‘Taking us for a toss?’: Top court raps food regulator on warning labels

The Supreme Court recently rebuked India's food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), for its delay in implementing Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL) on packaged food products. These labels would indicate the levels of sugar, salt, and saturated fats in the products. During a hearing in February, the court had asked FSSAI to consider introducing such labels.

Now, a bench led by Justice J B Pardiwala has given the government a final chance to respond, requesting it to submit its decision in two weeks. Failure to do so would result in the court issuing directions. The petitioner, a Kerala-based non-profit organization, argued that FOPWL labels are crucial for public health, particularly for children, and questioned the authorities' reluctance to comply with the court's earlier order.

The FSSAI, however, proposed to implement a Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) system that rates overall nutritional value using a star-rating system.