FSSAI notice
FSSAI order prohibiting 'ORS' in beverage brand names (Oct 2025)
Last checked 19 September 2026. A few details are still being checked against the original document.
Since FSSAI's order of 14 to 15 Oct 2025 the term 'ORS' may not appear on any beverage that does not meet the WHO oral rehydration formula; the Delhi High Court declined to interfere on 31 Oct 2025.
- Classification
- Prohibited (Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006)
- Decided by
- FSSAI; Delhi High Court
- Reference
- FSSAI order of 14/15 Oct 2025 withdrawing earlier permissions for 'ORS' branding (order, being verified; Delhi HC order 31 Oct 2025
- Latest action
- 31 October 2025
- Last checked
- 19 September 2026details being verified
Photo: Various energy drinks 03.jpg by Oto Zapletal (CC BY-SA 4.0). All photo credits.
Delhi HC on banning use of 'ORS' label on food and beverages
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 Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date.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 organise and explain what the document says. The document above is the authority.
Key facts
- Order date
- 14 to 15 Oct 2025
- What is prohibited
- The term 'ORS' on beverages that do not meet the WHO oral rehydration salts formulation, with or without prefixes or suffixes
- Brands reported affected
- ORSL (JNTL Consumer Health), Rebalanz (Dr Reddy's), list:, being verified
- State action
- FSSAI asked states to remove such products from the market
- Court
- Delhi HC declined to interfere, 31 Oct 2025
- Why
- Sugary drinks branded 'ORS' were being given to children with diarrhoea in place of genuine rehydration solution
Oral rehydration salts are a WHO-formulated medicine for dehydration, sold through pharmacies. Over the past decade a class of ready-to-drink beverages borrowed the acronym. ORSL is the best known, and were sold in supermarkets as fruit-flavoured drinks with electrolyte content far from the WHO formula. Paediatricians campaigned for years on the ground that parents were giving these drinks to children with diarrhoea in place of real ORS.
On 14 to 15 Oct 2025 FSSAI withdrew earlier permissions and prohibited the use of 'ORS' in the brand name or label of any food or beverage not meeting the WHO formulation, with or without prefixes or suffixes. It asked state commissioners to remove non-compliant products from the market. Manufacturers, including JNTL Consumer Health for ORSL and Dr Reddy's for Rebalanz, went to the Delhi High Court, which on 31 Oct 2025 declined to interfere with the order.
This is one of the few 2025 to 2026 FSSAI actions correctly described as a ban, though it bans a word rather than a product. Whether any appeal reached the Supreme Court, and the exact brand list, are to be verified.
What this means for you
The formula matters
Genuine ORS follows the WHO formulation and is sold as a medicine. A fruit drink with 'ORS' on the pack is not a substitute during diarrhoea.
Old packs may linger
Products were to be renamed or withdrawn. Check that anything sold as ORS is a pharmacy product.
This is a record of official orders, not medical advice. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist.
Common questions
Is ORSL banned in India?
The 'ORS' name is prohibited on drinks that do not meet the WHO formula since October 2025; the product can be sold under a different name.
Official sources and primary records
- Delhi HC on banning use of 'ORS' label on food and beveragesCourtSCC Online · 4 November 2025
- FSSAI asks states to remove fruit-based beverages, other drinks being sold under 'ORS' brand from marketsNewsDeccan Herald