Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) V G Somani issued a show-cause notice to Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) over misleading COVID-19 fighting advertisement of Lifebuoy Immunity Boosting Hand Sanitizer. A reply has to be submitted within seven days from the date of receipt of the notice.
The product claims that using it will boost immunity which in turn leads to COVID-19 prevention.
“Lifebuoy Immunity Boosting Hand Sanitizer contains only 1% Niacinamide. A minuscule level of Niacinamide is absorbed through skin, which does not trigger or boost immunological response by human body and is insufficient to make any Improvement or boost immunological response in human body to fight viruses like Corona or even germs,” the DCGI said.
“Hindustan Unilever Limited has craftily put out a post claiming that Lifebuoy range of products kill inactive coronavirus, which may result into misleading and incorrect assumptions. Publication of such advertisement has the potential to mislead the general public which may be against the public interest in the present prevailing situation,” it added.
Section 3(b). of Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 says, that immunity is a condition of being able to resist a particular disease especially through preventing the development of a pathogenic microorganism or by counteracting the effects of its products, the notice reads, adding that HUL’s claim attracts the given definition.
In June, DCGI drafted a notice concerning a similar violation by the FMCG giant. It claimed that Lifebuoy Virus Fighter soap had anti-COVID-19 therapeutic properties, instead, it is cosmetic. The product was licensed as a cosmetic under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, it was being advertised as a drug which is a violation of the law.
