Supreme Court directions to FSSAI on front-of-pack warning labels (2025 to 2026)

India has discussed front-of-pack nutrition labels since at least 2018 without notifying any. The current push comes from a public interest petition by 3S and Our Health Society asking the Supreme Court to make FSSAI require warnings on packaged foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat.

On 9 Apr 2025 a bench led by Justice J B Pardiwala noted that FSSAI's draft of 13 Sep 2022, which proposed an Indian Nutrition Rating of half a star to five stars, had drawn thousands of comments and gone nowhere. The court directed the expert committee FSSAI had set up to submit its final recommendations within three months, after which the Scientific Committee and the Food Authority would take them up, and listed the matter for compliance.

When the matter returned on 10 Feb 2026 the court said it was not satisfied with FSSAI's affidavit and that the exercise so far had not produced any positive result. It directed FSSAI to examine mandatory front-of-pack warning labels of the kind used in several countries and gave four weeks. FSSAI held a stakeholder consultation on 19 Mar 2026 and asked for six more weeks.

On 13 Aug 2026 FSSAI proposed printing recommended daily limits of 25 g sugar, 10 g saturated fat and 5 g salt in pictorial form, based on ICMR and NIN guidance. Industry had opposed warnings as creating fear. The court rejected the proposal, saying a shopper with limited literacy needs an instant visual warning rather than a calculation, that its February order had been a direction and not a suggestion, and asking whether FSSAI was giving way to manufacturers. It gave two weeks.

On 10 Sep 2026 FSSAI presented a two-phase scheme using a red hexagon to flag products high in fat, sugar or salt: phase one for products high in two or more nutrients of concern and for sweetened drinks, phase two for products over the threshold on any single nutrient. The bench of Justices Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran asked for affidavits within ten days on how the thresholds were set, why two phases, whether red is the right colour in the Indian context, how schools will teach children to read the label, and how to stop manufacturers substituting artificial ingredients. The next hearing is 28 Sep 2026.

Nothing has been notified. When the court settles the format, FSSAI must publish a draft, take comments for 60 days and then notify final regulations with a compliance period.