Dabur Challenges FSSAI in Delhi Excessive Court docket Over Juice Classification
New Delhi, India – Could 2, 2025 – Dabur India, a number one client items firm, has taken the Meals Security and Requirements Authority of India (FSSAI) to the Delhi Excessive Court docket, contesting the regulator’s directive to categorise its packaged juice merchandise, resembling Actual Fruit Juices, as “sweetened juice” relatively than “fruit juice.” The authorized problem, reported on April 30, 2025, stems from FSSAI’s declare that Dabur’s merchandise include added sugar, necessitating a label change to adjust to the Meals Security and Requirements (Labelling and Show) Laws, 2020.
Dabur has refuted FSSAI’s stance, arguing that the regulator’s interpretation is “legally unsound” and displays a misunderstanding of current guidelines beneath the Meals Security and Requirements Act, 2006. In a press release to Outlook Enterprise, Dabur asserted that its juices adhere to the authorized definition of “fruit juice,” which allows minimal sugar addition for style standardization, a standard business apply. The corporate contends that FSSAI’s directive may mislead customers and unfairly penalize producers, probably disrupting the ₹12,000-crore Indian packaged juice market.
The dispute started when FSSAI issued a discover in March 2025, directing Dabur and different juice producers to relabel merchandise with added sugar as “sweetened juice” to reinforce transparency. The regulator cited client safety, arguing that the time period “fruit juice” implies a purer product with out components. Dabur, nonetheless, claims that its merchandise include over 95% fruit content material, with added sugar inside permissible limits, and that the “sweetened juice” label may confuse customers into perceiving the product as much less wholesome.
The Delhi Excessive Court docket has admitted Dabur’s petition, scheduling a listening to for mid-Could 2025. The case echoes earlier meals security disputes, such because the 2015 Maggi noodles ban, the place FSSAI confronted Nestle India within the Supreme Court docket over lead content material allegations. In that occasion, the Bombay Excessive Court docket overturned FSSAI’s ban, criticizing the regulator for procedural lapses, a precedent Dabur’s authorized staff might leverage.
This isn’t the primary time FSSAI has confronted judicial scrutiny. In 2021, the Delhi Excessive Court docket issued notices to FSSAI and the Ministry of Well being following a public curiosity litigation by former FSSAI official Pradip Chakraborty, alleging corruption and mismanagement within the regulator’s product approval system. That case, nonetheless pending, highlighted systemic points in FSSAI’s operations, a degree Dabur’s problem might not directly increase.
Posts on X mirror polarized sentiment. On April 30, 2025, @outlookbusiness reported Dabur’s rebuttal, noting the corporate’s declare that FSSAI’s stance is misguided. Some customers supported Dabur, arguing that minor sugar additions are normal and don’t warrant reclassification, whereas others backed FSSAI, emphasizing the necessity for clear labeling to guard customers. The controversy underscores broader tensions between business practices and regulatory oversight.
The result of this case may set a precedent for a way meals merchandise are labeled in India, impacting main gamers like PepsiCo’s Tropicana and ITC’s B Pure. Analysts estimate {that a} ruling in opposition to Dabur may drive the business to overtake packaging and advertising and marketing methods, probably growing prices. Conversely, a victory for Dabur would possibly immediate FSSAI to revise its labeling pointers, aligning them extra intently with international requirements.
Because the authorized battle unfolds, the Delhi Excessive Court docket’s resolution will doubtless affect not solely the packaged juice sector but in addition the broader framework of meals regulation in India, the place balancing client rights and business pursuits stays a contentious problem.
Sources: Outlook Enterprise, The Hindu BusinessLine, FSSAI Laws, Indian Regulation Watch
