Brand record
United Spirits (McDowell's, Royal Challenge, Antiquity): FSSAI record
Last checked 21 September 2026
United Spirits brands are not banned in India; FSSAI's 3 Aug 2026 orders prohibit sale of McDowell's No.1 Rum made at USL Baramati and of Antiquity Blue and Royal Challenge made at a USL Madhya Pradesh unit.
- Classification
- Restricted (Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006)
- Decided by
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- Reference
- FSSAI prohibition-of-sale orders, 3 Aug 2026
- Latest action
- 3 August 2026
- Last checked
- 21 September 2026
McDowell's No.1 Indian whisky (United Spirits). Photo: McDowell's No.1, Indian whisky.jpg by Gargarapalvin (CC BY 4.0). Brand names and logos belong to their owners and are used here to identify the product this entry is about. All photo credits.
FSSAI bans sale of Old Monk, Bagpiper and Royal Challenge over artificial flavouring
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 Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date.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
- Products and units
- McDowell's No.1 Rum: USL Baramati; Antiquity Blue and Royal Challenge. USL, Madhya Pradesh
- Grounds
- Flavour added to neutral spirit; false age claims
- Also in the same batch of orders
- McDowell's Celebration (Associated Alcohol, MP, a licensee, not USL)
- Geographic effect
- Facility-specific; not a brand-wide withdrawal
- Court status
- Not reported in the sources held
United Spirits, the maker of McDowell's, Royal Challenge and Antiquity, was covered by the same 3 Aug 2026 FSSAI orders that hit Old Monk. The orders prohibited the sale of McDowell's No.1 Rum produced at USL's Baramati unit and of Antiquity Blue and Royal Challenge produced at a USL unit in Madhya Pradesh. FSSAI's stated grounds were that flavouring had been added to neutral spirit, which it says is inconsistent with selling the product as rum or whisky, and that age claims on labels were not substantiated.
A separate order in the same batch covered McDowell's Celebration produced by Associated Alcohol in Madhya Pradesh, a third-party bottler rather than USL itself. Orders also went to Inbrew for Bagpiper Deluxe and Old Cask and to Associated Alcohol for Central Province Whisky.
Each order names a facility and a variant; none withdraws a brand from sale across India. Whether USL has obtained a court order, as Mohan Meakin sought in the Bombay High Court, is not recorded in the sources held here and is flagged for verification. No safety allegation was made.
What this means for you
Facility, not brand
Bottles produced at other USL units are outside the orders. The label dispute is the same as Old Monk's: flavouring and age claims.
Watch for label changes
If FSSAI's 'flavoured' descriptor position holds in court, labels across the category may change.
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
- News