FSSAI notices flag Nestlé India, HUL product compliance

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India issued notices to Nestlé India and Hindustan Unilever on October 17 over alleged compliance breaches involving two nutrition products, The Economic Times reported. The regulator questioned birth-weight claims for HUL's Horlicks Mother's Plus Kesar 400 g BIB and raised approval and labelling concerns about Nestlé India's Resource Renal vanilla-flavoured powder.

Both companies have been asked to explain the issues identified in the notices within the stipulated response period. The notices warn that unsatisfactory responses could lead to further action under food safety laws. They are not, by themselves, a final determination of the proceedings.

Birth-weight claims under scrutiny

For Horlicks Mother's Plus, FSSAI examined a complaint alongside the product's label, advertising and an e-commerce listing. Its notice identified the label claim “Healthy Birth Weight” and the advertising phrase “For baby's healthy birth weight” as potentially misleading under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018.

The regulator's stated concern was that the birth-weight wording suggested the food itself delivered a health benefit in a manner inconsistent with the applicable rules.

FSSAI also objected to wording included in the product name on the e-commerce platform. This referred to pregnancy and lactation, protein for birth weight, DHA for brain development and no added sugar. The notice alleged that the naming did not meet prescribed requirements and directed HUL to show cause.

Approval and labelling questions for Resource Renal

Nestlé India's notice concerns Resource Renal vanilla-flavoured powder, a product intended for dietary management in people with conservatively treated chronic kidney disease.

According to the notice, this category requires prior Food Authority approval under the 2022 regulations covering health supplements, nutraceuticals, foods for special dietary use and special medical purposes, and prebiotic and probiotic foods. FSSAI alleged that Nestlé India had not secured the required approval.

The regulator separately alleged that the label lacked the prescribed vegetarian or non-vegetarian symbol, citing the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.

The report did not include responses from either company or specify their response deadlines. The regulatory observations remain subject to the proceedings and the companies' explanations.