NEW DELHI: One of India’s strictest food safety commissioners has urged companies to be more ethical and not maintain different nutrition standards in India and abroad, reacting to reports that revealed differences in yardsticks for recipes and labelling.
The comments from Tukaram Mundhe, the food commissioner of Maharashtra state, come amid anger and debate among consumers and health experts after reports emerged this week that companies make different versions of the same products to comply with local regulations, tastes and spending capacity.
For example, a can of Fanta sold in London has 63 calories, but the same-sized product in India contains three times as much sugar and 185 calories. “Where are ethics in this? Companies should practise ethical behaviour. Why the different standard,” Mundhe said when asked about the findings, marking the first comments from an official on the story.
Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026
