A subordinate court in Uttar Pradesh has passed a verdict that Amway, the United States head quartered direct selling firm has been making misleading and false claims for its Nutrilite Daily vitamin supplement and infringing the Indian food law.
This ruling could throw a shadow on the multinational firm’s flagship brand Nutrilite under which the firm sells a wide range of products such as protein powder and vitamin supplements. After hearing a complaint that is filed by the food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the court pronounced the verdict. As per the judgment, the firm Amway has been claiming that its offerings have exclusive natural extracts including phytofactors plant compounds that are drawn from Nutrilite’s exclusive plant concentrates. The firm has failed to provide any scientific evidence to back its claim.
The subordinate court has also slapped a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Amway. The firm has claimed that it has already challenged the verdict in Food Safety Appellate Tribunal) atMeerutand obtained a stay order.
The court in Greater Noida has also found Amway’s claim that there is a special coating called Nutrilite exclusive nutria lock has made it easier to swallow the tablets is misleading and that there is no evidence. It also claimed that it fails to understand how the firm’s exclusive coating is exclusive and unique from those coatings that are used by other drug making firms for the same purpose.
The judge has also took note of the information that FSSAI’s product approval segment has rejected applications for many other products under the Nutrilite lineup such as Natural B, Bio C and Iron Folic among the rest. The food regulator disagreed before the court that it is a trend for the drug manufacturers to project medicinal products as food to skip the tighter regulations under the country’s Drug and Cosmetics Act.
Amway claimed that it does not think that the ruling by the court will have an impact on the brand image of Nutrilite products in the country.
