There are possibilities that the Health Ministry might issue a notification to the beverage firms. It might be mandatory for the firms to declare the caffeine content in their labels and this in turn could have a significant impact on the sales of the beverages of the established as well as the smaller brands in the country.
Apart from PepsiCo and Coca Cola many other smaller brand like RC Cola and Big Cola also sell their beverages in the Indian market. At present the companies like Coca Cola already declare that their colas have caffeine.
But the notification might ask the companies to enforce a statutory warning of all the products which contain caffeine. The industry officials opined that with such a step there are possibilities that the les of the aerated drinks might be negatively impacted.
The health nutritionists have opined that the move should be immediately implemented without any delay. Dr. S Sharma, a leading Delhi based nutritionist said, “The notification should be implemented so that Indian consumers can make informed choices about their beverage consumption”. The Food Safety and Standards of India last week laid down new standards for the energy drinks, in which it is said that the beverages will be renamed as ‘caffeinated drinks’.
