Defending its action against some of Bollywood’s biggest celebrities for endorsing an alleged surrogate product, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Munde said everyone involved in the advertising chain would be held accountable.
“Everybody across the chain is responsible. It applies to all,” Munde said in an exclusive interview with a news agency. The FDA chief stressed that the regulations were “applicable to all” and warned that “nobody is going to be spared.”
His remarks came a day after the Maharashtra FDA issued show-cause notices to Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their endorsement of an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi. The regulator alleged that the campaign could amount to surrogate or indirect promotion of prohibited pan masala and tobacco-related products. Munde said the advertisement was being examined as a possible case of surrogate promotion because the company had previously been found selling gutka.
He said the regulations applied to everyone involved in creating, publishing or sponsoring advertisements and making claims. He also urged celebrities and other endorsers to examine the relevant rules of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) before promoting any product.
Munde pointed to the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, which came into existence in 2018 and came into force on July 1, 2019. “Whatever the product somebody is endorsing, they have to look into the guidelines and regulations of FSSAI about advertising and claims. If wrongfulness is found, we will take action against those also,” he said.
While issuing the notices to the actors, the Maharashtra FDA said the campaign prima facie amounted to indirect or surrogate promotion of prohibited pan masala and tobacco-related products.