FSSAI issues prohibition order against Dabur over misleading '100 per cent' purity claims on honey, ghee and oils

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India FSSAI has prohibited Dabur India Ltd from selling several food products carrying misleading 100 per cent claims saying such labelling violates food safety and advertising regulationsIn a post on social media the food regulator said it had issued a prohibition order against the company over the sale of products marketed with claims such as 100 per cent Natural 100 per cent Pure 100 per cent Purity Guaranteed and 100 per cent OrganicFSSAI has issued a Prohibition Order directing Ms Dabur India Limited to immediately cease the sale of food products carrying misleading 100 claimsFSSAINotice FSSAIAction pictwittercom7GdNRUJFyhmdash FSSAI fssaiindia August 3 2026The order covers a range of products including honey apple cider vinegar virgin coconut oil sesame oil cow ghee coconut water coconut milk and edible oilsFSSAI cites misleading advertising claimsAccording to the regulator an inspection of products listed on Dabur Indias website found several items carrying 100 per cent claims that were ambiguous unverifiable and likely to mislead consumersFSSAI said the use of such claims violates the Food Safety and Standards Advertising and Claims Regulations 2018 which prohibit misleading or unsubstantiated claims on food labels and promotional materialDabur respondsResponding to the development Dabur India said it had received the FSSAI notice and was examining the contents of the orderAccording to reports Dabur India said in a statement The company has received the FSSAI notice and is currently reviewing the content referred to in the notice on its websiteGovernment backs FSSAI action on certain alcoholic beverage brandsMeanwhile the Centre on Tuesday clarified that the FSSAI initiated enforcement action against certain alcoholic beverage manufacturers over the use of flavouring substances that mimic standardised liquor and allegedly misleading agerelated claims on product labelsIn a statement the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoHFW said investigations found that some manufacturers were producing alcoholic beverages using spirit or extraneutral alcohol and adding external flavours to recreate the taste and aroma of products such as rum and whiskyThe ministry said laboratory tests found artificial or natureidentical flavours in sampled rum and whisky products making them substandard under the Food Safety and Standards Alcoholic Beverages Regulations 2018It also flagged the 7 years old blended claim on an Old Monk XXX Rum variant as misleading stating that the age of a blended spirit must be determined by the youngest spirit in the blendBased on laboratory findings FSSAI issued prohibitionofsale orders against products manufactured at facilities operated by Mohan Rocky Springwater United Spirits INBREW Beverages and Associated Alcohol amp BreweriesThe affected brands include Old Monk rum variants McDowells No1 Rum Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge WhiskyThe ministry clarified that flavours such as coffee and vanilla remain permissible where legally allowed However adding flavours that imitate the standardised alcoholic beverage itself such as rum flavour in rum or whisky flavour in whisky violates existing regulationsIt also stressed that the issue is limited to certain manufacturers and does not reflect the entire alcohol industry