Banned or restricted substance
Is trans fat banned in India?
Last checked 21 September 2026
Industrial trans fatty acids are not banned in India but limited to 2% of total fat in all oils, fats and foods containing them since 1 Jan 2023, down from 3% in 2022, under amendments to the Food Additives Regulations.
- Classification
- Restricted (Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006)
- Decided by
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- Reference
- Amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 on trans fatty acids; limits effective 1 Jan 2022 (3%) and 1 Jan 2023 (2%)
- Latest action
- 1 January 2023
- Last checked
- 21 September 2026
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Safe here, banned there: what India's food regulations actually say
Our team has checked this record against the published reports, last on 21 September 2026. The government order itself is not published online, or we have not found it yet, so we link the best public report. If you have the order, send it to us and we will link it instead.
Scope. A record here does not by itself mean a product or company is unsafe or banned today. Regulatory actions can apply to one batch, one formulation, one period or one state. Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date. How we label records.
Below: Blacklisted's explanationWe explain what has been reported. The report above is the best source we hold.
Key facts
- Limit
- 2% of total fat (industrial trans fat) since 1 Jan 2023
- Previous
- 3% from 1 Jan 2022; 5% before that
- Applies to
- Refined oils, vanaspati, margarine, bakery shortening and all foods containing them
- Exempt
- Naturally occurring trans fat in dairy and meat
- WHO target
- Elimination of industrial trans fat; India's 2% cap meets WHO's best-practice policy
Industrial trans fatty acids are produced when vegetable oils are partially hydrogenated to make them solid, the process behind vanaspati and older bakery shortenings. They raise the risk of heart disease, and the World Health Organization has called for their elimination from the global food supply.
India chose a cap rather than an outright ban. Amendments to the Food Additives Regulations reduced permitted industrial trans fat in oils and fats from 5% to 3% of total fat with effect from 1 Jan 2022, and to 2% from 1 Jan 2023. A parallel amendment extended the 2% limit to all foods in which oils and fats are used as ingredients, closing the gap through which bakery and fried products had escaped. The limits do not apply to trans fat that occurs naturally in dairy and meat.
The 2% cap is what WHO counts as best-practice policy, and India is listed among countries that have adopted it. Because it is a limit rather than a prohibition, 'trans fat banned in India' is not quite right: vanaspati, margarine and shortening remain legal if reformulated to comply, and enforcement is by testing rather than by product withdrawal. Notification numbers for the amendments are to be added.
What this means for you
'Trans fat free' has a definition
Foods with less than 0.2 g trans fat per serving may claim to be trans-fat free. The 2% cap applies to everything else.
Vanaspati is still legal
It must be reformulated to meet the cap; it is not prohibited.
This is a record of official orders, not medical advice. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist.
Official sources and primary records
- News