India Court Presses Regulator on Food Warning Labels

India's Supreme Court has ordered the country's food safety regulator to provide a clear timeline for implementing front-of-pack warning labels on packaged foods, stepping up pressure in a long-running public health dispute over sugar, salt and fat content. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran on September 10 flagged gaps in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's proposed two-phase rollout and gave the regulator 10 days to respond, with the next hearing set for September 28. Under FSSAI's proposal, outlined in an affidavit dated August 28, packaged foods high in two or more of three nutrients, added sugar, salt and saturated fat, would carry a red hexagonal warning stating HIGH FAT, HIGH SUGAR, HIGH SALT or, where applicable, HIGHLY SWEETENED BEVERAGE. Thresholds would be drawn from the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition's Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024. A second phase would extend warnings to products high in only one of the nutrients. The court questioned why products would initially need to exceed limits for more than one nutrient to attract a warning, noting that each nutrient can be harmful independently.