India’s food regulator proposes a single, standardised warning symbol for packaged foods high in sugar, salt, or fat, aiming to enhance transparency and reduce consumer confusion on crowded packaging.
India’s food regulator has moved to simplify its proposed front-of-pack warning system, telling the Supreme Court that packaged foods high in added sugar, added fat or salt should carry a single, standardised alert rather than a phased or multi-symbol approach. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said the redesigned system is meant to make it easier for shoppers to spot products that carry nutrients of concern and to reduce the risk of confusion on crowded packaging.
Under the proposal, any product that exceeds the relevant threshold for even one of the nutrients would carry a prominent red hexagonal warning on the front of the pack. If a food breaches the limits for two or three nutrients, those warnings would be combined within the same symbol. The thresholds would be drawn from the ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, giving the system a nutritional benchmark tied to national public-health guidance.
The regulator has also signalled that it may move the statement “CONTAIN NON CALORIC SWEETENER” from the back of the pack to the front for products using non-caloric sweeteners. FSSAI said the aim is to make the information more visible at the point of purchase, rather than leaving consumers to search for it elsewhere on the label.
According to the filing reported by Business Standard and other Indian media, the authority is now asking for about four months to finalise and issue draft rules, followed by a 60-day public consultation period. It has also proposed a 365-day voluntary transition window for food companies, a cushion intended to limit commercial disruption for businesses that already have packaging printed under current labelling rules.
The shift marks another step in a longer-running debate over how India should label packaged foods high in sugar, salt and fat. FSSAI’s latest proposal, reported by Food Business MEA and NDTV, favours a single warning format over separate pictorial symbols for each nutrient, which the regulator says would make labels clearer and more legible. If adopted, the change would give India a more direct front-of-pack warning model and move the country closer to the plain-language labels that public-health advocates have long pushed for.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
