Eight months after an influencer pointed out the high sugar content in Cadbury's Bournvita chocolate 'health' drink, the company has now reduced the quantity of added sugar by 14.4 percent. Previously, Bournvita contained 37.4 grams of added sugar per 100 grams of powder. However, the new packaging reveals that it has a reduced sugar content of 32.2 grams per 100 grams.
The move comes after Revant Himatsingka aka Food Pharmer, a Health Influencer and social media activist highlighted the drink's high sugar content, sparking widespread criticism. After the company's big move, Mr Himatsingka shared the development in an Instagram reel on Saturday and called it a ''Big Win.''
''BIG WIN! Probably the first time in history that an INSTAGRAM REEL led to a food giant reducing its sugar content! 1 video resulted in a 15% reduction in sugar. Imagine if all Indians started reading food labels. Companies wouldn't dare falsely market themselves,'' he wrote while sharing the video.
''This fight isn't against Bournvita. The fight is against any company that sells junk food but markets itself as healthy! The fight is to get 140 crore Indians eating healthier! 1 company changing its sugar content, will result in a chain reaction, and every company will be slightly more careful now,'' he added.
Watch the video here:
It all started after Mr. Himatsingka posted a video on April 1 accusing Cadbury of making false claims about the health benefits of Bournvita and "miscommunicating" the product's "nutritional value". Mr Himatsingka who presented himself as a nutritionist and a health coach claimed that Bournvita has sugar, cocoa solids, and cancer-causing colourant. "They have 50 grams of sugar per 100 grams. Basically, the entire half of this bag is only sugar!" he said.
He also mocked the brand and urged them to change the tagline from ''Taiyaari Jeet Ki'' to ''Tayaari Diabetes Ki''.
"Should the government allow companies to blatantly lie on their package? Parents are getting their children addicted to sugar at a young age, and the children end up craving sugar throughout their lives," Mr. Himatsingka wrote in the caption for the reel.
In response, Bournvita rejected his claims and termed his video as "unscientific", which "distorted facts and made false and negative inferences".
Mr Himatsingka was subsequently forced to take down the video after he received a legal notice from Cadbury. However, the clip was widely circulated on social media platforms putting the confectionery major in a tizzy. It was also shared by actor-politician Paresh Rawal, former cricketer and MP Kirti Azad. Later, a leading Indian nutrition body consisting of eight doctors and nutritionists validated Mr Himatsingka's video as factually accurate.
