Business & Economy
Junk foods will soon have labels warning of high salt, sugar and fat
Will India’s new front-of-pack rule force brands to reformulate products?
Will India’s new front-of-pack rule force brands to reformulate products?
India’s push for front-of-pack food warnings marks a sharper turn in the fight over , with regulators under pressure to make high salt, sugar and fat easier for consumers to spot. The proposed could force companies to reformulate products and change marketing, while giving shoppers a clearer signal about the health cost of .
The is expected to push companies toward , and to avoid prominent warnings. By making the risk visible on the , the rule could change both product formulation and how brands position packaged foods in India.
FSSAI defined the trigger for the warning label using nutrient-of-concern thresholds from the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024. The regulator said products would be classified as high in fat, sugar or salt when they cross the prescribed limits for added fat, added sugar or salt, which gives the label rule a formal technical basis.
The proposal says phase one would cover products high in two or more of the specified nutrients, along with highly sweetened beverages. That means the first wave is aimed at the most heavily processed and sugary products, before the rule broadens to items high in any one of the nutrients.
FSSAI told the Supreme Court it wants a red, hexagonal warning symbol on the front of packaged foods that are high in two or more of the specified nutrients. The label would use plain language such as HIGH FAT, HIGH SUGAR, HIGH SALT, and HIGHLY SWEETENED BEVERAGE, tied to thresholds drawn from the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024.
The Supreme Court sharply criticized the Centre and FSSAI for delay and gave them two weeks to take a final decision on warning labels. The bench warned that it would issue its own directions if the government did not act, raising the pressure on the regulator to settle the rule.
The Supreme Court directed FSSAI to seriously consider mandatory front-of-pack warning labels for packaged foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. The court also pressed the regulator to place its response on record within weeks, turning a long-running policy debate into a time-bound regulatory issue.
India’s food regulator and public health groups began pushing harder for front-of-pack warning labels on packaged foods high in salt, sugar and fat. The idea was to make unhealthy products easier to spot at a glance, but the proposal did not move quickly into binding rules.