Salt, sugar labelling: Supreme Court tells Centre to act or face intervention
The Supreme Court has issued a strong warning to the Centre over the absence of clear salt and sugar labelling on packaged food products, asking the government to take action or risk the court stepping in.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan questioned the Centre about the progress made on introducing mandatory front-of-pack labelling for packaged foods containing high levels of salt and sugar.
‘If you can’t, we will’
During the hearing, the Supreme Court made its position clear: if the government does not introduce appropriate regulations, the court may intervene.
The bench asked the Centre to explain what steps had been taken to ensure consumers can easily identify the salt and sugar content of packaged food.
The court’s remarks came during a hearing on a public interest litigation seeking stricter front-of-pack labelling requirements for food products.
Court questions existing system
The Supreme Court expressed concern over whether the current labelling system gives consumers enough information to make informed choices.
At present, nutritional information is generally provided on the back or side of packaged food products. The petitioners have argued that consumers should also be given prominent warnings or labels on the front of packages, particularly where products contain high levels of salt, sugar or fat.
The court sought clarity on the regulatory framework and the Centre’s position on strengthening disclosure requirements.
Why front-of-pack labelling matters
Front-of-pack labelling is designed to make nutritional information easier to understand at a glance.
Instead of requiring consumers to study detailed nutritional tables, a prominent label can indicate whether a product contains excessive quantities of ingredients such as salt, sugar or saturated fat.
Public-health advocates have long argued that clearer warnings could help consumers make healthier food choices, particularly as packaged and ultra-processed foods become increasingly common.
Centre gets time to respond
The court has given the Centre an opportunity to place its position and explain the steps being taken on the issue.
The matter could become significant for food manufacturers if the government introduces stricter requirements or if the Supreme Court eventually directs changes to the existing labelling regime.
For now, the key question is whether the Centre will act on front-of-pack salt and sugar disclosure before the court decides to intervene itself.
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What is more urgent, the labeling on the packages of sugar and salt or speeding up the justice delivery system? If the SC can threaten to interfere there why not in ensuring the speedy justice delivery? the reality is the courts have no implementing mechanism, which protects them from acconutability.