Front-of-pack nutrition labeling to be introduced in one phase, FSSAI tells Supreme Court

The court pulled up the FSSAI for not introducing warning labels on the front of packages of prepackaged food products indicating the level of sugar, salt and saturated fat. Image for illustration only. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country’s food regulator, on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) forwarded its proposal to the Supreme Court to adopt a one-phase approach to introduce front-of-pack nutrition labeling (FoPL) on packaged food products indicating sugar, salt and saturated fat levels.

The regulator has sought a four-month deadline to issue and finalize draft regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS Act), 2006.

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“During this time period, the FSSAI will notify the proposed amendments to the regulations, which must be compulsorily published for a period of 60 days to invite comments from stakeholders through domestic consultation and the WTO platform. The comments received will be reviewed and subsequently, with the approval of the Food Authority, a final notification will be sent to the Ministry for publication in the Official Gazette,” reads the FSSAI affidavit.

The affidavit was based on a petition filed by Kerala-based NGO 3S and Our Health Society, represented by advocate Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, seeking directions to the Center to introduce front-of-pack warning labels.

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The affidavit states that food business operators (FBOs) will have a voluntary implementation period of 365 days. “This time period has been provided to avoid any commercial difficulties for food business operators as they have pre-packaged material already printed in bulk,” she explained.

FSSAI said it is proposing a red hexagon with a white square background in the FoPL format, which is more or less similar to the FoPL format adopted by Canada.

Additionally, if only one nutrient of interest was present, the corresponding nutrient would be listed in the hexagon. If two or three nutrients of interest were present, the applicable two or three nutrients would also be listed in a single hexagon. According to him, the arrangement will provide consumers with clear and specific information.

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It stated that any food product, including beverages, containing non-caloric sweeteners would have the warning statement “CONTAINS NO-CALORICAL SWEETENER” on the front of the package.

The court pulled up the FSSAI for not introducing warning labels on the front of packages of prepackaged food products indicating the level of sugar, salt and saturated fat.

Published – 23 Sep 2026 23:09 IST