Juices claiming to be 100% real fruit juices are misleading customers, says the food safety regulator — FSSAI — which is asking manufacturers to immediately remove such claims from packaging.
In a stern directive to all Food Business Operators (FBOs), the food safety regulator — FSSAI — has asked them "to remove any claim of ‘100% fruit juices’ from the labels and advertisements of reconstituted fruit juices with immediate effect".
Calling it part of various measures undertaken for "protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety standards across the country", FSSAI has warned FBOs against the misleading claim of 100% fruit juice and to remove any such claims or face strong action.
What led to the need to issue direction?
In a press statement on Monday, the food safety regulator — FSSAI — said that "Upon thorough examination, FSSAI has concluded that, according to the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, there is no provision for making a ‘100%’ claim."
According to FSSAI, "Such claims are misleading, particularly under conditions where 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."
Given this, since it had come to "the attention of FSSAI that several FBOs have been inaccurately marketing various types of reconstituted fruit juices by claiming them to be 100% fruit juices."
Now what?
The regulator has "instructed" all FBOs "to exhaust all existing pre-printed packaging materials before September 1, 2024."
Why were FBOs making such claims?
Sources at FSSAI said, "the regulator had been monitoring this space and had received numerous complaints. Thus, such a directive was necessary."
To give businesses a fair opportunity, FSSAI, through these directions, has also clarified "regarding the marketing and selling of reconstituted fruit juices as ‘100% fruit juices’".
FSSAI's directive reminds FBOs that they must comply with 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.
What the regulation says
This regulation states that products covered by this standard must be labelled in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. Specifically, in the ingredient list, the word “reconstituted” must be mentioned against the name of the juice that is reconstituted from concentrate. Additionally, if added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘Sweetened juice’.
It remains to be seen how industry players like Dabur, PepsiCo, ITC, etc., who have a presence in this space, react to the development.
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