India is witnessing an unprecedented food safety crackdown, with regulators forcing many local eateries and branded restaurants to suspend operations, while a push for front-of-pack warning labels has rattled the country’s more than $100bn packaged food industry.
India is a top growth market for global consumer giants such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez and Nestle, and also thousands of small domestic sellers of traditional savouries and sweets. Consumers in India, the world’s most populous nation, have long complained about poor hygiene at restaurants and cafes while food adulteration scandals frequently go viral on social media.
Street-food stalls, patronised by millions of Indians, are also often criticised for inadequate hygiene. Since 2020, food inspectors have tested more than 100,000 samples annually, with roughly one in five found to be unsafe, substandard or lacking proper labels, government data shows. Nearly 8,000 food business licences have been cancelled in the last three years.
“In a country of 1.4bn people consuming nearly 1.5tn meals every year, ensuring food safety is a monumental task,” the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said last month.
The FSSAI and some state regulators have intensified checks, releasing regular public updates including photos and videos of raids that have drawn widespread attention online. In one recent video, FSSAI showed inspectors raiding an unhygienic facility in northern Uttar Pradesh state and seizing 1,300kg of adulterated cottage cheese, or paneer, which is hugely popular in India among vegetarians.
Activists and officials have flagged concerns about obesity, especially among children. There were 180mn overweight or obese adults in 2021 in India, with the number projected to rise to 450mn by 2050, a study in the British medical journal the ‘Lancet’ showed. India has debated front-of-pack warning labels for years to flag high content of sugar, salt and fat, like those implemented in Chile and Mexico. But the measure has repeatedly stalled amid industry opposition. Pressure has intensified recently from health advocates, social media influencers and a Supreme Court case seeking stronger disclosure requirements.
A Reuters story in August also added to public anger and debate after it revealed India had yielded to industry lobbying in March when Coca-Cola and groups backing Nestle opposed warning labels. The FSSAI recently proposed a red hexagonal stamp on labels for food products that are high in any two or more nutrients, but has made the proposal more stringent following protests by activists, saying a warning will now trigger even if one nutrient is high.
However, India’s Supreme Court has questioned the government why it wants to “waste so much time” on fresh public consultations before adopting the stricter labels. The regulatory effort on labelling also coincides with a push to ban sales of junk food inside and near schools. A top industry group however says compliance would be difficult as many schools are close to congested markets serving the general public, and will cause “loss of business and livelihood.”
The most prominent food safety official currently in India is Tukaram Mundhe, food commissioner of Maharashtra state, whose inspections have targeted outlets operated by Domino’s, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s as well as upscale clubs and restaurants in and around Mumbai, the state capital. His surprise raids and licence suspensions have drawn widespread public support, with authorities regularly publishing details of enforcement actions.
One of his most high-profile operations came late last month when his team raided a warehouse where expiry dates and nutritional information were being faked on labels of food products manufactured by PepsiCo, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever for exports. Canada has said it is assessing any risk to imports.