Bold labels on food packs to warn of health risk contents

Confronting India’s fast-rising epidemic of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart ailments, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is preparing to mandate bold front-of-pack warning labels (FOPL) on packaged foods, flagging high salt, sugar and fat content, instead of the earlier star-rating plan, officials in the know of the development said.

- Priyanka Sharma

The shift to this labelling system is a result of a Supreme Court directive from a public interest litigation. While the top court had not specified the label format, it had mandated the authority to act quickly to create a transparent labelling system to combat public health issues.

It was given a final three-month extension by the apex court in July 2025 to submit its report, which is currently being finalized.

‘According to a Lancet study earlier this year, India’s overweight and obese adult population is projected to soar from 180 million in 2021 to 449 million by 2050, with the world’s second-highest burden. Another study by the Indian Council of Medical

Research in June 2023 reported around 101 million Indians have diabetes, making it the country the world’s diabetes capital.