"You Have Grandchildren?": Top Court's Deadline For Packaged Food Labels

The Supreme Court has set a three-month deadline for the Centre to implement food safety norms that make it mandatory to display key information about packaged food items on containers. Hearing a Public Interest Litigation, the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said the Centre must decide amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 within three months.

Hearing the matter, Justice JB Pardiwala said, "You all have grandchildren? Let the order on petition come. You will know what Kurkure and Maggi are and how their wrappers should be. The packets have no information."

During the hearing, the Centre drew the court's attention to the affidavit filed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. It said the authorities have received 14,000 comments on the new rules and have decided to amend the regulations. The court disposed of the PIL after setting a three-month deadline for the Centre. The PIL had sought directions to the Centre and states to make the Front of Package Warning Label mandatory.

In June 2024, the FSSAI approved a proposal to display nutritional information, including total sugar, salt and saturated fat in bold letters and prominent font size on labels of packaged food items.

The amendment, a government statement said, is aimed at empowering consumers to better understand the nutritional value of the product they are consuming. Following this, the draft notification was put in the public domain for suggestions and objections.

"The information regarding per serve percentage (%) contribution to Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) would be given in bold letters for total sugar, total saturated fat and sodium content. Regulation 2 (v) and 5(3) of FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulation, 2020 specifies requirements to mention serving size and nutritional information on the food product label, respectively," the government statement said.

"Along with empowering consumers make healthier choices, the amendment would also contribute towards efforts to combat the rise of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and promote public health and well-being. The prioritisation of the development of clear and distinguish labelling requirements would help in the global effort to combat NCDs," it added.