India plant-based milk brands veer away from conventional dairy terms

Published Feb 13, 2024

Tridge summary

The Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) had previously banned the use of traditional dairy terms like 'milk' and 'cheese' for plant-based products, leading to a legal challenge by five companies and a stay on the ban by the Delhi High Court. The ongoing court case has created uncertainty in the industry, prompting some companies, such as Drums Food International, to replace the term 'milk' with 'beverage' on their products. However, a recent UK court victory by Oatly, which allows it to use the term 'milk' on its labels, has provided a glimmer of hope for the plant-based industry in India.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Back in 2020 and 2021, the Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) announced a ban on the use of conventional dairy terms such as ‘milk’ and ‘cheese’ for plant-based products. It also directed plant-based manufacturers to modify the product labels of all such products and e-commerce platforms to delist these as well. This order was successfully stayed by the Delhi High Court later in 2021 after five companies took action. Despite this, industry uncertainty remains today. “The ban is essentially still a motion in hearing at the court level at this time,” Rohit Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Drums Food International which was one of the five companies that contributed to the initial ban being stayed, told FoodNavigator-Asia. “Right now there is not yet complete clarity on these regulations by the regulators, and we have adopted the stance that we will respect the ruling. “So until there is clarity, we will stay in compliance with the initial order and have stopped using ...

Source: Food Navigator Asia