Mumbai: Taking a note of surrogate advertising, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued show cause notices to Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan and Tiger Shroff over their advertisement for Vimal Elaichi.
The FDA has alleged that the advertisement, featuring the three actors, amount to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala. The product is prohibited in the state.
The Maharashtra FDA has intensified its action against the sale and promotion of tobacco and pan masala in the state.
The notices, according to reports, have asked Devgn, Khan and Shroff to explain their roles in the advertisement. The advertisement creates an association with the Vimal Pan Masala brand and could amount to its indirect promotion under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the FDA has alleged.
“Upon examination of the said advertisement, it prima facie appears that the advertisement promotes the Vimal brand, which is mainly associated with Pan Masala, a product prohibited for manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale in the State of Maharashtra for a period of one year, with effect from the date specified in the Prohibition Order dated the 13th July, 2026, issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety, Maharashtra State, under Section 30(2)(a) of the FSS Act, 2006,” the notice reads, as cited in an India Today report.
Maharashtra has prohibited gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine since 2012. The Maharashtra FDA has been taking this strict action under commissioner Tukaram Mundhe.
