Energy drinks sold in ORS garb: Telangana high court notice to Centre & state government

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Thursday sought answers from the central and state governments as to what steps are being taken to rein in unsafe and unscientific energy drinks which play havoc with the lives of children.
While issuing notices to the central and state food safety and drug control authorities, a bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy asked them to explain their efforts to prevent unscrupulous private units from marketing these energy drinks under the guise of oral rehydration solutions (ORS).
The bench gave this direction while hearing a public interest petition filed by a city-based doctor, M Sivaranjani Santhosh, who said the energy drinks are playing with the health of people in general and the lives of children in particular. The case will come up for hearing after four weeks. Senior counsel MV Durga Prasad argued the case of the petitioner.
Prasad said there was a specific formula approved by the World Health Organization to prepare ORS powder. Several companies are now promoting sales of their energy drinks and other products by falsely branding and labelling them as ORS, or names that are similar to it, he said.
"These energy drinks with misleading names like ORSL and ORSL plus and ORS & ORS Fit are injurious to patients. Because of misleading names, packaging and labels, gullible parents are buying and administering them to infants and children. Scores of innocent people also use them as they are sweet and flavoured," he said.
Prasad said these drinks damage the health of people and, in some instances, even take the lives of people. He said: "Though the food safety authorities have given directions to the DCA to control the menace following our representations, nothing has been done by the DCA."
The senior counsel said action of the traders and businessmen who sell false ORS products is an offence under various provisions of the IPC, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Drugs and Magic Remedies Prohibition Act, etc, and these products are liable to be confiscated.