NEW DELHI, MAY 7: The move by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) of endorsing Tropicana juices and Quaker Oats has invited widespread criticism.

Calling it an issue of ethics, Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said, “We are clear that it’s completely wrong. In fact it’s legally wrong. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act clearly says that no medical association can endorse a product. There is an issue of ethics here, doctors’ associations all over the world have always been resisting to get into such endorsements. How can Pepsi ask IMA about it.”

The IMA, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company in March this year, however, sees nothing wrong in the move. This is for the first time that the IMA will endorse food and beverage products. In the past, the IMA, which represents over 1,75,000 doctors in the country, has endorsed Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol soap, Procter & Gamble’s Pampers diapers and Eureka Forbes’ water purifiers.

The MoU has been signed for a period of three years. “We approved this as it’s a good thing, we are sure that it’s pure juice. They approached us last year and we have a system wherein it was considered and found to be fit. Our scientific committee gave its approval and we decided to endorse it to tell people that it’s ok, to let people have juice,” said Dr Ajay Kumar, vice-president of IMA.

Dr Kumar added that the IMA’s latest endorsement could set the tone for other food and beverage companies to enhance the quality of their products.