Take the real ORS: FSSAI ban puts an end to sugar-coated lies

IN a landmark move, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of the term ‘ORS’ — Oral Rehydration Salts — on any beverage label that does not meet the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) standard formulation. This is a public health victory long overdue. The order follows an eight-year battle by Hyderabad-based paediatrician Sivaranjani Santhosh, who fought to expose how several sugar-laden “energy” drinks misleadingly used the term ORS to market themselves as medical hydration solutions. For years, parents — trusting the packaging — gave these commercial “ORS-like” drinks to sick children, unaware that high sugar concentrations could worsen dehydration, particularly in cases of diarrhoea.