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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Food business operators will get a year from the date of notification to comply with upfront labelling on packaged foods to specify products high in added fat, added sugar and salt, as well as specified sweetened beverages, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India told the Supreme Court in an affidavit. This time period has been provided in order to avoid any commercial hardships to food business operators as they have pre-packaged material already printed in bulk, the food safety regulator said.

 

At the 48th meeting of the food safety regulator, it was decided that amendments and changes in labelling requirements in products will come into force on Jul. 1, subject to a minimum transition period of 365 days from the date of notification, the affidavit said. The intention of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, is also to take into consideration that any measure taken by the food regulator should not be restrictive of trade, it said.

 

The food safety regulator said it proposes to adopt a single-phase approach for the implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling. For the purpose of issuing and finalising the draft regulations, a period of about four months would reasonably be required in order to follow the regulatory process as envisaged under the 2006 Act, rules and regulations, it said. In this time period, the regulator will notify the draft amendment regulations mandatorily required to be published for a period of 60 days for inviting comments from stakeholders through the domestic consultation and the World Trade Organization platform, it said. Comments received will be examined and, subsequently, with the approval of the food regulator, the final notification will be given for publication in the official gazette, it said.

 

The regulator said that it was proposing a red Hexagon with white square shaped background in the front labelling, drawing similarity, more or less, with the labelling format adopted by Canada. Furthermore, where only one nutrient of concern is present, the corresponding nutrient will be indicated in the hexagon, it said. Where two or three nutrients of concern are present, the applicable two or three nutrients will also be indicated within a single hexagon, providing clear and specific information to consumers, it added.

 

In addition, any food product, including beverages, containing 'Non Caloric Sweetener' may have the warning statement 'CONTAIN NON CALORIC SWEETENER' on the front of the pack, which at present is mentioned on the back of the pack, said the food safety regulator. A category is created from the nutritional and health perspective, with an intent to make the consumer aware of sugar-sweetened beverages and to consume the same sparingly, said the regulator.

 

The regulator has proposed to adopt the threshold values for added sugar, added fat and salt per 100 gram/milliliter for the purpose of front-of-pack labelling. For instance, if a freshly prepared lemon juice contains added sugar or salt above the threshold values of more than 2 gram of added sugar or 175 milligram of salt per 100 milliliters, it would be considered high in the respective nutrient and would attract the applicable warning, irrespective of its level of processing, said the regulator. Similarly, in the case of packaged food such as chips, if the added fat and salt exceeds the prescribed thresholds of 4.2 gram and 625 milligram per 100 gram, respectively, the product would attract the applicable warning, irrespective of its categorisation based on the level of processing, it said.

 

The food safety regulator said that classifying a food as high in sugar without differentiating between naturally occurring sugars, such as those in fruits and milk, and added sugars, such as table sugar or syrup added during processing, has limitations because not all sugars are equal in terms of health impact. Furthermore, naturally occurring sugars in whole foods like fruits and dairy come packed with fibre, vitamins, minerals and beneficial phytochemicals, which slow down and contribute positively to health, it said.

 

It said that saturated fat alone should not be considered the sole contributor to excessive fat intake or related health concerns for warning labels. The major concern is excessive consumption of visible or added fats and oils, including vegetable or cooking oils, which can substantially increase the overall energy and fat content of the diet. Therefore, the overall dietary pattern and total intake of fats and oils should be considered rather than saturated fat in isolation, it added. The trans-fat content is always reflected separately on the label and is not merged with the total fat or saturated fat, it said.

 

The regulator said that its warning label would have three components – white square shaped background, a red hexagon within the white square shaped background, and the name of the nutrient. It said that the red hexagon is different from the brown coloured non-vegetarian logo. This warning label would be displayed prominently on the top left of the front of the pack, ensuring clear visibility and legibility to consumers, said the regulator. The proposed warning symbol would be displayed in a font size at least one point larger than used in the nutrition information table at the back of the pack, it said. The size of the warning label would align with the size of the warning label as provided in the Canada model, it added.

 

The court was hearing a public interest litigation initiated by 3S and Our Health Society Public Charitable Trust, a non-profit organisation, seeking a direction to the government, states, and the food regulator to mandate front-of-package warning labels on packaged foods. The petitioner said warnings on the front of packaging are a powerful tool to empower consumers to make informed choices about their diet and reduce the adverse impact of big corporations' commercial interests.  End 

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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