Makers of nutritional drinks for kids in India claim their products to be healthy and rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals which helps kids to grow. Lets examine these products nd their claims closely.
‘Health Drink’ Isn’t Defined in Food Laws in India
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has instructed all ecommerce companies to remove drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks from the category of ‘health drink’.
FSSAI says that dairy-based, cereal-based, or malt-based beverages cannot be labelled as ‘health drink’ or ‘energy drink’. In Indian food law, there is no category such as ‘health drink’ whereas the term ‘energy drink’ is used for flavored water-based drinks, both carbonated and non-carbonated.
FSSAI took this action because a number of packaged goods companies’ had started labeling their products as ‘healthy’ despite these products containing excess amounts of sugar.
Popular products such as Bournvita, Horlicks and others will need to be categorised accordingly by e-commerce companies.
Due to the directive , Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) will now reposition its brands Horlicks and Boost as ‘Functional Nutrition Drinks’.
Nutritional Drinks for Kids in India
Most of us have grown having Horlicks, Boost, Complan, Bournvita; while these still remain popular among kids, a few more have also emerged.
But the important question is, “does your child really need health drink”?
The answer is yes! And its not just kids, even adults should consider taking health supplements, in addition to a well balanced diet.
Read: Real reasons why you need nutritional health supplements
However, most of the claims made by makers of these products are actually misleading. No doubt these drinks are nutritious, but the claims that they make are over the top (most of the time).
For example:
- Most popular health drinks have high content of sugar (which is bad for health)
- Whey proteins (taken by regular gym-goers) are rich in protein but they are very expensive. In contrast, most drinks such as Horlicks, Bournvita, Complan are much cheaper, so don’t expect the protein content to be very high
- Some claim that their drink has 40% RDA (recommended dietary allowance) of Protein for kids. However, the fact is that’s only possible when the powder is added to whole cow milk (we don’t read the fine prints). Also, this 40% RDA of protein is possible only with two drinks in one day! Same goes for cereals as well.
You can read more about the in-depth comparison here.
So do take these health drinks, they’re nutritious (will provide additional protein and vitamins that is required for growing children) and have great taste (to attract kids).
But don’t go by what they claim!
What is Malt?
Malt is made from ground Wheat and Barley flour. Malted milk powder is malt powder with milk solids added to it. Malted milk powder is made from a mixture of dried malt and milk powder
Heinz
Heinz owns products such as Heinz Power Sprouts and Complan (now owned by Zydus Wellness) in the malt food segment.
.Heinz Power Sprouts is a multigrain health drink (with ‘power sprouts’) created specifically for India. It uses natural healthy ingredients such as ragi and soya. Its a powder (chocolate flavour) that you mix in milk and give it to your kids.
Is Complan health drink now less healthier?
For a long time, nutritionists considered Complan to be the best health drink for children, because of its composition. While competitors increased the sugar content to make it tastier to kids, Complan resisted itself from taking that approach.
However, Heinz India has now made changes to the composition of Complan, by increasing sugar by 16 per cent (per 100 gms) and carbohydrates by 9.6 per cent, and cutting milk protein by 11per cent, fat by 36 per cent and vitamin K by 16 per cent.
While Heinz India says the new composition is more balanced and palatable, health experts beg to differ.
“They have reduced all vital nutrients like milk protein, fats and vitamin K, which are so essential for growing kids. And, to make for that, they have increased sugar and carbohydrate content. It is harmful for children and, at the same time, profitable for the company to cut down on expensive vital nutrients and increase cheap carbohydrate and sugars,” says this report.
Bournvita
Bournvita, owned by Mondelez India that owns Cadbury), was the subject of a controversy when a YouTuber said the product was ‘unhealthy’ as it contained excessive sugar and harmful cancer-causing colourants that makes it unsuitable for children. The video was later deleted by the influencer after he was served a legal notice by the company.
“Every serving of 20 gm of Bournvita has 7.5 grams of added sugar, which is approximately one and a half teaspoons. This is much less than the daily recommended intake limits of sugar for children. The caramel colorant is within permissible limits as per guidelines defined by regulations. All ingredients are safe, approved for use and within permissible limits as per the regulatory guidelines,” said Mondelez India.
This article was really enlightening, thank you. It would be great if you could visit nutri-plan.com to see what you think. Similar nutritional values to complan but cheaper.
My daughter is 9yrs old . Am worried for her height. she is jus 113 cm . Her weight seems to be normal ie 23kg . I had taken her to a normal MBBS doctor who had given me Calcium supplement syrup. In spite of it am looking forward for some tips which would help my daughter to gain height. Can you suggest
You have provided very useful information which every parent using these brands should have. May I suggest that when you do your comparison with Pediasure, you include the trans-fats content too? It would be extremely relevant because these products are given to infants, too.
Lily, Pediasure has different products for different age groups.
Another very important point to note with Bournvita is the sugar content – 23 gmm That is way too much.