Front-of-pack nutrition labelling to be rolled out in single phase, FSSAI tells Supreme Court

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country’s food regulator, on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) conveyed to the Supreme Court its proposal to adopt a single-phase approach for the implementation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FoPL) on packaged food products indicating sugar, salt and saturated fat levels.

The regulator sought a four-month period for issuing and finalising the draft regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSS Act), 2006.

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“In this time period, FSSAI will notify the draft amendment regulations which is mandatorily required to be published for a period of 60 days for inviting comments from stakeholders through domestic consultation and the WTO platform. Comments received will be examined, and, subsequently with the approval of Food Authority, the final notification will be forwarded to the Ministry for publication in the official gazette,” the FSSAI affidavit said.

The affidavit was based on a petition filed by a Kerala-based NGO, 3S and Our Health Society, represented by advocate Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, seeking directions to the Centre to introduce front-of-pack warning labels.

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The affidavit said that there would be a voluntary implementation period of 365 days by food business operators (FBOs). “This time period has been provided in order to avoid any commercial hardships to the food business operators as they have pre-packaged material already printed in bulk,” it explained.

The FSSAI said it was proposing a red hexagon with a white square-shaped background FoPL format, drawing similarity, more or less, with the FoPL format adopted by Canada.

Furthermore, where only one nutrient of concern was present, the corresponding nutrient would be indicated in the hexagon. Where two or three nutrients of concern were present, the applicable two or three nutrients would also be indicated within a single hexagon. The arrangement, it said, would provide clear and specific information to consumers.

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It said that any food product, including beverages, containing non-caloric sweeteners would sport a warning statement, ‘CONTAINS NON CALORIC SWEETENER’ on the front of the pack.

The court had pulled up the FSSAI for not introducing front-of-pack warning labels on packaged food products indicating sugar, salt and saturated fat levels.