India’s top court urges the Food Safety and Standards Authority to implement a clear, warning-based front-of-pack labelling system for packaged foods, amid rising obesity rates and industry pushback against measures to curb unhealthy consumption.
India’s top court has pushed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India towards a front-of-pack warning system for packaged foods, tightening the pressure on regulators to move from discussion to implementation. The proposal now before the Supreme Court centres on a red hexagon placed on a white square background to flag products that are high in fat, sugar or salt, a format the authority has put forward in its latest affidavit as it responds to public interest litigation over food labelling and obesity.
The court’s intervention comes against a backdrop of worsening obesity rates in India. Data from the National Family Health Survey-6 show that the share of men aged 15 to 49 who were overweight or obese rose to 27 per cent in 2023-24 from 23 per cent in the previous round, while the figure for women in the same age group increased to 31 per cent from 24 per cent. The survey findings have sharpened concern over diet-related disease, particularly as consumption of processed food continues to climb.
That trend is also visible in spending patterns. The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey showed that monthly per capita expenditure on processed foods increased between 2011-12 and 2023-24, rising to 9.8 per cent of rural household spending from 7.9 per cent, and to 11.1 per cent in urban households from 9 per cent. Health experts and campaigners say the shift reflects the broader growth of convenience eating, which has put packaged products at the centre of India’s nutrition debate.
The World Health Organisation has long argued that front-of-pack labelling is more effective than the familiar nutrition table on the back of a packet. Among the options used globally, traffic-light labelling is often cited as one of the most intuitive because it uses colours to show whether key nutrients are high, medium or low. Supporters say such systems help consumers make quicker choices and also push manufacturers to reformulate products, although the impact depends heavily on how the labels are designed and how clearly they are enforced.
Industry pressure has complicated the policy path. Reuters reported that FSSAI softened its approach after a tense meeting in March with food company executives, who argued that warning labels would be confusing and of limited use. A Coca-Cola executive was quoted by Reuters as saying it was “very simplistic” to think consumers who do not already read ingredient lists would be guided by a symbol alone. Campaigners have criticised the proposed threshold-based approach as too weak, warning that the food industry has a long record of resisting measures that could curb sales of high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt products.
That resistance is not unique to India. A 2022 study in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia found that industry lobbying helped delay or dilute front-of-pack labelling reforms in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Viet Nam. Sri Lanka, by contrast, has moved more decisively in recent years, introducing traffic-light labelling for sugar-sweetened drinks, expanding it to foods high in fat, sugar or salt, and unveiling a broader food safety policy earlier this month. For the Indian court, the question is no longer whether labelling matters, but whether the final rule is bold and clear enough to serve public health rather than industry convenience.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
