FSSAI has issued directive to Food Business Operators (FBOs) to remove ‘100% fruit juices’ from labels and advertisements of reconsitututed fruit juices. All the FBOs have been instructed to exhaust pre-printed packaging materials before 1st September, 2024. The word “reconstituted” must be mentioned against the name of the juice that is reconstituted from concentrate. If added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘Sweetened juice’.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a directive to Food Business Operators (FBOs) to remove any claim of ‘100% fruit juices’ from labels and advertisements of reconstituted fruit juices with immediate effect. All the FBOs have also been instructed to exhaust all existing pre-printed packaging materials before 1st September, 2024. 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. Such claims are misleading as major ingredient of the fruit juice is water and the primary ingredient is present in limited concentrations. As per Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 the word “reconstituted” must be mentioned against the name of the juice that is reconstituted from the concentrate. If added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘Sweetened juice’.