Liquor Bottles in India to Have Labels Like Cigarette Packets Carrying Health Warnings From April 1
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), India’s top food regulator had issued a notification on March 19, 2018, directing alcoholic beverage manufacturers to put on labels on alcoholic beverage bottles.
Mumbai, March 26: The eye-catching liquor bottles that attract buyers are set to get prominent labels on them stating a statutory warning from 1st April 2019. According to reports, the labels will have a warning asking consumers to not drink and drive and that liquor consumption is harmful for health. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), India’s top food regulator had issued a notification on March 19, 2018, directing alcoholic beverage manufacturers to put on labels the following warnings: “Consumption of alcohol is injurious to health”; and “Be safe: Don’t drink and drive”. Liquor Home Delivery: Maharashtra Government Takes U-Turn, Devendra Fadnavis Says 'No Plan For Online Sale of Alcohol'.
The FSSAI has given a year’s time to the food business operators to out the new directive in place and comply with the regulations that kick in from April 1, 2019. According to a report by Hindustan Times, for liquor bottles up to 200 ml, the letters on the label, all in capitals, should not be less than 1.5 mm high. The report further adds that the bottles larger than 200 ml will have letters 3mm tall.
According to a report by HT, the new regulation is called the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulation, 2018. Pawan Aggarwal, chief executive officer, FSSAI was quoted in the report saying there were no labelling regulations created under the Act so far because of which the manufacturers used to follow the excise laws and standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Aggarwal said, now that the regulations are in place, they need to be strictly followed.
The order is applicable for distilled alcoholic beverages (brandy, country liquor, gin, rum, vodka and whisky, liqueur or alcoholic cordial), wines, and beer. The labels on the bottles will also need a declaration about alcohol content, allergen warning, no nutritional data, no health claim, restriction on words such as “non-intoxicating” or words implying similar meaning on the label of beverage containing more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2019 12:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).