Overview
- In August 2026 the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India told the Supreme Court it would no longer pursue colour‑coded front‑of‑pack warning icons and instead proposed a black‑and‑white table listing sugar, fat and salt.
- Recordings from a March 19, 2026 meeting obtained by Reuters show executives from major food and drink firms pressed regulators to abandon simple colour warnings as “very simplistic,” with Coca‑Cola India’s Mili Bhattacharya saying symbols would not meaningfully change diets.
- Industry groups warned that strict colour thresholds would label nearly 80% of India’s packaged products as high in fat, sugar or salt, and they raised technical objections such as how to treat natural sugars in products like coconut water.
- Reporting highlighted cross‑market recipe differences — for example, the Fanta sold in India contains far more sugar and an artificial dye than the UK version — fueling public anger about unequal products and calls for clearer disclosure.
- Public‑health advocates have filed petitions and the Supreme Court is now scrutinising the regulator’s retreat, a dispute that could shape whether India adopts international-style interpretive labels as obesity rates climb.