Food Regulator Cracks Down On Misleading '100% Fruit Juice' Labels

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has directed companies to remove claims of "100% fruit juice" from labels and in advertisements for reconstituted fruit juice products with immediate effect. The food regulator has also mandated that beverage makers must use up all existing pre-printed packaging materials before Sept. 1. 

"It has come to the attention of FSSAI that several FBOs [food business operators] have been inaccurately marketing various types of reconstituted fruit juices by claiming them to be 100% fruit juices," the food regulator said in a notification on Monday.

Companies such as Dabur India Ltd. market their 'Real Activ' brand, while PepsiCo promotes its Tropicana line of products by displaying the use of 100% fruit juice on their packaging. Mumbai-based startup Storia is also among the sellers of juices that use such claims on their packs.

The authority emphasised that there are no provisions in the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, that allow for the use of '100%' claims as they can be misleading.

Reconstituted fruit juices are made using fruit pulp and water. "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.

The FSSAI added that businesses must comply with the standards for fruit juices, as specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards & Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. 

Additionally, in the ingredient list, the word “reconstituted” must be mentioned against the name of the juice, as it is reconstituted from the concentrate. "If added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm per kg, the product must be labelled as'sweetened juice’," according to the regulator.