The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed an expert committee to submit its recommendations within three months, paving the way for amendments to India’s food safety regulations and the introduction of warning labels on packaged foods.
New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed an expert committee to submit its recommendations within three months, paving the way for amendments to India’s food safety regulations and the introduction of warning labels on packaged foods.
A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan issued the directive while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by 3S and Our Health Society, which sought mandatory front-of-package warning labels (FOPL) to help consumers make informed decisions about what they eat.
The Centre, represented by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), informed the court it had received approximately 14,000 objections and suggestions from the public regarding the proposed regulations. An expert committee was subsequently formed to review the feedback and recommend amendments to the Food and Safety Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
Disposing of the petition, Justice Pardiwala instructed the committee to finalise its suggestions “expeditiously” within three months.
The PIL underscored India’s growing non-communicable diseases burden and argued that FOPL would highlight the levels of sugar, salt, and saturated fats in packaged foods — key contributors to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular problems, and some cancers. It also noted that non-communicable diseases cause over six million deaths annually in India, with diabetes affecting nearly one in four Indians.
According to health experts and the petitioners, the escalating prevalence of lifestyle diseases is linked to the widespread availability and aggressive marketing of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats.
