FSSAI orders food business operators to remove claims of ‘100% fruit juice’ from their products
“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,” it said.
The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed food companies to remove any claims of ‘100% fruit juice’ from their product labels and advertisements in an effort to curb misleading advertising. This directive has been levied against reconstituted fruit juices, that are made from water, fruit concentrates and pulp rather than actual freshly squeezed fruit juices.
This comes amid concerns being raised against the ‘100% fruit juice’ claim that can deceive consumers into believing that what they are purchasing and using is made entirely from fresh juice and is one hundred percent healthy when that is, in fact, not true and made of reconstituted fruit juice. The FSSAI has issued this directive in light of multiple false reports of food business operators (FBOs) using the label to claim the health benefits of their products. However, it has allowed up until September 1, 2024 for these companies to be able to exhaust all existing pre-printed packaging materials and to ensure compliance with the standards for fruit juices as specified under the relevant regulations.
“It has come to the attention of FSSAI that several FBOs have been inaccurately marketing various types of reconstituted fruit juices by claiming them to be 100% fruit juices,” FSSAI said in a statement on Monday.
“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.”
The 100% claim is incorrect and misinforming when used and there is no such allowance in the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 for making such a claim.
“Such claims are misleading, particularly under conditions where the major ingredient of the fruit juice is water and the primary ingredient, for which the claim is made, is present only in limited concentrations, or when the fruit juice is reconstituted using water and fruit concentrates or pulp,” the FSSAI said.
Under these guidelines, all products that are reconstituted from concentrate must explicitly state ‘reconstituted’ on the label. If additional nutritive sweeteners are being used and exceed 15gm/kg then the product must also be labelled as ‘sweetened juice.’ These measures are a a part of FSSAI’s ongoing bid to protect consumers and promote public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety standards across India.
This action has been prompted by the inaccurate use of the ‘100% fruit juice’ labels by the FBOs and the FBOs have been directed to understand and accept the standards for fruit juices as specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. All the labels must be in compliance with the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
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