Stepping up its crackdown on misleading food labels and marketing claims, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued show-cause notices to three companies — Lotte India Corporation Private Limited, Kubera Foods and Ferns N Petals Private Limited — over alleged violations of food labelling and advertising regulations, warning them of legal action if they fail to respond within seven days.
The latest action forms part of a broader regulatory drive against exaggerated health, nutritional and quality claims on packaged foods. Over the past month, the top food regulator has issued notices to several companies for using terms such as "healthy", "natural", "100% natural", "fresh", "organic" and "vegan" in ways that could mislead consumers.
Earlier this week, FSSAI also served notices to companies marketing products such as paneer, chocolate spreads and nutraceuticals over allegedly misleading front-of-pack claims. Last week, it pulled up several beverage manufacturers for branding products as "energy drinks" and making claims not permitted under food regulations.
The regulator has, in recent years, intensified scrutiny of promotional claims following amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations. In 2024, it directed food business operators to discontinue the use of "100%" claims, arguing that such expressions create a false impression of absolute purity or superiority.
During proceedings before the Delhi High Court, FSSAI also maintained that claims such as "100% fruit juice" on certain packaged beverages were misleading because the products contained added water and fruit concentrates.
In the latest action, FSSAI alleged that Lotte India used non-compliant pre-printed labels bearing its old company name without prior approval. It also questioned the "100 per cent vegetarian" claim on certain Choco Pie variants, saying the claim could mislead consumers.
The regulator further observed that the company's Pepero Crunchy Biscuit Sticks and Pepero Original Biscuit Sticks did not provide nutritional information in the prescribed format, while Lolly Bliss lollipops failed to comply with prescribed vitamin limits under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations.
It also objected to the branding of FRUITZ Eclairs, saying the product name could create the impression that the confectionery contains fruit despite the absence of fruit ingredients. According to the regulator, the mandatory front-of-pack disclaimer required under the regulations was also missing.
Kubera Foods was served a notice over claims made on its Soft and Fresh Cream Bun with Pineapple product. According to FSSAI, the packaging carried claims such as "100 per cent Natural" and "No Preservatives, Colours & Flavours", although the ingredient list declared the presence of preservative INS 282, synthetic food colour INS 110 and added flavouring substances.
The regulator also questioned the use of terms such as "Pure", "Fresh" and "Natural", saying they were inconsistent with the provisions governing such claims under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations.
Ferns N Petals was similarly issued a notice over its Roasted Almond Chocolate product.
FSSAI said the product was marketed as "Premium Chocolate" despite containing hydrogenated vegetable fat without carrying the mandatory declaration required for chocolates containing vegetable fat in addition to cocoa butter.
The regulator further observed that the nutritional information panel did not disclose Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) values and that the percentage of almonds used in the product had not been declared despite almonds being prominently displayed on the packaging.
The three companies have been directed to explain why action should not be initiated against them under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
In April 2025, the regulator also launched a mechanism allowing consumers to directly report misleading food claims.
With packaged food consumption rising rapidly, the regulator has indicated that misleading descriptors such as "natural", "healthy", "pure", "fresh", "100%" and similar promotional expressions will continue to face close scrutiny unless they fully comply with the FSS Act and the FSS (Advertising and Claims) Regulations.
