It's all in the name

The Delhi High Court has ruled that no product in India can carry the label 'ORS' unless it strictly adheres to the formula recommended by the World Health Organization

- SHAGUN

IT WAS in 2016-17 when Sivaranjani Santosh, a Hyderabad-based paediatrician, first noticed that children were not getting well despite her treatment. "As a doctor when you expect improvement upon administration of ORS [Oral Rehydration Solution] but instead the condition worsens and the child has to be hospitalised, you wonder what is happening. I asked the parents to show me the ORs they were administering to their children and realised what all is being sold in the market in the name of ORS. That is when I started investigating," she says.

Nearly eight years later, her struggle has borne fruit. On October 31, 2025, the Delhi High Court ordered that no product in India can carry the label "ORS" unless it strictly follows the formula recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The court was hearing a case filed by a pharmaceutical company against an order of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directing food business operators (FBOS) to remove the word "ORS" from their products that do not follow the WHO recommended formula-13.5 g of glucose (anhydrous), 2.6 g of sodium chloride, 1.5 g of potassium chloride and 2.9 g of trisodium citrate (dihydrate). The mixture should be dissolved in a litre of drinking water and consumed orally.