Food processors seek global benchmarks before finalising proposed warning thresholds nationwide
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The All India Food Processors Association (AIFPA), in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in the ongoing front-of-the-pack labelling case, has submitted that the “high-in” thresholds for determining whether a product will carry the proposed warning labels should be finalised after examining international standards, Indian food consumption patterns and product-category differences, according to sources.In its submission filed with the court as an intervenor, the industry body has also said the final framework should be based on serving sizes or portions instead of being absolute values per 100 gm or 100 ml of a packaged food product.Warning LabelsThe Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently proposed front-of-the-pack red hexagonal warning labels for packaged foods that exceed certain thresholds for added sugar, added salt, and added saturated fat. It has proposed that this initiative will be implemented in two phases and stated that the framework will be based on the thresholds specified in the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024 (DGI, 2024), issued by the ICMR.For instance, the guidelines state that a product is considered high in sugar if it contains more than 3 gm of added sugar per 100 gm and more than 2 gm of added sugar per 100 ml.The AIFPA stated that it remains “committed” to the adoption of a “scientifically sound and effective” FOPNL framework at the earliest. However, it added that the FSSAI has not independently derived the numerical thresholds but has simply proposed to adopt the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition’s Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024 (DGI 2024).It further noted that DGI 2024’s own daily benchmarks are expressed as quantity per day of intake and not as a fixed percentage per 100 gm of a specific packaged food. It also noted that this is in contradiction to FSSAI’s existing labelling and display regulations.Threshold Conflict“AIFPA submits that the proposed “high-in” thresholds, being absolute values per 100 g/100 ml, do not appear to have been independently cross-checked against this percentage-of-daily-intake approach, and it is a contradiction to the existing framework of Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020,” it said in its filing, a copy of which was seen by businessline. It pointed out that these existing regulations already reflect a percentage-of-daily-intake, per-serve methodology which is consistent with international practices.It has urged that the “ proposed nutrient thresholds may be examined against the internationally recognised Codex Alimentarius methodology, including the Nutrient Reference Value-based, per-serving approach, while also taking account of the Indian dietary context and consumer-consumption patterns.”The industry body has also said that the FOPNL framework should adopt consumption-based units of measurement, including regulated serving sizes or reference amounts, in line with the existing regulations for per-serve percentage contribution to the Recommended Dietary Allowance.“The proposed threshold values may be finalised after consideration of the available scientific material, including relevant international standards, Indian food consumption data, product-category differences and submissions of consumer organisations, public-health experts, food scientists, MSMES, traditional-food producers and industry stakeholders,” AIFPA has stated in its affidavit. The matter is next expected to be heard on September 10.Published on September 9, 2026
