New Delhi, July 8: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued notices to Lotte India Corporation Private Limited, Ferns N Petals Private Limited and Kubera Foods over alleged misleading claims, labelling deficiencies and non-compliance with provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the regulations framed thereunder. The companies have been directed to submit their explanations within seven days as to why action should not be initiated against them under the FSS Act, 2006, and the applicable Rules and Regulations.
According to FSSAI, a notice has been issued to Ferns N Petals Private Limited regarding its Roasted Almond Chocolate product over alleged misleading claims and labelling deficiencies. The regulator stated that the product was marketed as “Premium Chocolate” despite containing hydrogenated vegetable fat in place of cocoa butter, while the mandatory declaration prescribed under the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations for chocolates containing vegetable fat was allegedly missing from the label.
FSSAI further observed that the nutritional information panel did not declare the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) percentage values as required under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. The authority also stated that although the product was marketed as almond chocolate and displayed images of almonds on the packaging, the percentage of almonds used in the product was not declared in the ingredient list, amounting to an alleged violation of the labelling regulations.
In a separate action, FSSAI issued a notice to Kubera Foods over the marketing of its Soft and Fresh Cream Bun Pineapple product. According to the regulator, the front-of-pack claims including “100% Natural” and “No Preservatives, Colours & Flavours” were allegedly misleading as the product label itself declared the presence of Preservative (INS 282), Synthetic Food Colour (INS 110) and added flavouring substances.
The food regulator stated that the use of terms such as “Pure”, “Fresh” and “Natural” violated the provisions governing such claims under Schedule V of the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations. It also observed that the claim “100% Natural” did not comply with the directions issued to Food Business Operators (FBOs), while the claim of “No Added Preservative, Colour & Flavour” was inconsistent with the ingredients declared on the product label.
FSSAI has also issued a notice to Lotte India Corporation Private Limited regarding the alleged use of non-compliant pre-printed labels and misleading claims across multiple food products marketed by the company.
According to the regulator, the company allegedly used pre-printed labels bearing its old company name without obtaining prior approval. FSSAI further observed that products including Lotte Choco Pie with Rich Marshmallow, Lotte Choco Pie Real Orange and Lotte Choco Pie Choco Burst carried the claim “100% Vegetarian”, which the authority has described as misleading.
The regulator also pointed out that Pepero Crunchy Biscuit Sticks Carton and Pepero Original Biscuit Sticks allegedly failed to provide nutritional information in the prescribed format under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations.
Additionally, FSSAI observed that Lolly Bliss Lollipop products in Orange, Strawberry and Kaccha Mango flavours did not comply with the applicable provisions relating to vitamin level claims under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations.
The authority also raised objections to Fruitz Eclairs in Mango, Orange and Strawberry flavours, stating that the product name was likely to create the impression that the products contained fruits even though they allegedly did not. It further noted that the mandatory disclaimer required for such brand or trade names was not displayed on the front of the packaging.
FSSAI has directed all three companies to submit their explanations within seven days, failing which appropriate action may be initiated under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder.
At the time of publication, there was no response from Lotte India Corporation Private Limited, Ferns N Petals Private Limited or Kubera Foods regarding the notices issued by FSSAI. This story will be updated once responses from the companies are received.
