India’s food regulator halts Dabur product sales over ‘100%’ claims

Regulator cites unverifiable purity claims and seeks a compliance report within 15 days

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Dabur India to hike prices by up to 4 pc, cut pack sizes amid rising input costs
Dabur India to hike prices by up to 4 pc, cut pack sizes amid rising input costs

Dubai: India’s food safety regulator has ordered Dabur India to immediately stop selling food products carrying misleading “100%” claims, including honey, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, cow ghee and coconut milk.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said products sold on Dabur’s website carried phrases including “100% Natural”, “100% Pure”, “100% Purity Guaranteed” and “100% Organic”.

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The regulator described the claims as ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers, adding that they violated India’s advertising and claims regulations.

Dabur India shares were down 4.23% at 12.38pm Dubai time on Tuesday.

Products covered by the order

The prohibition covers honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, cow ghee, coconut water, coconut milk and other food products carrying similar claims.

Dabur Hommade Coconut Milk was marketed using the claim “100% Purity”, which the regulator said was not permitted for compound foods.

FSSAI also said Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey displayed the Jaivik Bharat logo without valid organic endorsement from the regulator.

The Jaivik Bharat mark is used to identify certified organic food products in India.

Dabur given 15 days to report action

FSSAI said Dabur had failed to take satisfactory corrective action despite an earlier notice directing it to discontinue the misleading claims.

The regulator has asked the company to submit an Action Taken Report within 15 days.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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