SRK, Ajay Devgn, Tiger Shroff get notices over Vimal ads

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has issued show-cause notices to Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Tiger Shroff over their advertisements for Vimal Elaichi. The FDA alleges the ads are a surrogate promotion for Vimal Pan Masala, which is banned in the state because it causes oral cancer. The notice says the expression 'Vimal Elaichi' creates an association with the prohibited brand and may mislead consumers.

The Times of India reports that India accounts for about 30% of global oral cancer cases, with over 1.43 lakh new cases and nearly 80,000 deaths annually. Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer said the actors have made huge profits from these products and caused mass addiction. The celebrities have 15 days to respond, discontinue their participation, remove the ads from social media, and furnish details of their endorsement contracts.