The food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has banned Dabur India from selling several products, such as honey, cow ghee, and edible oils, with the "100 per cent" claim, saying such labelling is against the law. In a post on X, the regulator said that food products sold on the company's website were found to carry misleading '100 per cent' claims. The regulator asserted that the use of the 100 per cent claims is in contravention of the FSS (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, as they are ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers.
Giving details about the violations, the FSSAI said the company's products are carrying misleading claims such as '100 per cent Natural', '100 per cent Pure', '100 per cent Purity Guaranteed', '100 per cent Organic' and '100 per cent Tender Coconut Water'.
These products include honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, cow ghee, coconut water, coconut milk, and other similar products.
Moreover, the product Dabur Hommade Coconut Milk was marketed with the claim "100 per cent Purity". According to FSSAI, it had issued a notice to the company earlier, but Dabur did not take any satisfactory corrective action.
The regulator has asked the company to immediately prohibit the sale of the food products and submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days.
Earlier in June, the US FDA had flagged manufacturing lapses at Dabur's Silvassa plant.
What did FSSAI say in its post?
The food regulator said that the use of 100 per cent claims violates the FSS (Advertisement and Claims) Regulations, 2018, as such claims are vague, not authentic, and may mislead consumers.
"Dabur Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Dabur Organic Honey were found displaying the Jaivik Bharat Logo without valid FSSAI organic endorsement, in contravention of the FSS (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017," the post reads.
What did Dabur say?
"We have received the FSSAI notice and are in the process of checking the content mentioned in the notice on our website," Dabur India said in a statement.
FSSAI had earlier issued an advisory for the industry
It's worth noting that in May 2025, FSSAI issued an industry-wide advisory urging food businesses to avoid making claims such as "100 per cent" on labels, packaging, and promotional materials. It stated that the term is undefined in current regulations and could lead to misconceptions about complete purity or superiority.
