8 years on, food regulator still just consulting on front of pack labelling | India News

Almost eight years after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) prepared the first draft regulation on Front of Pack Labeling (FOPL) of packaged foods in 2018 for comments and suggestions, the authority is yet to finalize the regulation.In an affidavit dated March 13, in a petition to the Supreme Court in May 2024, FSSAI sought six weeks’ time to submit a proposal for labeling of packaged foods high fat, sugar salt (HFSS) whose consumption has been shown to cause non-communicable diseases.After holding five rounds of discussions with stakeholders, including the food industry, FSSAI informed the court that it is holding another consultation with stakeholders on March 19 regarding “issuance of proposed labels”.“The question of front-of-pack labeling has already been the subject of extensive consultation and technical discussion for several years,” pointed out Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), an independent experts’ think tank of epidemiology, nutrition and paediatrics, in a letter to FSSAI. It added that FSSAI should consider proceeding with the formulation of FOPL regulations on the basis of extensive consultation, available evidence and the SC order rather than re-opening the matter through additional stakeholder discussions.The Supreme Court in its February 10 order said that “…we are of the view that the exercise so far has not yielded any positive or good results”. The court also noted that the PIL was filed to raise an important issue relating to the right to health of the citizens.FSSAI held a consultation in August 2018, followed by a consultation in February 2022 where all 17 industry associations voted for a star-rating system while all consumer bodies asked for warning labels.A revised draft of the Food Safety and Standards (Labeling and Display) Regulations 2020 was placed in the public domain for objections and suggestions with over 14,000 comments and suggestions from the public and stakeholders. FSSAI constituted an expert committee to analyze all the comments. In May 2025, FSSAI organized four stakeholder consultations with food business operators and others in Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata. In October 2025, the food industry submitted 430 representations to the Ministry of Food Processing raising “serious concerns over the draft notification”. The parliamentary committee that brought out a report on regulation of food labeling in December 2025, also heard from various food industry associations and their representatives along with other stakeholders. “How many suggestions will it take? The process of regulation began in 2014, when FSSAI came up with guidelines that include front-of-pack labeling stating how much fat, sugar or salt it contains. How long does it take to bring in a regulation to protect public health interests? This is despite growing evidence of non-communicable diseases and obesity in children. Packaged foods are high in fat, salt and sugar,” asked Dr Arun Gupta. Did, a NAPI member.