analysis of nutritional information disclosure on labels of milk based ...

p-ISSN : 0974-8032, e- ISSN : 2278-6120, Vol. 6 No. 1, June 2013, pp 61 - 69

Integral Review- A Journal of Management

http://intergraluniversity.ac.in/net/journals Andpublications.aspx

ANALYSIS OF NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION DISCLOSURE ON LABELS

OF MILK BASED MALTED HEALTH DRINKS IN INDIA

Abstract

The present paper aims at analyzing the nutritional information disclosure on the

wrapper of major milk based malted health drinks of leading Indian and multinational

brands being marketed in India. This study covers 20 milk based malted health drinks,

further they are classified on the basis of their segmentation which is based on regular health

drinks, children health drink and mothers health drink .This analysis clearly indicate that

milk based malted health drink manufacturers disclose nutritional information on their food

labels to facilitate the consumers in making informed choices as per their

corporate/marketing strategy. The difference in information contents across health drinks

imply that there is no standard regulation for disclosing the nutritional information and

therefore these information are provided by the organization on voluntary basis.

Key Words: Milk based malted Health Drinks, labels, nutritional information, regulation

1. Introduction:

Food purchase behaviour of consumers in most emerging economies such as India has

signi?cantly changed due to an increase in the per capita disposable income, global interaction,

information and communication technologies, urbanisation, education and health awareness, movement

1of households towards higher income groups, changes in lifestyle and family structure (KPMG, 2005) .

The health & wellness market of India has been growing at healthy growth rates for past few years. The

growing awareness for healthier lifestyle is the major reason behind the same. The health food and

beverages market in India is witnessing double digit year-on-year growth for quite a few years now, as a

result of changing lifestyle, improving disposable income, growing health awareness, etc. Malted food

products, baby food products, and cooking oils are the top three preferred products in the health foods

and beverages market of India. Other popular health food segments in the country are energy drinks,

Chyawanprash, fruit juices, butter alternatives, digestive biscuits, health drinks etc. (Research and

2Markets Adds Report: 2012-2017)

1 2 Nivi Srivastava , Ali Ghufran1. Research Scholar, Department of Business Management, FMR, Integral University, Lucknow, India

2. Asst. Professor, Department of Business Management, FMR, Integral University, Lucknow, India

61Integral Review- A Journal of Management, Vol. 6 No. 1, June 2013

1. Review of Literature

Food labels are- the prime channel for information dissemination between food producers and

retailers, and the consumers of food products (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 3and the World Health Organization (FAO, WHO, 2001) . food labels play an important role by

disseminating important nutritional information to consumers. Initially, food labelling was limited to

food name, quantity, price and identity of the manufacturer. But recently, one of its important functions is

to bridge the gap between the consumer and the original food ingredients. The picture on the label

sometimes gives an idea of the colour, form and shape of the raw food and nutritional information guides

the consumer about the contents and the usefulness of the product. Thus, detailed and well-informed

food labels have become an indispensable part of today's consumption scenario.

Nutrition labelling is not strictly mandatory at present; therefore, consumers rely on food

producers to inform them about the nutritional content of their products. Food companies can satisfy 4consumer demand for nutritional information by including such information on labels. Morris (1991)

advocates the need for nutrition information on food products. He argues that nutrition labelling assists 5

consumers in their quest to obtain optimal intake of nutrients. Lewis et al. (1994) also support such

views. They view the nutrition label as a means of bridging the gap between general dietary guidelines

and speci?c food choices. Hence, they consider the nutrition label as a means of implementing dietary 6recommendations. Similarly, Gourlie (1995) believes that nutrition labelling will act as a link between

the scienti?c community and the consumer. Nutritional labelling is not mandatory at present even in 7

India (Sankar, 2007) but the Indian Government is working on a proposal to do so (Economics Times, 8

2007) . The Ministry of Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has made The Standards of

Weights and Measures Rules 1977 mandatory for labelling. They include packaging, MRP, weight

speci?cations and production details. There is no reference to nutritional labelling. The suggested

amendments are the incorporation of quantitative ingredient Declaration, nutritional labelling and other

details regarding production. Some food companies have nutritional labelling (EU norms) on their

products but majority of them do not have. The draft regulation under the Prevention of Food

Adulteration (Amendment) Rules 2006 has been deferred for a third time to October 2008 (Chitrodia, 9

2008) . This delay in making labels mandatory has become an important point of concern for Indian

consumers. While the Indian Government is deliberating the law on nutritional labelling, it is important

to know the usage of these labels by Indian consumers and how they view the most prevalent format. No

research to date has been carried out on the subject, so this study aims to provide an insight into the usage

of labels by Indian consumers in order to inform the future policy debate.

Nivi Srivastava, Ali Ghufran


2.1 Malted Beverage Market10

According to Majumdar (2007) , Malted beverages are popularly known as the health drinks in

India. Historically, malted beverages have had a strong association with milk. Such drinks used to be

consumed in the southern and eastern regions of the country which were having a perennial shortage of

milk supply. So malted beverages positioned themselves as substitutes for milk. Malted beverages are

usually marketed in white and brown colour forms, where beverages constitute about 65 per cent of the

market. The malted beverages market is estimated to be 82,000 tonnes per annum which in value terms is

estimated at Rs 13000 crores and is growing at the rate of 12-14 per cent per annum. The penetration of

malted beverages in India was found to be only 6.1 per cent in 2005. However, there have been clear

indications of growth due to several positive trends. More variety of tastes, and flavours, and awareness

building efforts by the MNCs increased acceptability of health drinks products. Other factors of growth

are due to better standard of living, increased health consciousness amongst affluent people and

affordability of the price. Malted beverages have always been positioned as regular heath drinks targeted

at children and the elderly population; however, in the recent past companies have focused on products

for other consumer brackets as well. In the process, a number of products were launched for women and

kids for cognition and general well being. The major players in the health beverages market are

GlaxoSmithKline, Cadbury, Nestle and Heinz. The market is dominated by GlaxoSmithKline with about

70 per cent share. Cadbury and Heinz have about 12 per cent each, and Nestle only 3 per cent. Malted

beverages include Horlicks, Boost, Viva and Maltova from GlaxoSmithKline, Bournvita from Cadbury,

and Milo from Nestle.

In India, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) and Fruit Products Order (FPO) under

the Essential Commodities Act are two regulatory arrangements which primarily deal with permitted

ingredient limits and safety standards of food items. Food labelling standards and requirement are not

very stringent and are governed by both these regulatory provisions as well as by the Packaged

Commodities Rules (PCR) under Weights and Measures Act. Under such scenario where government

regulation on nutritional content of food labelling is not very stringent and/ or is vague,

3. Objectives of the Study

To analyse the nutritional information disclosure on the wrapper of major Milk based malted

Health drinks of leading Indian and multinational brands being marketed in India.

4. Research Methodology

The purpose of this study to examine/analyse nutritional information disclosure on labels of

milk based malted health drinks in India.

Analysis of Nutritional Information Disclosure on Labels of Milk Based Malted Health Drinks in India


?Research Design - research design is descriptive in nature, as it attempts to describe the quality

and quantity of prevailing nutrient information disclosed by manufacturers of milk based

malted health drinks.

?Data Type - The nature of data is secondary, as labels /wrappers of milk based health drinks

were collected to record nutritional information already indicated by manufacturers in their

products.

?Sample Size- This study covers labels of twenty milk based malted health drink. So sample

size is twenty.

?Analysis of Data - This study covers 20 milk based malted health drink. Labels/ wrappers of

these products were collected to record if the nutritional information such as energy, fat,

cholesterol, carbohydrates, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamins, calcium, iron, sodium, minerals etc

has been indicated on the labels. Drinks are classified as regular, children and mothers health

drink based on their segmentation. Further, existing regulatory arrangements for food labelling

in the country has been analysed to evaluate the level of information disclosure by the food

processors. The collected data were digitized in a Microsoft excel spreadsheet and a simple

statistical analysis to assess the nutrient information disclosure which included descriptive

statistical analysis, cross tabulation and frequency distribution was carried out.

5. Analysis of Data



Source: Compiled by author

Fig1. Nutrients Disclosed in Regular Health Drinks

Fig 1 shows the nutrients disclosed in regular health drink, in regular health drink section Complan

Growth, bournvita, Horlicks, Horlicks Women's, Boost, Protinex (Diabetes Care), Protinex Original,

abott ensure gold has been included.Protein,fat,sugar, calcium,iron,Vitamin C,vitamin B complex are

the most common nutrients disclosed by health drinks.

? is positioned for Diabetic Patients however it is compared with regular

Health Drinks as no other Competing product was found during study.

? Fatty Acids includes

- Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA)

- Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA)

- Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)

? Vitamin B Complex includes the following:

-Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

-Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

-Vitamin B3 (niacin or niacinamide)

-Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)

-Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, or pyridoxamine, or pyridoxine hydrochloride)

-Vitamin B7 (biotin)

-Vitamin B9 (folic acid)

-Vitamin B12 (various cobalamins; commonly cyanocobalamin in vitamin supplements)

?FOS (Fructo Oligo Saccharides)

Protinex Diabetics Care

Fig2. Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in Regular Health Drink


Fig 2 shows the nutrients Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in Regular Health drink section. Abott Ensure Gold discloses maximum nutrient information.



Fig 3 shows the nutrients disclosed in children health drink, in children health drink section Complan

(with memory charges), Complan (Nutri-Grow 2-4 yrs), bournvita little champs, Horlicks Junior 1st

stage, Horlicks Junior 2nd stage, Protinex Junior, Abott Pediasure has been included. Protein, fat,

carbohydrate, calcium, iron,Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2,

Vitamin B6, folic acid,Vitamin B12, niacinamide, Calcium pentothenate and iodine are the most

common nutrients disclosed by health drinks of this section.

?

-Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA)

-Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA)

-Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)


Fatty Acids includes

Fig.3 Nutrients Disclosed in Children Health Drink


Fig.4 Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in Children Health Drink

Fig 4 shows the Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in Children Health Drink section. Pediasure discloses maximum nutrient information.

Abott




Fig 5 shows the nutrients disclosed in Mother's health drink, in Mother's health drink section Horlicks mothers, protinex mama care, Abott mama's care,Wallace ultrich Mom, British biological PRO-PL. has been included. Energy, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, magnesium, iron ,Vitamin A ,Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, folic acid,Vitamin B12, niacinamide, copper, zinc, iodine and DHA***** are the most common nutrients disclosed by health drinks of this section.

?

-Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA)

-Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA)

-Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)


?DHA - (Docosahexaenoic acid)

Fatty Acids includes

Fig.5 Nutrients Disclosed in Mother's Health Drink


Fig.6 Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in Mother's Health Drink



Fig 6 shows the Quantity of Nutrients Disclosed in mothers Health Drink section. mama's best discloses maximum nutrient information.

Abott


7. Results and Discussion

The disclosure of information on food labels in India are primarily governed by the Prevention

of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, which has primarily focused on the basic information of the product on

the food labels and put less emphasis on health and nutritional information to be given on the food labels.

However, recent amendments on packaging and labelling of food under part VII of the Prevention of

Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 has mandated to disclose the health and nutritional claims on the labels

along with basic information.

Major health drinks of malted health drinks being market in India and covered in the study are nd

Horlicks, Horlicks Women's, Horlicks Junior 1st Stage, Horlicks Junior 2 Stage, Horlicks Mother's Of

GlaxoSmithKline Complan Growth, Complan with Memory Chargers Complan Nutri-Grow 2-4 yrs of

Heinz Bournvita, Bournvita Little Champs of Cadbury, Protinex Diabetes Care ,Protinex Original,

Protinex Junior, Protinex Mama Care of Wockhardi Nutrition , Abott Ensure Gold, Abott Pediasure,

Abott Mama's Best of Abott, Boost of Nestle ,Wallace Ultrich Mom of Wallace and PRO-PL of British

Biologicals.

In the study, it was found that every manufacturer use different marketing strategy for

nutritional information disclosure

As shown in Fig 1 & Fig 2, in regular health drink maximum nutrient information .i.e. (31)

disclosed by Abott ensure gold followed by Complan growth (26), Protinex diabetes care (25), Horlicks

(20), Bournvita (18), Horlicks women (17), boost (15), Protinex original (15).

As shown in Fig 3 & Fig 4, in children health drink maximum nutrient information .i.e. (44) disclosed by

Abott Pediasure followed by Protinex junior (42) Complan Memory Charges (35), Bournvita Little

Champs (28), Horlicks junior 2nd stage (28), Horlicks junior 1st stage (26), Complan nutri grow 2-4 yrs (26).

As shown in Fig 5 & Fig 6, in Mothers health drink maximum nutrient information .i.e. (35)

disclosed by Abott mama's best followed by Protinex mama care (32), British biological Pro PL (32)

Horlicks mothers (28), Wallace Ultrich mom (26).

Note: Figures mentioned in ( ) above denotes Total number of Nutrients Disclosed.

8. Conclusions and Implications

Malted food drinks play important role in providing nutrition and health to the consumer.

In terms of labelling, the way the packaging is presented is a highly visible element in the promotional

mix. The impact of the label in distinguishing one product from another can be critically important at

point of sale, particularly when consumers are faced with large choices in branded processed food

products on supermarket shelves.



With the changed customer food preferences the Indian food market is witnessing

unprecedented transformations. Manufacturers who can match the wholesome quality of their brands

through effective and informative labelling might alleviate anxieties and gain a competitive advantage.

The extent to which individuals process messages is influenced by both ability and motivation and

should therefore be of prime importance to food marketers, in their attempts to offer suitable labelling

and packaging information within the constraints of statutory requirements and by the physical pack

shape and size on which information can be presented. Therefore in current scenario the manufacturer of

malted health drinks who are disclosing relevant information will have greater competitive advantage.

References

1. KPMG (2005), “Consumer Markets in India: the next big things”, Publication No. 213-

405, KPMG International.

2. Research and Markets Adds Report: (2012-2017) India Health Foods Market: Trends &

Opportunities.

3. FAO, WHO (2001), Codex Alimentarius Food Labelling Complete Texts Revised

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health

Organization, Rome.

4. Morris, E.M. (1991), “Nutrition labelling”, European Food and Drink Review, Spring,

pp. 77-9.

5. Lewis, C.J., Crane, N.T., Moore, B.J. and Hubbard, V.S. (1994), “Healthy people 2000”,

report on the 1994 Nutrition Progress Review, Nutrition Today, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 6-14.

6. Gourlie, K.E. (1995), “Food labelling a Canadian and international perspective”,

adapted from an address at the International Life Sciences Institute, Annual General

Meeting, Cancun, Mexico, Nutrition Review, Vol. 53 No. 4, pp. 103-5.

7. Sankar, M. (2007), “Look at the label”, The Hindu: Metro Plus Hyderabad, online

edition (accessed 29 December 2007).

8. Economics Times (2007), “Food labelling norms put on hold”, 21 August, pp. 22.

9. Chitrodia, R.B. (2008), “No norms on labelling of products' nutritional value”, Times of

India, 23 May, p. 18.

10. Majumdar R .(2007).Product Management In India 3rd edn, pp242-244.



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