Banned vs Recalled vs Notice: FSSAI Actions Explained

Why the words matter

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 gives regulators a ladder of tools. At the bottom is a letter asking questions. At the top is a prohibition that stops manufacture or sale. News reports often collapse the whole ladder into the word "banned". On this site we use the regulator's own word for each action, because the difference decides whether a product is still legal to buy, whether a batch should be returned, or whether nothing has changed at all.

Show-cause notice

A show-cause notice asks a company to explain, within a set time, why action should not be taken against it. It is the most common step and the least consequential on its own. Nothing is withdrawn from sale by a notice. In September 2024 FSSAI issued a show-cause notice to the ghee supplier named in the Tirupati laddu allegations after samples failed testing. In June 2026 FSSAI issued notices to eight companies, including Emami Healthy & Tasty, Neuherbs and The Healthy Factory, over brand names and claims such as "healthy" and "zero maida". In July 2026 it sent notices to six energy-drink makers over the words "energy drink". In every one of these cases the products stayed on sale while the company replied.

Improvement notice (section 32)

An improvement notice is issued by the Designated Officer when a food business is not meeting the regulations. It sets out what must be fixed and gives at least 14 days to do it. If the business does not comply, the licence can be suspended, and after a further chance to respond, cancelled. Improvement notices are usually about premises and processes, hygiene, storage, records, rather than about one product. They are rarely reported in the press, which is why you seldom see the term, even though it is the everyday tool of enforcement.

Licence suspension or cancellation

Every food business needs a licence or registration under section 31. Suspending it stops the premises from operating until the problems are fixed. It does not by itself recall stock already sold, and it does not affect the same brand made at another plant. In 2026 FSSAI suspended the licences of Dior Pharmaceuticals and Rehaan Healthcare, two nutraceutical manufacturers, over gaps in sanitation, pest control, storage and record keeping, and of Matri Drinking Water in Tripura for storing finished product on the floor beside non-food material. Cancellation is the permanent version, used after suspension fails.

Recall (section 28 and the 2017 Recall Regulations)

A recall removes a specific food, usually a named batch, from the market. Under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Recall Procedure) Regulations, 2017, notified on 18 January 2017, a company that learns a product needs recalling must tell the authority within 24 hours and act on it. Recalls can be voluntary or directed by the CEO of FSSAI or a state Commissioner of Food Safety. A post-recall report goes to FSSAI within 30 days. Since 18 March 2026 recalls are logged on a Food Recall module in FoSCoS, where the public can see them.

Example: on 24 January 2025 Patanjali Foods recalled about four tonnes of packed red chilli powder from one batch at FSSAI's direction, asking customers to return packs for a refund. That was a recall of one batch, not a ban on the brand or the product line. See the companion guide on reading a FoSCoS recall record.

Prohibition orders (sections 30, 33, 34 and 36)

This is the level that deserves the word "ban", and even here the scope is usually narrow.

Section 30(2)(a) lets a state Commissioner of Food Safety prohibit, in the interest of public health, the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of any article of food in the whole or part of the state for up to one year. State-level "energy drink bans" rest on powers of this kind.

Section 33 prohibition orders are made by a court after a conviction, and can stop a person from running a food business or using particular premises or equipment.

Section 34 emergency prohibition notices and orders are for situations where a food business poses an imminent health risk. The Designated Officer applies to the Commissioner, and breaking such an order can mean imprisonment.

Section 36 sets out the Designated Officer's powers, and prohibition-of-sale orders against specific products from specific plants are issued under this machinery. The 2026 liquor orders are the clearest example. In June and July 2026 FSSAI's Western Regional Office issued prohibition orders against named rum and whisky variants made at named facilities, including Old Monk from Khopoli and McDowell's No.1 from Baramati, on the ground that added flavouring meant they could not be sold as plain "rum" or "whisky". The orders named plants, not brands nationwide.

Directions under the claims regulations

FSSAI can also direct a company to stop using a label claim under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018. On 3 August 2026 it prohibited Dabur from selling honey, ghee, coconut water and four other products with "100% Pure" or "100% Natural" claims. This is a labelling direction. The products themselves were not declared unsafe.

Court stay

Any of the above can be challenged in a High Court. A stay suspends the order while the case is heard. It does not decide who is right. On 7 August 2026 the Delhi High Court stayed the Dabur order because the company had not been heard first. On 12 August 2026 the Madhya Pradesh High Court stayed FSSAI's orders against two Associated Alcohols products. The Bombay High Court, by contrast, refused interim relief to Mohan Meakin and United Spirits, so the Old Monk order stayed in force. A stay means "on sale again for now". Refusal of a stay means "the order stands while the case continues".

Withdrawal by the regulator

Sometimes the regulator withdraws its own order after the company changes something. FSSAI revoked its order against United Spirits' Baramati rum on 17 August 2026 after the company agreed to reformulate and relabel, and United Spirits withdrew its petition. The product returned to the market without any court ruling on the merits.

A quick key

Notice: explain yourself. Product stays on sale. Improvement notice: fix the premises within 14 days or more. Suspension: that plant stops. Other plants and sold stock are unaffected. Recall: that batch comes back. Other batches stay. Prohibition order: that product, from that plant or in that state, is off sale. Stay: the order is paused. Nothing is decided. Nationwide ban of a brand: rare. Maggi in June 2015 is the last well-known case, and the Bombay High Court set that order aside within three months.

Banned, recalled, or just a notice? What each FSSAI action means