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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has told the Delhi High Court that its designated officer can act against food business operators when an article of food is found to be marketed, labelled or advertised in a manner contrary to the statutory or regulatory requirement, including false claims of 100% pure food. Dabur India Ltd.'s attempt to restrict the scope of designated officers to act only on cases concerning "unsafe food" proceeds on a reading which is neither borne out from the text of Section 36(3)(b) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 nor consistent with the statutory scheme, said the food safety regulator.

 

If the legislature had intended to confine the power of prohibition only to unsafe food, it could have expressly employed such limiting language for designated officers, said the food safety regulator. Instead, Section 36(3)(b) of the 2006 Act consciously uses the wider expression "any article of food which is in contravention of the provisions of this Act and rules and regulations made thereunder," it said. The action against Dabur India has accordingly been taken in exercise of the statutory function specifically conferred upon the designated officer upon the authority being satisfied that the claims in question were contrary to the applicable provisions governing advertising, claims and labelling of food products, it added.

 

The Delhi High Court on Aug. 7 had stayed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's order banning Dabur India from selling food products carrying claims such as "100% Pure," "100% Natural," "100% Purity Guaranteed" and "100% Organic". In its plea, Dabur India had argued that the designated officer who passed the banning order does not have this power under the law. Dabur India had said the food safety regulator's order was passed without following principles of natural justice. 

 

Replying to Dabur's contention, the food safety regulator said the action against Dabur did not arise in a complete vacuum or without the company having knowledge of the regulatory issue. Dabur had been repeatedly engaged with the food safety regulator in relation to "100%" claims since 2024 and had been served with several improvement notices concerning such claims, said the food safety regulator. Dabur had made representations, obtained extensions for utilisation of pre-printed packaging material, challenged the earlier regulatory action before the high court and immediately prior to the current action, had furnished a detailed response to the improvement notice, said the food safety regulator.

 

Dabur, therefore, cannot equate its grievance regarding the alleged absence of a further oral hearing with a complete absence of notice, knowledge or opportunity, said the food safety regulator. The legal effect, if any, of the procedural sequence preceding the communication to Dabur is a question separate and distinct from the existence of statutory jurisdiction under Section 36(3)(b) of the 2006 Act and cannot be used to contend that the designated officer is altogether devoid of statutory competence, it said.

 

Dabur India argued that the designated officer of the food safety regulator cannot usurp the powers of the commissioner of food safety and issue a prohibitory order. It is not the case of an "emergency health risk" and even otherwise, the statutory procedure has not been followed by the food safety regulator, said Dabur. The food safety regulator's prohibitory order was unconnected to the improvement notices issued in the past, therefore, the same has no relevance and is in complete violation of the mandate of the statute and the regulations made thereunder, and in violation of principles of natural justice, said Dabur India.

 

The food safety regulator had banned the use of 100% claims, stating that such declarations are ambiguous, unverifiable and potentially misleading to consumers. The food safety regulator's order covers products such as honey, cow ghee, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, coconut water and coconut milk. The food safety regulator had said that 100% claims created an exaggerated impression about a product's quality or composition.

 

Wednesday, shares of Dabur India ended flat at INR 380.10 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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