FDA to check if your gym is stretching its promises

From unhygienic roadside stalls, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now trained its guns on fancier surroundings. After collecting samples of health products from the market, the FDA will now check whether the supplements handed to you at your nearest gym offer all that the products promise.

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Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner (food), FDA confirmed the move. "We are collecting details regarding the number of gyms in the city. In Thane alone about 100 gyms have been identified and we are collecting the data for Mumbai too. Many gyms sell their in-house product promising immediate weight loss etc. We need to curb this as there are complaints of gyms fooling members," he said.

Fat chance
MiD DAY had reported on April 2 (Health products can make you sick) how FDA has seized many health supplements from the market including certain energy drinks. An FDA official, on condition of anonymity, said, "Some products promise they have no fats and are ideal for people looking to lose weight. But unfortunately we discovered that the fat content in some of these commodities is quite high. People end up paying a heavy price by consuming them."

"We will be acting strictly against these health supplements and gyms that are misleading people, once accurate data has been collected," Deshmukh said.

‘Can' do
FDA recently seized 16.3 lakh cans worth Rs 6.40 crore of a popular energy drink from two premises in Thane. Officials said the raid was conducted because the caffeine content in the product was between 250 parts per million (ppm) and 300 ppm. According to Indian food safety laws, the permissible limit for caffeine in carbonated beverages is 145 ppm. Caffeine, a mildly addictive stimulant, is commonly found in coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks.u00a0