nutrition Development Association of India (PFNDAI) has conducted a e-seminar on Connecting Responsibility with Consumers. The seminar was aimed on Advertising and Health Claims of Nutraceuticals and health products: What do consumers discern by health claims?
Rini Sanyal, director – Global Regulatory and Product Compliance at India Herbalife Nutrition stated- “Claim is a call of ownership. Claim refers to any representation which states, indicates, or infers that a food has characteristics associated to its origin, nutritional values, nature, processing, and composition or otherwise.”
While speaking about the significance of claims for business, she informed- “Claims are a simple and authentic way to get in touch with the prospective customers/consumers. Claims are necessary for business since they can be used to communicate with customers and exert a positive influence in consumer’s minds-consumer preference. Products when designed seamlessly, claims can aid in right placement, marketing and bring in-brand visibility. Product claims in compliance with the brand association assists and disseminates equitable harmony across and supports in setting up the product- product stability and penetration.”
Sharing about her viewpoints on claims being vital for consumers, during the PFNDAI event, she further said- “Claims sum up products in an immediate and crisp way. They make the customers aware regarding what the product is all about and what to hope from it. Products when scientifically proven, nutrition and health claims related to food products can assist consumers in making well-acquainted food choices. Health claims play a crucial role in re-shaping consumer choices when compared with other choice factors.”
Abhinav Srivastava, head-regulatory policy and intelligence at Amway India Enterprises Private Limited, commented upon label information and its effect. He declared- “Information on nutritional value leads to an increment in the desire to pay for salubrious foods, while lowers it for foods considered unhealthy . Products of organic origin were thought to be more nutritious, more flavourful and less energy filled in contrast to their customary counterparts.”
Talking about Substantiation of Claims during PFNDAI conferencefor Value addition in food products, Dr V Sudershan Rao, former deputy director-NIN, Hyderabad, Chairman-Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards at FSSAI asserted- ”Health Claims comprises of nutrient function claim, other function claim and lessening of disease risk claim.”
For Approval of claims, he informed- “The food business operator or marketer shall ask beforehand for the approval from the Food Authority for lowering down of disease risk claims other than those that are explained and for which criteria are specified out under these norms or any other norms made under the Food Safety and Standards Act,2006 (34 of 2006).”
Those who attended the webinar event include- Abhinav Srivastava, Head-Regulatory Policy and Intelligence at Amway India Enterprises Private Limited, Rini Sanyal, director-global regulatory and product compliance at Herbalife Nutrition, Dr V Sudershan Rao, Former Deputy Director-NIN, Hyderabad, Chairman-Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards at FSSAI, Phani Kumar, Head Quality and Regulatory at Zydus Wellness, Dheeraj Talreja, President of AAK India, among others.