Labelling like it is

The ORS label ban should force a rethink on other products

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The advisory from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), banning manufacturers of food and beverages from using the term “oral rehydration solution” (ORS), has not come a day too soon.

The result of an eight-year-old campaign by paediatricians and health experts, the advisory proscribes the use of the term in product names, labels, and trademarks, or even as a prefix or a suffix. Only medicinal ORS products that conform to standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and are sold in pharmacies will be permitted to use the term. This advisory will not only go a long way in ensuring the effective use of ORS in cases of dehydration, it should prompt consumer agencies to rethink quasi-medicinal claims on food and cosmetics.