India tightens proposed food warning labels in setback to industry

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - India toughened its stance on proposed warning labels for packaged foods on Wednesday, saying products high in salt, sugar or fat would carry red warning symbols even if only one of those ingredients exceeded limits, dealing a setback to the $100 billion industry.

The move abandons an earlier plan of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India which would have included warnings only when two ingredients breached thresholds.

That plan was criticised by activists and health experts as being too lenient, prompting the Supreme Court of India to question the approach.

Warning labels will now be rolled out in a single phase, the FSSAI told the Supreme Court in a filing dated Wednesday, which is not public but was seen by Reuters.

"FSSAI proposes to adopt a single-phase approach ... Furthermore, where only one nutrient of concern is present, the corresponding nutrient shall be indicated in the hexagon," the court filing said, referring to the red warning symbol which will have a white square background.

India's food and drinks market is one of the fastest-growing for foreign players including Nestle, Unilever ULVR.L, Mondelez MDLZ.O and Mars, whose food products compete in a thriving industry that includes big Indian firms.

The nationwide debate on food safety has intensified since Reuters reported last month that India's government opted ​for a weaker labelling regime after lobbying by Coca-Cola KO.N and groups backing Nestle NESN.S and PepsiCo PEP.O which argued warning labels were ineffective. Many companies, however, have implemented such measures voluntarily in European markets.