Food and beverage cos rush to revise recipes ahead of warning labels

New Delhi: Food and beverages makers are rushing to reduce sugar, salt and saturated fats in their cookies, noodles, snacks, soft drinks and frozen foods, well before the government’s final verdict on front-of-pack-labelling kicks in, executives at large companies said.

Alongside, multiple multinationals are, for the first time, reducing salt and sugar ahead of deadlines mandated by their global headquarters, fearing a decline in sales once the red hexagonal warnings proposed by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) become mandatory.

“No one is waiting for the final verdict, as it’s just a matter of time before the rule comes into force. Besides, reducing sugar and salt can compromise taste, so we are fast-tracking reformulation of existing products because that itself takes at least six-eight months,” said an executive at a large packaged snacks maker.

Also Read: Supreme Court seeks clarity from FSSAI on science, design and rollout of food warning labels

The Supreme Court had on September 10 ordered FSSAI to clarify details on the implementation of its proposed front-of-pack warning labels within a 10-day period, marking the latest twist in the food packaging reform that’s had its fair share of controversy over a decade.

The apex court sought clarity after the food regulator proposed late last month that packs should declare excess sugar, salt or saturated fats with red hexagonal warning labels on the front for at least two ingredients—such as high fat, high sugar or highly sweetened beverage—and a rollout in two phases.

“Packaged foods, whether Indian or global, are accelerating reducing excess salt, sugar and fats across their portfolios, in the backdrop of all that is happening,” said Anand Ramanathan, partner and consumer industry leader, Deloitte South Asia, which works closely with multiple large packaged foods businesses.

“While many large brands were anyway moving in this direction, now they are fast-tracking the reduction,” he added.

Opposition to FSSAI Proposals

Almost all large global consumer foods makers, including Coca-Cola, Nestle, Danone, Kellogg and PepsiCo have been making voluntary pledges to reduce salt, sugar and fats in their foods across markets, clubbed under the International Food and Beverage Alliance.

“A lot of MNCs in India, so far, have followed global deadlines to reduce sugar, salt and fat across markets, with specified four-five year deadlines, amid global shareholder pressures,” said the chief of a scientific research institute that works on food reformulation. “However, now, for the first time, the brands in India are moving faster than the mandated deadlines. That’s because rules to reduce excess ingredients were not watertight in India so far. Now, brands don’t want to risk being seen with prominent warning labels.”

Maggi noodles and KitKat chocolate maker Nestle India said in its FY26 annual report that it “continues to make steady progress” in reducing salt, added sugar and fat content across its portfolio.

“Nestlé SA through its R&D plays a critical role in this, enabling reformulation and new product development, while safeguarding taste,” it said.

Two years back, the world’s largest packaged foods maker had introduced over a dozen no-refined-sugar variants of Cerelac in India. This came after a widely cited report by Swiss investigative organisation The Public Eye and International Baby Food Action Network said that Nestle’s infant cereal contained nearly 3 gm of sugar per serving in India compared with zero added sugar in Europe.

Biscuit and dairy products maker Britannia India noted in its FY26 annual report that “in line with FSSAI’s initiatives, it reduced sugar levels by about 3.50% and sodium levels by 12.23% across its portfolio during FY 2025-26, compared to its FY 2018-19 base line.”

With most brands priced upwards of Rs 10 and competing for volume growth amid intense competition, the risk of carrying a prominent red warning would be significant. For MNCs, India is a core growth area at a time when many global markets are stagnant.

“While it may not be visible at the front end, for packaged food companies it could involve substantial efforts in managing existing vendor arrangements, updating contracting terms with them, and revisions to capital deployment,” said Saurya Bhattacharya, Partner, JSA Advocates & Solicitors. “Whether it significantly impacts the customer experience including on pricing and ingredients remains to be seen.”

Coca-Cola is accelerating distribution of its first zero-caffeine, zero-sugar cola in India, seeking first-mover advantage. Recent months have seen brands such as Lahori Zeera, Reliance Consumer Products-owned Campa, Raw Pressery, ITC and Veeba Foods-backed Zyro all entering the zero-sugar cola space. Overall sales of zero- and low-sugar drinks account for 30-35% of India’s total soft drinks market, compared with 5% in 2020, according to data from companies.

Health advocacy groups have opposed the regulator’s latest proposals.

“FSSAI’s red hexagonal warning label is a step forward, but the two or more threshold is a massive loophole, as a product with high sugar would carry no warning if it is low in fat and salt,” said Arun Gupta, convenor of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi), terming the proposal as “not public health, but regulatory capture.”

The Supreme Court has questioned FSSAI’s proposal to implement the warnings in two phases.

“We are afraid that the implementation of phase two might take a backseat or be indefinitely postponed,” the apex court had said. Hyderabad’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) told FSSAI in a note on September 3 that the proposed red labels should be on the pack front even when a product exceeds the threshold for even one nutrient of concern.

“When more than one threshold is exceeded, the corresponding warnings may be displayed together,” said NIN’s note, seen by ET.

In addition, 60 global nutrition scholars from academic institutions including Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Oxford have backed NIN’s stance, and urged the regulator to drop the two-or-more nutrients requirement.