Horlicks Is No Longer Called a 'Health Drink' — Why

Horlicks has been sold in India for over 106 years. First introduced as a 'malted milk food' for convalescents and infants by the British company Horlick Brothers, it became one of India's best-known brands under GSK Consumer Healthcare before being acquired by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in 2020 for ₹3,045 crore — one of the largest FMCG deals in India's history.

For generations, Horlicks was marketed as a scientifically formulated 'health drink' that made children 'taller, stronger, sharper.' Its advertising campaigns were iconic — school children with energy and sharp minds, attributed to a daily glass of Horlicks. Parents trusted it. In many Indian households, particularly in South India where Horlicks has its strongest market, offering a child a glass of Horlicks was as routine as a glass of milk.

This trust — built over a century of advertising — made the 2024 reclassification particularly significant. Facing regulatory pressure and a growing national conversation about sugar content in children's beverages, HUL quietly dropped the 'health drink' label from Horlicks and Boost packaging and marketing, repositioning them as 'functional nutritional drinks'. For many parents, this change raised an uncomfortable question: if it was really a health drink, why did the label have to change?

Horlicks Classic Malt contains the following ingredients (in descending order of weight): Wheat flour, Sugar, Malted barley, Milk solids (Skimmed milk powder), Glucose syrup, Palm oil, Minerals (Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium, Chromium), Vitamins (A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E, Folic acid, Biotin, Pantothenic acid), Permitted artificial flavouring substance (Vanillin).

The first two ingredients are wheat flour and sugar — meaning by weight, these are the largest components of Horlicks. The third ingredient, malted barley, is the source of the distinctive malt flavour. Milk solids (skimmed milk powder) appear fourth — behind sugar — which is relevant when the product is positioned as a nutritional milk supplement for children.

A standard serving of Horlicks is 3 heaped teaspoons (approximately 32g), mixed with 200ml of milk. Per 32g serving of Horlicks powder, the sugar content is approximately 7–8g of added sugar, plus 10g of lactose from the milk = approximately 17–18g of total sugar per prepared glass. Four servings per day would deliver 32g of added sugar — exceeding the WHO's recommended daily limit of 25g of free sugars for adults, and vastly exceeding appropriate limits for children.

Palm oil in the ingredient list adds saturated fat. The vanillin is an artificial flavouring. These are NOVA Group 4 markers. Under NOVA classification, Horlicks falls squarely into NOVA Group 4: Ultra-processed food, despite its positioning as a health product.

The decisive regulatory event came in April 2024, when the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a directive to e-commerce platforms asking them to remove Bournvita and similar malted beverages from the 'health drinks' category. This followed a viral social media campaign in 2023 that highlighted the sugar content of Bournvita — but the regulatory ripple effect was industry-wide.

FSSAI clarified that 'health drink' is not a legally defined category under the Food Safety and Standards Act and its regulations. The only legally recognised categories for such products are those specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations. Malted beverages like Horlicks fall under 'proprietary foods' — a catch-all category that does not legally authorise health claims. Using the term 'health drink' on labels and marketing, therefore, constituted a misleading label claim.

HUL proactively responded by relabelling Horlicks and Boost as 'Functional and Nutritional Drink' — a compromise that acknowledges the products do contain functional ingredients (vitamins, minerals) without the blanket 'health' endorsement. However, the product formulation remained unchanged. The same amounts of sugar and palm oil continue in the product, even as the marketing language moderated.

Regulatory experts pointed out that changing a label while maintaining the same composition does not address the core concern: that children are consuming a product with high sugar content that is displacing more nutritious beverages. The label change was a necessary step, but not a sufficient one.

The WHO recommends that free sugars constitute less than 10% of total energy intake, and preferably less than 5%. For a child consuming 1,500 kcal/day, 5% translates to approximately 18.75g of free sugar per day — about 4.7 teaspoons. One glass of Horlicks prepared with milk contributes approximately 7–8g of added sugar from the powder. Two glasses per day — which is not unusual in households where Horlicks is a morning and evening ritual — delivers 14–16g of added sugar from Horlicks alone, approaching the child's entire WHO daily limit before accounting for sugar in food.

Campaigners who analysed the sugar content of Horlicks, Bournvita, Milo, and Complan found that the average 100g of these powdered milk beverages contains 35–50g of sugar. Horlicks Classic Malt contains approximately 40g of sugar per 100g of powder — making it 40% sugar by weight. For comparison, a Mars bar is approximately 55% sugar. The product that is served to Indian children as a 'health drink' has sugar content approaching that of a chocolate bar.

High sugar intake in children is associated with dental caries, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The WHO and numerous paediatric nutrition authorities globally recommend against sweetened beverages and powdered milk supplements with added sugar for children over 2 years. Plain milk, with its natural lactose (a naturally present sugar that behaves differently from added sugar), and water are the recommended beverages for children.

The fundamental nutritional argument for Horlicks has always been that it provides vitamins and minerals that plain milk might not deliver in sufficient quantities — particularly iron, zinc, and certain B vitamins that are critical for children's cognitive development and immunity. This is a real nutritional need. The problem is that the delivery mechanism (a sugar-heavy malted beverage) is not the optimal way to meet it.

Plain full-fat milk provides protein (approximately 3.2g per 100ml), calcium (120mg per 100ml), vitamin D (if fortified), and natural fats necessary for brain development. Adding two teaspoons of Horlicks adds calories, sugar, and micronutrients — but the same micronutrients can be obtained through a balanced diet without the sugar load.

Paediatric nutritionists recommend that the micronutrient needs of children be met through whole foods first: leafy greens for iron, legumes and dairy for zinc, eggs and fish for B12, and fresh fruit for vitamin C. Where genuine micronutrient deficiencies exist (diagnosed by a paediatrician through blood tests), targeted supplementation is more appropriate than a high-sugar beverage.

For parents who want to provide children with a warming malt-flavoured drink, options include: unsweetened malted milk made at home by adding a teaspoon of malted barley powder to warm milk without added sugar; warm turmeric milk (haldi doodh); or plain milk with a small amount of cocoa powder (unsweetened). These provide warmth and flavour without the substantial sugar load of Horlicks.

The malted beverage category in India includes several competing brands: Boost (HUL — same parent company as Horlicks), Milo (Nestlé), Complan (Kraft Heinz), Bournvita (Mondelez), and Amul Pro (Amul). AaharIQ's comparison across these brands reveals similar sugar levels and NOVA Group 4 classification across the board.

Milo (Nestlé) contains approximately 21–23g of sugar per 100g powder — lower than Horlicks — and benefits from some cocoa solids which provide flavonoid antioxidants. However, Nestlé India faced controversy in 2024 when a leaked internal report suggested that Nestlé India's Milo had higher sugar content than Milo sold in European markets. Nestlé denied that its products vary by market but did not publish comparative formulation data.

Complan contains skimmed milk powder as its first ingredient (unlike Horlicks, where wheat flour comes first), and markets itself on a 'complete planned nutrition' platform. Its sugar content per 100g is approximately 30–35g. Bournvita, at 35–43g sugar per 100g, was the brand that triggered the 2023–2024 regulatory action.

The bottom line: all Indian malted beverages currently in the market are ultra-processed, high in sugar, and nutritionally inferior to whole food alternatives for providing the micronutrients they claim to deliver. Consumers should read labels carefully, compare sugar content across brands (look for less than 20g per 100g), and discuss their child's specific nutritional needs with a qualified paediatrician rather than relying on marketing claims.

Sugar content per 100g of powder across Horlicks and its category competitors: