FSSAI notice, energy drinks to be labelled 'Caffeinated beverage' (Jul 2026)

On 3 Jul 2026 FSSAI directed manufacturers of caffeinated beverages to stop using the term 'energy drink' and to label their products 'Caffeinated beverage', the category name under regulation 2.10.6 of the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations. The same regulation sets caffeine at 145 to 300 mg per litre and requires cautionary statements. Manufacturers were given 90 days, to 29 Sep 2026.

The order followed two years of pressure on category names. In April 2024 FSSAI had told e-commerce platforms that 'health drink' and 'energy drink' had no definition in law, and the ministries had asked platforms to recategorise Bournvita and similar products. The 2026 order applied the same logic to the drinks themselves.

Industry pushed back on timing. On 8 Aug 2026 Business Standard reported that FSSAI would not ease the deadline, and on 27 Aug 2026 FoodNavigator quoted companies saying 90 days was not enough to redesign and reprint packaging across the supply chain.

The order is a labelling direction. It does not prohibit any product, brand or ingredient, and it does not require withdrawal of stock. Separate state actions. Rajasthan's 11 Jul 2026 prohibition on eight brands, Maharashtra's school-zone restriction on Sting and Punjab's 2025 directive on minors, are what searchers usually mean by 'energy drink ban'; they are recorded on their own pages.