The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a directive on Monday requiring all Food Business Operators (FBOs) to immediately remove any claims of ‘100% fruit juices’ from the labels and advertisements of reconstituted products.
The FSSAI’s directive comes after discovering that several FBOs have been inaccurately marketing reconstituted fruit juices as ‘100% fruit juices’. Following a thorough review, FSSAI concluded that such claims do not comply with the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, which do not permit ‘100%’ claims for reconstituted products.
“Such claims are misleading, particularly when the major ingredient of the fruit juice is water, and the primary ingredient, for which the claim is made, is present only in limited concentrations, or when the fruit juice is reconstituted using water and fruit concentrates or pulp,” the FSSAI stated.
In the issued clarification, FSSAI reminded FBOs that they must adhere to the standards for fruit juices as specified under sub-regulation 2.3.6 of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards & Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. According to this regulation, products covered by this standard must be labelled following the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. Specifically, the ingredient list must include the word “reconstituted” against the name of the juice reconstituted from concentrate. Furthermore, if added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘Sweetened juice’
This directive is part of FSSAI’s ongoing efforts to crack down on false and misleading claims made by food business operators. In April of last year, FSSAI announced it had begun scrutinizing these claims, setting up a dedicated committee to monitor advertisements and claims made by food businesses across various platforms, including social media and e-commerce.
“FSSAI has taken note of various media reports, including those on social media, regarding health claims made by food business operators. It is reiterated that the mandate of FSSAI is to establish science-based standards for food products and enforce them,” stated last year’s FSSAI announcement.
