Hyderabad paediatrician launches petition against misleading ORS-like drinks

A Hyderabad paediatrician has launched a petition urging authorities to regulate sugar-based drinks marketed like ORS. The move aims to prevent confusion among consumers, especially parents, and calls for clearer branding guidelines to protect public health.

Hyderabad: Senior paediatrician from Hyderabad, Dr Sivaranjani Santosh, on Tuesday launched an online petition against pharmaceutical companies that market sugar-based drinks in a manner similar to Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), which is a medically recommended electrolyte solution.

Titled ‘Clear Communication for Electrolyte Drinks: Protect Consumers in Pharmacies’, the petition on change.org seeks public support to urge the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) to stop manufacturers from misleading consumers.

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“This issue is not about whether sugar-based drinks are safe in isolation. It is about how they are presented and perceived. When these products are marketed as electrolyte drinks using branding like ‘ORSL’, it raises serious concerns,” Dr Sivaranjani said.

The petition highlights that branding sugar-based energy drinks similar to ORS creates ‘brand recall’. When parents see these drinks positioned as a continuation or replacement of medical ORS, they may mistakenly use them to treat dehydration. This defeats the very purpose of regulatory action, she said.

At medical stores, people tend to make quick decisions under stress. They rely on familiar names and visual cues. Branding can directly influence what they choose and if sugar-based drinks continue to build on ORSL recall, it risks being perceived as a medical solution for dehydration, even when it is not the same as ORS, which is the medically recommended solution, the petition said.

The paediatrician has urged FSSAI and MOHFW to make sure they issue clear-cut guidelines to pharmaceutical companies to rebrand their products in a way that does not create recall or association with ORS.