8 years on, food regulator still only consults on front-of-pack labeling

Nearly eight years after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched the first draft regulations on front-of-pack labeling (FOPL) of packaged food for comments and suggestions in 2018, the agency is yet to finalize the regulations.In an affidavit on March 13, based on a petition filed in the Supreme Court in May 2024, the FSSAI sought a proposal within six weeks for labeling of packaged foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), the consumption of which has been shown to cause non-communicable diseases.After organizing five rounds of consultations with stakeholders, including the food industry, the FSSAI informed the court that it will hold one more consultation with stakeholders on March 19 on the “proposed label”.Nutrition Advocacy in the Public Interest (NAPi), a think tank composed of independent experts in epidemiology, nutrition and pediatrics, noted in a letter to the FSSAI that “the issue of front-of-pack labeling has been the subject of extensive consultation and technical deliberations over the years.” It added that the FSSAI should consider formulating FOPL regulations on the basis of broad consultations, existing evidence and SC orders, rather than revisiting the matter through additional stakeholder deliberations.The Supreme Court in its order on February 10 said, “…we are of the view that none of the actions taken so far have yielded any positive or good outcome”. The court further noted that the PIL was filed to raise important questions regarding the right of citizens to health.The FSSAI organized a consultation in August 2018, followed by another in February 2022, in which all 17 industry associations voted in favor of the star rating system, while all consumer organizations called for warning labels.After the draft amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Labels and Display) Regulations 2020 were opened for objections and suggestions, more than 14,000 comments and suggestions were received from the public and stakeholders. The FSSAI formed an expert committee to analyze all the submissions. In May 2025, FSSAI organized four stakeholder consultations with food business operators and other institutions in Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata. In October 2025, the food industry submitted 430 complaints to the Ministry of Food Processing, raising “serious concerns about the draft notification”. The parliamentary committee that will publish a report on food labeling regulation in December 2025 also heard from various food industry associations and their representatives, as well as other stakeholders. “How many consultations are needed? The process of formulating the regulation started in 2014 when the FSSAI came up with guidelines, which included stating the fat, sugar or salt content on the front label of the package. How long will it take to come up with a regulation to protect public health interest? This is despite growing evidence that the incidence of non-communicable diseases and obesity is rising, even among children, due to consumption of packaged foods high in fat, salt and sugar,” Dr Arun Gupta of NAPi asked the members.