Communication with consumers in a transparent manner is crucial, especially at a time when packaged foods companies are under intense scrutiny of regulators, health groups and consumers, chief executives of India’s largest foods companies said.

“Those of us who choose to obfuscate, I don’t think it’s in the interest of either them or the consumer. You’ve to be as transparent as you can,” said Suresh Narayanan, managing director of the Indian unit of Nestle, the world’s largest packaged foods company. Calling for a “responsible dialogue between regulators, food processors and consuming groups”, Narayanan said: “One of the biggest areas of fake news is nutrition. Fundamentally, trust, transparency and responsibility go together, specially so in the foods business.”

Jayen Mehta, MD of Amul, backed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, said: “As companies, we cannot throttle the voice of our consumers, even more so in the age of social media. Those who talk about brands on social media are also consumers. It is, after all, they (consumers) that bring in our revenues.”

The comments came in response to ET’s questions about increased scrutiny of the products and claims of packaged foods companies. Last month, Mondelez’s milk drink Bournvita came under massive fire on social media when influencer Revant Himatsingka talked of “very high levels of sugar” in the brand in a video that went viral with 12 million views on Instagram. This led to social calls such as #BoycottBournvita, following which Mondelez’s law firm sent him a legal notice, resulting in Himatsingka apologising and deleting the video, and his Twitter account being suspended.

Though Mondelez issued statements that Bournvita is a “scientifically formulated product”, and that the video in question created “panic and anxiety”, the matter escalated across the country, leading to health and nutrition groups such as Consumer Voice and NAPi India (Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest) urging the government to revise regulations and labelling guidelines for packaged foods, and bring in stronger governance on claims made by packaged foods.

Another packaged goods maker, Dabur, recently dragged content creator Dhruv Rathee to court after Rathee released a video about the negative health impact of fruit juices, showing Dabur Real juice in the video.

“We’re sensitive to what’s happening, we understand that there are health codes that people are looking at, and in various categories. We are absolutely cognisant of the environment and working on it,” said Rajneet Kohli, chief executive of biscuits and dairy products maker Britannia. On April 30, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (Fssai) said it found 32 fresh cases of foods business operators making misleading advertisements and claims.

The national foods regulator said these products included health supplements, organic products, staples and millet-based products, and warned that deceptive claims or ads could be punishable offences under the FSS Act.