SRINAGAR: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed mandatory red-coloured hexagonal warning labels on the front of packaged food products containing high levels of specified nutrients of concern, including added saturated fat, added sugar and salt.
The proposal was submitted to the Supreme Court through a compliance affidavit following the court’s August 13 order in a petition seeking mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on packaged foods.
Under the proposed framework, a red hexagonal warning would appear on the front of a package when a product contains high levels of two or more specified nutrients. Depending on the product, the label could carry declarations such as “High Fat”, “High Sugar”, “High Salt” and/or “Highly Sweetened Beverage”, according to the affidavit.
FSSAI said the proposed labelling system was intended to give consumers a prominent and easily understandable indication of products high in nutrients that can pose health concerns when consumed excessively.
The regulator has proposed that the warning be displayed in a font size one point larger than that used for the nutrition information table on the back of the package.
The proposed thresholds are based on nutrient-of-concern limits specified in the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN).
FSSAI has proposed a two-phase implementation to allow consumers to adapt to the system and give food manufacturers time for product reformulation.
In the first phase, front-of-pack warnings would apply to products high in two or more of the specified nutrients, as well as specified sweetened beverages. The second phase would extend the requirement to products high in any one of the specified nutrients.
Single-ingredient foods have been proposed for exemption. The framework would also exclude foods inherently rich in fat, sugar or salt, including ghee, edible oils, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey, subject to other applicable food safety and labelling requirements.
The affidavit followed the Supreme Court’s criticism of the delay in introducing warning labels while hearing a petition filed by public charitable trust 3S and Our Health Society.
A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran had questioned the delay on August 13 and asked whether the government “does not want its people to be healthy”.
The petitioner, represented by advocate Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, has sought directions to the Centre, States and Union Territories for mandatory front-of-package warning labels on packaged food products.
FSSAI clarified that the proposed system is not yet a binding regulation. Any such requirement would have to be formally notified through amendments to the relevant food safety and labelling regulations after completion of the prescribed procedure.
