India’s food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has proposed introducing red-coloured, hexagonal front-of-pack warning labels on packaged foods that are high in specified levels of added saturated fat, added sugar and salt. The proposal was submitted to the Supreme Court through a six-page compliance affidavit on August 28, following the Court’s criticism of the regulator’s earlier approach to front-of-pack nutrition warnings.
Under the proposed system, the warning would carry declarations such as “High Fat”, “High Sugar”, “High Salt” and “Highly Sweetened Beverage”, depending on the product’s composition. The label would be designed to provide consumers with a simple, prominent and easily comprehensible warning, with the proposed font size one point larger than the font used in the nutrition information table on the back of the pack.
FSSAI has proposed a two-phase implementation. In Phase I, products high in two or more of the specified nutrients, along with specified sweetened beverages, would come under the warning system; in Phase II, the requirement would extend to products high in any one of the specified nutrients. The thresholds would be based on the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, issued by the ICMR–National Institute of Nutrition.
The proposed front-of-pack warning requirement would not apply to single-ingredient foods or foods inherently rich in fat, sugar or salt, including ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey. These products would, however, continue to remain subject to other applicable food-safety and labelling requirements.
The move follows strong scrutiny from the Supreme Court, which had questioned FSSAI’s earlier decision not to introduce clear interpretive warnings for high sugar, salt and saturated-fat products. The Court had also raised concerns about the health of children and asked whether regulatory decisions were being influenced by pressure from the food industry. (Live Law)
For the dairy and packaged-food industry, the proposed system could make nutrition communication, product formulation and packaging compliance increasingly important. While products such as ghee would be exempt from this particular front-of-pack warning, processed dairy categories with added sugar, salt or saturated fat could face greater scrutiny as the proposed framework moves forward.
Source: Dairynews7x7 29 Aug, 2026 Read full story here
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