The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices to Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever Ltd for misleading claims on their food product packaging. According to reports from Business Standard, FSSAI announced these actions through social media posts on Friday, stating that notices have been issued against these companies regarding misleading claims and non-compliances. The regulatory action highlights the authority's commitment to ensuring accurate and compliant food labeling practices across major FMCG manufacturers. Recent inspections and audits have led to strict enforcement actions against several major brand manufacturers and local food business operators for misleading claims, non-compliance with labelling regulations, and severe food safety violations. This latest action represents part of FSSAI's broader enforcement strategy to maintain food safety standards across the industry.
FSSAI has issued notices to Nestle India, Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Dairy Products Private Ltd and Lotus Dairy Products Pvt Ltd for non-compliance with rules regarding 'Nescafe Ready-to-Drink' products. As reported by Business Standard, FSSAI found that Nestle India was marketing and offering for sale 'Nescafe Intense Cafe' Cappuccino flavour, 'Nescafe Choco Mocha' and 'Nescafe Chilled Latte' on e-commerce platforms, manufactured by the other two companies. The products were found to carry conflicting label declarations - front packs carried the label "Flavoured Milk", whereas rear packaging and online listings classified the items as "Proprietary Food – 1.12 Dairy Based Drink" or advertised them as "crafted with the goodness of flavoured double toned milk". FSSAI clarified that the beverages fall under the standardised category of "Flavored Milk" under the FSS (Food Products and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, rendering proprietary labeling incorrect. Such inconsistent labelling, product descriptions and advertisements were found to be in contravention of the applicable provision of the FSS (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 and FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
In the case of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, FSSAI issued a notice for misleading claims on its 'Horlicks Women's Plus Chocolate Nutrition Drink 400g'. As reported by Business Standard, FSSAI found several problematic claims including 'Nutrition for Strong Bones', 'Clinically Proven to Help Improve Bone Strength in 6 Months' and 'Improves Bone Health' to be misleading or non-compliant with applicable regulations. The claim 'healthy Muscles' was specifically found to be in contravention of provisions governing the use of the term 'healthy' in food claims. Additionally, the claim 'No Added Sugar' was considered misleading due to the presence of maltodextrin in the product, while the claim of '100 per cent RDA of Calcium, Vitamin D & K2' failed to comply with applicable food safety requirements. FSSAI has directed HUL to submit a response to the notice within the stipulated period, with the concerned licensing authorities and e-commerce platforms also being requested to take necessary action.
According to Business Standard, FSSAI has issued another notice for misleading claims on 'Horlicks Mother's Plus Kesar 400g BIB'. The expressions 'For Pregnancy and Lactation with Protein for Birth Weight and DHA for Brain Development - No Added Sugar' were included as part of the product name on e-commerce platforms. HUL has been directed to show cause and submit its response within the stipulated period, with FSSAI warning of further action if the response is not satisfactory. The concerned licensing authorities and e-commerce platforms have also been requested to take necessary action. In another matter involving HUL, FSSAI has issued a notice for misleading claims on 'Horlicks Women's Plus Chocolate Nutrition Drink 400g', where the claims 'Healthy Birth Weight' on the product label and 'For baby's healthy birth weight' in the advertisement were found to be potentially misleading and in contravention of the FSS (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018. The regulator noted that nutritional information was not provided in the prescribed form, highlighting compliance gaps in product labeling requirements.
In another matter involving Nestle India, FSSAI issued a notice for misleading claims on 'Nestle resource renal vanilla flavour powder'. According to Business Standard, this product is intended for 'Food for Dietary Management of Individuals with Conservatively Treated Chronic Kidney Disease', which requires prior approval from food authorities under the applicable provisions of the FSS (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Use, Food for Special Medical Purpose, and Prebiotic and Probiotic Food) Regulations, 2022. However, FSSAI stated that Nestle India has not obtained the requisite prior approval, rendering the product non-compliant with applicable regulatory requirements. The examination of the product label, advertisement and product listing on e-commerce platforms revealed non-compliances, with the regulator emphasizing that such products, intended for dietary management of specific medical conditions, must obtain prior approval from food authorities before being sold in the market. Additionally, FSSAI noted that the mandatory vegetarian or non-vegetarian symbol was missing from the product label in violation of labelling rules.
Beyond the notices to major FMCG companies, FSSAI has taken more severe action by cancelling the license of Bala Ji Food Products with immediate effect following serious food safety, hygiene and sanitation violations. As reported by Business Standard, the regulator said the license had earlier been suspended after inspections revealed significant non-compliances posing risks to public health. Despite being given an opportunity for a personal hearing, the company's explanations were found unsatisfactory and the deficiencies remained unaddressed. This represents the authority's commitment to addressing serious violations that pose immediate health risks to consumers. The regulatory action demonstrates FSSAI's zero-tolerance approach toward companies that fail to maintain basic food safety standards, with the authority taking swift action to protect public health. Additionally, FSSAI has suspended the licenses of local food business operators M/s Sukhdarshan Pharma and M/s Bala Ji Food Products after severe food safety violations were uncovered during physical site inspections.
