India’s food regulator has proposed a much stricter front-of-pack warning system for packaged foods, a blow to the processed-food industry. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India told the Supreme Court that a red hexagonal warning symbol should appear whenever even one nutrient of concern, salt, sugar or fat, exceeds its limit. The earlier draft would have required warnings only if two nutrients crossed their thresholds, a design widely criticised by public health experts. The regulator has also dropped a phased rollout in favour of a single-phase system after the court questioned the earlier plan.
Products containing artificial sweeteners would have to state on the front of the pack that they contain non-caloric sweeteners. At present, such disclosures usually sit on the back panel. FSSAI said it expects to finalise the revised regulations in roughly four months. Companies would then get a year to comply, which could mean reformulating recipes and redesigning packaging.
Multinationals such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever and Mondelez, along with large Indian food makers, would be affected. The All India Food Processors’ Association has told the court that many popular products would fall under the warnings and that the labels could hurt the image of Indian food abroad. Health advocates have long argued that simple, visible warnings are the most effective way to curb consumption of foods high in fat, sugar and salt. The Supreme Court is monitoring the process after a petition sought mandatory warning labels.