Old Monk (Mohan Meakin): FSSAI record

The 'Old Monk banned' headlines of August 2026 come from FSSAI orders that are narrower, and older, than the reports suggested. On 29 Jun 2026 FSSAI's Western Regional Office issued a prohibition order under section 36(3)(b) of the Food Safety and Standards Act covering Old Monk variants produced at Mohan Rocky Springwater in Khopoli, Maharashtra. News reports name The Legend, Gold Reserve and XXX. Notices to several liquor makers followed on 10 Jul 2026, and on 27 Jul 2026 a conditional order allowed stock already made to be sold if relabelled as a rum flavoured spirit.

FSSAI's grounds were that the blend is mostly neutral spirit with rum flavour added, which in its view makes it a rum flavoured spirit rather than rum, and that the '7 Years Old Blended' claim was not substantiated. FSSAI set this out publicly on 3 Aug 2026, with some reports dating the statement 2 Aug. That is the date most stories carry, but it is the date of the statement, not of the order.

Mohan Meakin challenged the order in the Bombay High Court, arguing that section 36(3)(b) does not let FSSAI prohibit sale on its own. The petition was mentioned on 7 Aug 2026. On 10 Aug the court refused interim relief and gave FSSAI until 24 Aug to reply. On 31 Aug the company agreed to drop the '7 Years Old Blended' descriptor and to submit a revised label, and the court again declined a stay. In early September the revised label was reviewed with no relief granted, and the matter was listed for 11 Sep 2026. The outcome of that hearing has not been published.

The order is facility-specific and variant-specific. It does not withdraw Old Monk from sale across India, and it makes no allegation about safety. Other spirits were caught by the same campaign: McDowell's No.1 rum from United Spirits' Baramati plant was covered by an order of the same date, 29 Jun 2026, which FSSAI revoked on 17 Aug 2026. Antiquity Blue, Royal Challenge, Bagpiper Deluxe, Old Cask, Central Province Whisky and McDowell's Celebration were named in August reports, but their order dates and current status have not been confirmed from primary documents.