Health experts urge Amitabh Bachchan to snap ties with Horlicks

He may have managed to floor the audience with his acting skills for several decades, but Amitabh Bachchan's latest endorsement of the milk-based drink Horlicks has sparked off a controversy. 

A section of public health experts have asked the actor to "call off" his association with Horlicks for the brand's recent campaign Mission Poshan to "tackle undernutrition" in India. The experts also point out that in 2014, the actor had renounced his association with Pepsi following concerns over its impact on children's health, and that he should do so this time, too.  

The recent campaign, a partnership between Horlicks, a GlaxoSmithKline Comsumer Healthcare product, and Network 18, was launched under the "guidance" of Niti Aayog to support the Centre's Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan (National Nutrition Mission). On May 31, Bachchan, the face of campaign, also tweeted about joining the "biggest movement to fight malnutrition" in India. 

The National Nutrition Mission (NNM) was launched on December 1 last year, and entails tackling malnutrition in the country in the next three years by scaling up its existing ICDS programme (integrated child development services) for children under six years. In the first phase, the NNM, that received a fund of US $200 million from World Bank last month, will be scaled up to 315 districts across the country. By 2022, the government aims at reducing stunting in children under six.  

On May 31, Bachchan, the face of campaign, also tweeted about joining the "biggest movement to fight malnutrition" in India. 

Public health experts under the banner of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), however, said that they were "shocked" at the celebrity endorsement of a "high sugar" product.

"Hundred grams of a popularly advertised pack of Horlicks Delight contains 78 grams of carbohydrates, of which 32 grams is sucrose sugar. This is harmful for children as it may contribute to childhood obesity and non-communicable disease later," they said in a letter addressed to Bachchan. "We hope you are aware that WHO recommends a reduced daily intake of free sugars throughout life to less than 10 per cent of the total energy intake. Furthermore, in the interest of good health, the WHO suggests intake of free sugars to below 5 per cent of total energy intake," they said. 

The letter has been signed by Keshav Desiraju, former Union health secretary and chair, NAPi, Dr Arun Gupta, child health and nutrition advocate, Dr J.P. Dadhich, professor HPS Sachdev, senior pediatrician and epidemiologist, among others. 

The experts said that in 2016, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a resolution that recommends "ending inappropriate promotion" of foods for children from ages six−36 months based on the WHO and FAO dietary guidelines. "Going by this recommendation, promotion of Horlicks falls in category of “inappropriate” as they use false health claims in TV commercials. It is neither good food nor nutrition. It is just a high sugar product, and contains what is called empty calories," experts have stated in the letter. 

The letter also says that "big food companies adopt such marketing tactics" to push their products, and that in this case, Horlicks, was championing the cause of nutrition to push their "expensive" product. "You may be aware that undernutrition mostly creeps into the resource poor households. We fear that this campaign will influence families and children from these families to buy Horlicks assuming it is a good nutritious product as you are behind it. Horlicks is expensive, may displace real family foods. Thus, your association with Horlicks is unlikely to achieve the objective of curbing undernutrition in India," the letter says.   

In its response to a query from THE WEEK about the concerns raised by the experts, a spokesperson from GSK Consumer Healthcare said in a statement that Horlicks is a "trusted household name for over 100 years" and has been "synonymous with nutrition". "As a brand, we aim to address the often overlooked issue of micronutrient deficiency in children which is widely prevalent in India. Through Mission Poshan, our objective is to focus on the issue of malnutrition in the country through creating mass awareness around malnourishment and working with the civil society, NGOs and government towards its eradication.”