India court orders regulator to provide timeline for food warning labels

The Supreme Court of India has instructed the federal government to outline a clear timeline for the implementation of food warning labels on packaged products within a span of 10 days. This directive follows complaints from a health non-profit and comes amid a government crackdown on food safety, which has resulted in regulators conducting raids across the nation.

The food regulator proposed a two-phase labeling program in the previous month, starting with red-colored hexagonal warnings on items that exceeded limits in a minimum of two out of three categories: added sugar, salt, or saturated fat. Further stringent rules were to be introduced in the second phase, the regulator stated. The Supreme Court expressed concern that without a definitive plan, the rollout of Phase II might be neglected or indefinitely delayed.

It emphasized that factors like assessing consumer acceptance or providing the industry sufficient time for reformulation should not be reasons for uncertainty in scheduling. A government source mentioned that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India would review the order but is open to implementing both phases concurrently.

The ongoing discussion on food safety in the country has gained momentum following a Reuters report last month that indicated India's government had selected a more lenient labeling system following pressure from firms like Coca-Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo, who argued that warning labels were ineffective. Nevertheless, numerous companies have voluntarily adopted such measures in European markets.

The food and beverage industry in India has opposed the proposed warning labels, arguing they are unclear and ineffective.