FSSAI Orders Nationwide Crackdown On Misleading ORS-Labelled Drinks

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed a nationwide crackdown against fruit-based beverages, electrolyte drinks, energy drinks and other ready-to-serve products that continue to misuse the term “ORS” on their labels.

A senior official from the top food safety regulator said that despite clear instructions issued on October 14—and a clarification the following day—prohibiting the use of the term in any form unless a product meets WHO-prescribed standards for oral rehydration solutions, several companies are still selling drinks branded as ORS, the regulator observed.

In its latest order, issued on November 20, the food regulator instructed State and Central enforcement officers to immediately inspect retail outlets and e-commerce platforms.

The FSSAI executive director Dr. Satyen Kumar Panda in the communication to all the state officials to ensure that such non-compliant products were immediately removed from sale and initiate appropriate regulatory action against the concerned FBOs as per the provisions of the FSS Act, 2006.

Officers have been asked to submit detailed reports outlining violations and the status of product withdrawal, said the official.

The FSSAI made it clear that its orders issued on October 14 and 15 apply only to fruit-based beverages and similar products misleadingly marketed as ‘ORS’ that do not conform to the WHO-recommended ORS formulation.

"It is reiterated that WHO-recommended ORS products, notified as ‘drugs’ under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, fall entirely outside the regulatory purview of FSSAI, and therefore the October 2025 orders do not, in any manner, regulate or restrict legitimate ORS (drug) products."

“Accordingly, all Food Safety Officers, Designated Officers, and State/UT Food Safety Authorities should ensure that no interference is made with the storage, distribution, or sale of WHO recommended ORS (drug) products; enforcement activities should remain strictly confined to non-compliant food products presented or labelled as ‘ORS’ and no sampling, seizure, or lifting of WHO-recommended ORS (drug) products should be carried out.”

The issue had earlier reached the Delhi High Court, which on October 31 declined to interfere with the regulator’s restrictions. The court noted that misleading ORS-labelled beverages pose a serious public-health risk. It said consumer safety takes precedence over commercial concerns.

The case followed a petition filed by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories challenging the October ban. FSSAI has consistently maintained that ORS is a therapeutic formulation, not a marketing device, and may only be used by products that meet WHO’s composition standards for treating dehydration, said the FSSAI official.