FSSAI has proposed red hexagonal front-of-pack warnings for packaged foods high in added sugar, saturated fat and salt.
What Happened
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed red-coloured hexagonal warning labels on the front of packaged food products that are high in added sugar, saturated fat and salt.
The proposal was placed before a Supreme Court Bench through a six-page compliance affidavit filed in a Public Interest Litigation seeking mandatory front-of-pack warning labels. The matter is being heard in 3S And Our Health Society v. Union of India and Anr., 15 MA 1177/2025 in W.P.(C) No. 437/2024.
The proposed labelling system is intended to give consumers a prominent warning about specified nutritional characteristics of packaged foods, allowing them to make more informed choices before purchasing or consuming such products.
Key Details
Under the proposed mechanism, a red hexagonal warning label would be triggered when a packaged food product is high in any two or more of the specified nutrients: added saturated fat, added sugar and salt.
Depending on the nutritional characteristics of the product, the proposed declarations would include High Fat, High Sugar, High Salt and/or Highly Sweetened Beverage.
The thresholds for determining whether a product is high in the specified nutrients would be based on the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Nutrition.
FSSAI has also proposed that the warning label should have a font size one point larger than the font used in the nutrition table on the back of the package. This is intended to give the front-of-pack warning greater visibility to consumers.
The proposal provides for a two-phase rollout:
| Phase | Proposed coverage |
|---|---|
| Phase I | Products high in two or more specified nutrients, along with specified sweetened beverages |
| Phase II | Products high in even one specified nutrient |
Certain products would remain outside this proposed warning-label mechanism. These include single-ingredient foods and foods that are inherently high in fat, sugar or salt, such as ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey. Such products would continue to be governed by the existing food safety and labelling requirements.
FSSAI has stated that the proposed mechanism is intended to assist consumers, particularly children and vulnerable groups, in making informed food choices.
Background/Context
The proposal follows a Supreme Court rebuke delivered roughly a fortnight earlier concerning FSSAI’s approach to front-of-pack labelling.
A Bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran had criticised FSSAI for retreating from an interpretive front-of-pack labelling system and moving towards a more complex approach based on the nutrition table.
The Court questioned whether FSSAI was succumbing to pressure from the food industry. It also raised the broader question of whether India should remain underdeveloped by declining to adopt global food-labelling norms.
The Bench expressed particular concern about children’s health and their exposure to marketing of packaged food. The Court had also warned that it would pass a judicial order if the authorities failed to frame proper regulations.
Against this background, the red hexagonal warning-label proposal represents FSSAI’s latest position on front-of-pack nutritional warnings. The proposal now places the proposed framework before the Supreme Court for consideration.
What’s Next
The six-page compliance affidavit containing FSSAI’s proposal is now before the Supreme Court for consideration.
The Court’s consideration of the affidavit will determine the next stage of the proceedings concerning mandatory front-of-pack warning labels and the proposed mechanism for identifying packaged foods high in specified nutrients.
