The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has mandated that all food companies must immediately cease labelling and advertising reconstituted fruit juices as ‘100% fruit juice’. This directive follows FSSAI’s findings that many food businesses have been inaccurately marketing reconstituted fruit juices with this claim.
In a statement released on Monday, FSSAI ordered the removal of ‘100% fruit juice’ claims from labels and advertisements for reconstituted fruit juices. Companies are permitted to use existing pre-printed packaging materials until September 1, 2024.
“It has come to the attention of FSSAI that several food business operators (FBOs) have been inaccurately marketing various types of reconstituted fruit juices by claiming them to be 100% fruit juices,” FSSAI said.
Upon examination, FSSAI 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, especially when 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. This is particularly relevant when the fruit juice is reconstituted using water and fruit concentrates or pulp.
India’s food laws mandate that companies must label juices reconstituted from concentrate with the word “reconstituted” in the ingredient list. Additionally, if added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘sweetened juice’.