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The 'health drink' claims crackdown, 2024 to 2026: a dated timeline

By Blacklisted editorial team· Updated [object Ob

In short

Between April 2024 and August 2026 FSSAI moved from telling online stores that 'health drink' has no legal meaning to prohibiting specific label claims: '100% fruit juice', 'ORS' on sugary drinks, and '100% pure' on Dabur products. The A1/A2 milk advisory was issued and withdrawn within five days. No product was banned or recalled in any of these actions; the fight has been about words on packs and website categories.

Why this timeline exists

"Bournvita banned", "Horlicks banned", "ORS banned", "A2 milk banned" have all trended in India since 2023. None is true. What happened is a run of regulatory actions on labels and categories, each narrower than its headline. The dates below are taken from the orders and from contemporaneous reports; where we could not confirm a reference number we say so.

2023: the Bournvita prelude

1 April 2023. An influencer's Instagram video questions the sugar content of Cadbury Bournvita, then sold as a "health drink". Mondelez sends a legal notice and the video is taken down.

26 April 2023. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) writes to Mondelez India asking it to withdraw "misleading" advertisements, packaging and labels and to explain itself within seven days. NCPCR's point is that maltodextrin and liquid glucose on the label are added sugars, and that FSSAI's proposed front-of-pack rules would flag a product with more than 10 per cent of energy from added sugar. Mondelez replies that the product is "scientifically formulated". No regulatory order follows in 2023.

2 April 2024. FSSAI issues an advisory to all e-commerce food business operators. It says the term "health drink" is not defined or standardised anywhere under the Food Safety and Standards Act or its regulations, and that dairy-based, cereal-based and malt-based beverage mixes are being wrongly listed under "health drinks" and "energy drinks". Platforms are told to remove or de-link such products from those categories. "Energy drink" is reserved for water-based flavoured drinks that meet the caffeinated beverage standard.

10 April 2024. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry advises all e-commerce platforms to remove Bournvita and similar beverages from the "health drinks" category. The trigger is an NCPCR inquiry under section 14 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, which concluded there is no "health drink" defined under the FSS Act. Reports appear on 13 April.

24 April 2024. Hindustan Unilever's chief financial officer, Ritesh Tiwari, tells an earnings briefing that Horlicks and Boost will be called "functional nutritional drinks" instead of "health food drinks". This is a voluntary rename, not an order.

4 June 2024. FSSAI directs food businesses to remove "100% fruit juice" claims from labels and advertisements of reconstituted juices with immediate effect, allowing pre-printed packaging to be used up to 1 September 2024. The regulator says the Advertising and Claims Regulations, 2018 have no provision for a "100%" claim, that water is the main ingredient in such juices, that "reconstituted" must appear next to the juice name, and that a juice with more than 15 g per kg of added sweetener must be called "sweetened juice".

21 August 2024. FSSAI advises dairies and e-commerce platforms to drop "A1" and "A2" claims from milk, ghee and related products, saying the distinction is not recognised under the regulations, and gives six months to exhaust printed labels.

26 August 2024. FSSAI withdraws the A1/A2 advisory "for further consultation and engagement with the stakeholders". As of 20 September 2026 A2 claims are neither prohibited nor standardised.

2025: "ORS" on sugary drinks

14 and 15 October 2025. FSSAI issues orders prohibiting the word "ORS" on beverages that do not meet the World Health Organization oral rehydration formula, with or without prefixes and suffixes, withdrawing earlier permissions (reference numbers:, being verified Fruit-based and electrolyte drinks branded "ORS" were being given to children with diarrhoea in place of the real thing.

23 and 30 October 2025. Further FSSAI communications; the 30 October order says such use breaches sections 23 and 24 of the FSS Act, which cover packaging, labelling and misleading advertisements.

31 October 2025. The Delhi High Court (Justice Sachin Datta) declines to interfere in a petition by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, holding that the orders are regulatory measures across the industry addressing a serious public-health concern, and directs FSSAI to consider the company's request on rebranding existing stock (Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd v Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine Del 7909).

November 2025. FSSAI asks state food safety commissioners to remove fruit-based and electrolyte drinks sold under "ORS" names from the market.

2026: notices, then orders, then a stay

14 June 2026. FSSAI announces notices to eight companies over brand names and claims: Emami Healthy & Tasty, Health Aid, Troovy, The Healthy Factory, Healthy Master, Healthy Choice, Plan B and Neuherbs. The objections include "healthy" in trade names, "Zero Maida" on products containing wheat gluten, "True Vitamin" as a name and an unapproved vegan claim. Products stay on sale; the companies must reply.

June 2026. Further notices go to Organic Wisdom, Storia and Two Brothers Organic Farms, among others, over "organic" and "healthy" wording, and to Nestle India, KFC India and Flipkart after social-media complaints.

1 July 2026. Notices to six energy-drink brands over the words "energy drink", covered in the companion guide on energy drinks.

July 2026. Notices to Lotte India, Ferns N Petals and Kubera Foods over labelling and claims.

3 August 2026. FSSAI prohibits Dabur India from selling honey, cow ghee, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, coconut water and coconut milk with "100% Natural", "100% Pure", "100% Purity Guaranteed", "100% Organic" or "100% Tender Coconut Water" on the label, calling the claims "ambiguous, scientifically unverifiable" and in breach of the Advertising and Claims Regulations. This is the first time in the sequence that FSSAI moves from a notice to an order.

7 August 2026. The Delhi High Court (Justice Amit Mahajan) stays the Dabur order. The court finds a prima facie case: Dabur was not heard before the direction, received no show-cause notice, and the order did not explain why the descriptions were misleading. Dabur says stock worth more than Rs 150 crore would otherwise need withdrawing or repacking. The matter is listed for 24 August 2026 (outcome:, being verified

What none of this did

No health drink, juice, ORS-branded drink, A2 milk or Dabur product was banned or recalled. The 2024 advisories changed website categories. The June 2024 juice directive and the October 2025 ORS orders changed names on packs. The 2026 notices asked for explanations, and the one order that went further was stayed within four days. If a page tells you a product on this list is "banned", check it against the date here.

What to watch next

Three things are open as of 20 September 2026: the Dabur case in the Delhi High Court, whether FSSAI returns to the A1/A2 question after its consultation, and whether the energy-drink relabelling deadline at the end of September is enforced or extended. This timeline will be updated as orders are published.

Sources

Researched and written by The Blacklisted team
We are not doctors or pharmacists. Everything on this page comes from the documents listed above, which you can open and check. Last checked [object Ob. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.