If you ate ‘atta noodles’ thinking it be a lesser sin than the ‘maida’ versions, here’s some food for thought. The ‘nutritious’ label is a simple marketing gimmick to lure unsuspecting noodle-lovers, claims the Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS) in Ahmedabad. CERS has filed a class action suit against Nestle India Ltd over alleged misleading advertisements before the District Forum in Ahmedabad. It alleged that ‘Atta Noodles’ advertisements by the leading FMCG brand claim that the product contains “the fibre of 3 rotis” and is “packed with veggies”. However, tests conducted by CERS found that the product contains half of the fibre amount claimed.
Chief general manager of CERC, Pritee Shah said the product was tested at a NABL-accredited laboratory and the tests found that the product only had 5.63g of fiber, against the 6g mentioned on the label. “The fiber content in ‘three rotis’ is 10.2g, according to data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” Shah said, adding that the other claims of the manufacturers, like ‘packed with veggies’, were found to be misleading. “Our tests revealed the 80gm noodle packet has only 5g of vegetables and is high in sodium with 985mg/100g. Thus, it cannot be termed nutrilicious. Such misleading claims put consumers’ life at risk,” Shah added.