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FSSAI notices put baby food and nutrition product claims under scrutiny. FSSAI has issued show-cause notices to major food and nutrition companies over claims made for infant formula and children's nutritional drinks. The regulator has sought scientific evidence and explanations, while also questioning the promotion of infant formula products on social media. Published Date - 22 October 2026, 06:10 PM Hyderabad: Wrapping commercial products in scientific-sounding jargon, emotionally playing on parental anxieties to coax them into buying baby food, and pushing unverified health claims to boost sales of health and baby products has, for a long time, been a standard playbook for companies. However, such deceptive and misleading claims are finally being met with resistance, as food regulators and apex courts have started insisting that before flooding the markets with their untested products, MNCs and nutritional giants must prove what they claim in the laboratory first. The recent wave of show-cause notices to Nestle, Abbott, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Zydus, by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), against such deceptive advertisements, unverified health claims and promotional violations, has put a spotlight back on the practice of misleading vulnerable consumers and making profit at their cost. The FSSAI action has come in the wake of the Supreme Court's scathing remarks over deceptive advertising and public health safety. The apex court slammed companies that make misleading claims and even hauled up regulators for dragging their feet on clear front-of-pack warning labels, questioning whether undue pressure from powerful food manufacturers has allowed public health interests to be sidelined. The food regulator notices have also made it clear that companies can no longer treat clinical trials as marketing tools. From now on, any claim of enhanced growth due to a product or claims that a specific additive will make a baby's brain grow smarter or better will have to undergo rigorous peer-reviewed scientific scrutiny evaluated directly by regulatory authorities. The authorities have also included social media influencers and digital content creators in regulatory warnings to address a major loophole. In the last few years, such influencers and content creators, through promotional reels and unboxing videos, casually recommend specific baby milk substitutes under the guise of lifestyle advice. Such claims made by influencers are now firmly in the crosshairs of regulatory agencies. Public health specialists familiar with the issue said that FSSAI warnings to big brands over fake health claims on drinks, baby formula, and social media advertisements show that much of the industry relies on guesswork and claims, not on hard facts. Infant Nutrition - Companies rely on scientific jargon, unverified health claims, and parental anxieties to boost sales - Food regulators and the Supreme Court are demanding that nutritional giants prove their claims in the lab before launching products - FSSAI has issued show-cause notices to Nestle, Abbott, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Zydus over deceptive ads and promotional violations - Companies can no longer use clinical trials as marketing tools - Physical growth and brain-development claims must face rigorous peer-reviewed scrutiny - Regulatory warnings to influencers and content creators who casually push baby milk substitutes under the guise of lifestyle advice - Crackdown exposes an industry built on guesswork and unverified claims rather than hard data * Follow Us: Discover more Try New Foods

Abbott Laboratories plans to spin off its nutrition business into an independent company with about $8.5 billion in annual sales. Shares fell 3.9% to $98.44 in premarket trading. Daniel Salvadori, an executive vice president, will lead the new company, which will house the Pedialyte and Similac brands. Abbott shareholders would own shares in both companies. Abbott expects to complete the separation by the end of 2027. Afterwards, it would have sales of about $42 billion, focused on medical devices, diagnostics, and established medicines. The company has faced years of litigation over a baby-formula facility, including a $385 million settlement in September and a $670 million settlement in August.

Abbott posts lower 3Q profit, despite higher sales. Published on 10/21/2026 at 08:33 am EDT By Connor Hart Abbott reported higher sales in the latest quarter, though profit fell as operating costs and expenses increased. The healthcare company on Wednesday posted a third-quarter profit of $920 million, or 53 cents a share, down from $1.64 billion, or 94 cents a share, a year earlier. Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings came in at $1.42 a share, in line with the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet. Net sales climbed more than 14%, to $13.01 billion, just topping Wall Street models for $12.99 billion. Sales across Abbott's nutrition business rose 5.1% to $2.26 billion. The company separately on Wednesday announced plans to carve out its nutrition unit into an independent company, housing brands such as Pedialyte electrolyte beverages and Similac infant formula. Diagnostics sales jumped 47% to $3.31 billion. Sales across the company's established-pharmaceuticals and medical-device businesses were up 6.8% and 6.9%, respectively. Total operating costs and expenses rose 25% to $11.66 billion, in part reflecting higher input costs as well as research-and-development spending. Chief Executive Robert Ford said the quarterly results reflect balanced growth across the company's portfolio. "With strong performance across multiple businesses and a robust pipeline of innovation, we are well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth in the years ahead," he added. For the year, Abbott expects adjusted earnings to come in between $5.50 and $5.55 a share on comparable sales growth of about 6%. The company had previously guided for adjusted earnings of $5.45 to $5.60 a share on comparable sales growth of 6.5% to 7.5%. The company additionally guided for adjusted earnings of $1.62 to $1.67 a share in the current quarter, compared with analyst views for $1.64 a share. Write to Connor Hart at [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires 10-21-26 0831ET (C) Dow Jones - 2026