The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a prohibition order against Dabur India Ltd, directing the FMCG major to immediately stop selling food products that carry misleading claims such as “100% Pure” and “100% Natural”. The regulator found that these claims on products including honey, cow ghee, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar violate the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018. FSSAI has asked Dabur to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days.
What Led to the Prohibition Order?
FSSAI, in a social media post on August 3, 2026, announced the prohibition order after finding that products sold on Dabur’s website carried a range of absolute claims. These included “100% Natural”, “100% Pure”, “100% Purity Guaranteed”, “100% Organic”, and “100% Tender Coconut Water”. The affected product categories spanned honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, cow ghee, coconut water, and coconut milk.
The regulator’s action was not sudden. FSSAI had earlier issued a notice to Dabur on April 8, 2026, directing the company to discontinue the use of such misleading “100%” claims. However, the regulator concluded that no satisfactory corrective action was taken by the company. This prompted FSSAI to escalate the matter to a full prohibition order, barring Dabur from selling all food products that carry such claims.
The Misleading Claims Under Scrutiny
At the heart of the dispute is the use of absolute terms like “100% Pure” and “100% Natural” on food labels. FSSAI has classified these claims as “ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers”. The regulator’s position is that such sweeping statements cannot be scientifically substantiated, especially for food products that undergo processing, packaging, and handling before reaching store shelves.
For instance, honey that is extracted, filtered, and bottled cannot objectively be called “100% Pure” without rigorous independent verification. Similarly, products like cow ghee and sesame oil go through multiple stages of production, making absolute purity claims difficult to prove. The Advertising and Claims Regulations, 2018 specifically prohibit the open-ended use of words such as “natural”, “fresh”, “original”, “premium”, “finest”, “best”, “authentic”, “genuine”, and “real” on food labels except under strictly defined conditions.
The Jaivik Bharat Logo Violation
Beyond the “100%” claims, FSSAI also flagged the use of the Jaivik Bharat logo on two Dabur products: Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey. The Jaivik Bharat logo is a unified certification mark introduced by FSSAI to distinguish certified organic food products from non-organic ones. Products must meet stringent criteria, including having at least 95% certified organic agricultural ingredients, before they can carry this logo.
FSSAI found that these two Dabur products were displaying the Jaivik Bharat logo without valid organic endorsement from the regulator. Under the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations, 2017, the unauthorized use of this logo constitutes a separate violation, as it misleads consumers who rely on certified organic standards when making purchasing decisions.
The Legal Framework: FSS (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018
The Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 is the key regulation that governs how food business operators (FBOs) can advertise and make claims about their products. Notified by FSSAI, these regulations were designed to ensure fairness in food advertising and hold businesses accountable for the claims they make.
The regulations lay down clear criteria for different types of claims, including nutrition claims (such as nutrient content or comparative claims), non-addition claims (such as no added sugar or sodium), health claims (relating to disease risk reduction), and conditional claims. Any claim not specifically standardized under these regulations requires prior approval from FSSAI and must be supported by sound scientific evidence.
Critically, the regulations prohibit the use of absolute or superlative terms on food labels unless the manufacturer can back them with verifiable, standardized testing. Words like “pure”, “natural”, “best”, and “premium” are restricted because they create a misleading impression of product superiority without scientific basis. For compound foods (those made with multiple ingredients), absolute single-attribute claims like “100% Purity” are explicitly impermissible, since the very nature of a multi-ingredient product makes such a claim untenable.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Under Section 53 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, any person who publishes or is party to the publication of an advertisement that falsely describes food, or is likely to mislead consumers about the nature, substance, or quality of food, faces a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh. Repeat violations can attract more severe consequences, including product recalls and licence suspension.
FSSAI’s Enforcement Powers Under the FSS Act, 2006
FSSAI was established on September 5, 2008, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Act consolidated seven earlier food-related laws, including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, and the Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992, under a single regulatory umbrella. FSSAI operates under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is headquartered in New Delhi.
The Act empowers FSSAI to set science-based food standards, regulate manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food articles, and enforce compliance through a network of Food Safety Officers across the country. Under Section 30 of the Act, the Commissioner of Food Safety of a State has the power to prohibit, in the interest of public health, the manufacture, storage, distribution, or sale of any article of food for a period not exceeding one year.
In the case of Dabur, the prohibition order falls within this enforcement framework. FSSAI directed the company to immediately cease the sale of the identified food products and submit an ATR within 15 days, detailing the corrective steps taken. This escalation from a warning notice to a prohibition order signals FSSAI’s growing willingness to use its full regulatory arsenal against non-compliant food business operators.
Dabur’s Response
Dabur India, which was founded in 1884 by Dr. S.K. Burman in Kolkata and is now headquartered in Ghaziabad, responded to the prohibition order on August 4, 2026. In a filing with the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the company said it “stands by the purity and quality of its products and has never made any misleading claims.”
The company clarified that the prohibition order, received on August 3 at around 7 pm, relates only to the interpretation of product descriptions and does not question the actual quality, safety, or standards of its products. Dabur maintained that most of the affected product labels, advertisements, and website listings had either already been updated or were in the process of being transitioned to remove the “100%” claims.
Dabur also referred to its response to the earlier April 8, 2026 notice, where it had clarified that the “100% Pure” claim was not being used on the product label in question. The company added that it is seeking legal advice to decide its future course of action and will continue to engage with FSSAI to resolve the matter. Dabur acknowledged that the impact on its business operations and financial position is limited to the specific food products objected to by the regulator.
The Broader Crackdown on Misleading Food Claims
The action against Dabur is part of a wider enforcement campaign by FSSAI across the Indian food and beverage industry. Over the past several months, the regulator has been actively monitoring social media and online marketplace channels to identify food business operators making misleading claims. FSSAI has flagged 32 cases of food businesses making misleading claims in contravention of the Advertising and Claims Regulations, 2018.
Multiple brands have come under the regulator’s radar. In June 2026, FSSAI issued notices to eight food companies, including Emami Healthy and Tasty, Neuherbs, Troovy, and Plan B, for allegedly using misleading brand names. In July 2026, the regulator targeted companies making claims such as “healthy”, “no added sugar”, “fresh”, and “protein-packed” without adequate scientific backing. Alcoholic beverage makers and energy drink manufacturers have also faced scrutiny.
FSSAI has also partnered with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) through an MoU to monitor misleading food and beverage advertisements across various media. The ASCI reviews complaints using its own code and guidelines, which include violations of the FSS Act and related regulations. This co-regulatory approach has strengthened FSSAI’s capacity to police food advertising beyond its own enforcement machinery.
The regulator has also introduced digital tools for consumers to report misleading claims. The Food Safety Connect app and the FoSCoS portal allow consumers to flag non-compliant products directly, creating a crowdsourced layer of enforcement that complements FSSAI’s own monitoring efforts.
Key Takeaways
- FSSAI issued a prohibition order against Dabur India Ltd on August 3, 2026, barring the company from selling food products carrying misleading “100%” claims such as “100% Pure” and “100% Natural”.
- The affected products include honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, cow ghee, coconut water, and coconut milk.
- FSSAI also flagged the unauthorized use of the Jaivik Bharat organic logo on Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey, which lacked valid organic endorsement.
- The Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 prohibit ambiguous and unverifiable absolute claims on food labels, and impose penalties of up to ₹10 lakh under Section 53 of the FSS Act, 2006.
- FSSAI was established on September 5, 2008 under the FSS Act, 2006, operates under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and is headquartered in New Delhi.
- The action against Dabur is part of FSSAI’s broader crackdown on misleading food claims, with 32 cases flagged in recent months and an MoU with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to monitor food advertisements.
