Several food companies have filed legal complaints against social-media influencers who have criticized how they market their products in India.
The threat that warning labels pose to profits means the industry is incentivized “to hold out for as long as possible, not informing the Indian public about the healthiness of the foods that they're selling," said Simone Pettigrew, head of food policy at the George Institute for Global Health in Australia.
Nearly 80% of products made by India’s over $100 billion packaged food and beverages market could be regarded as high in fat, sugar and salt, according to industry estimates.
That means packaging would be awash in red if the industry adopted color-coded warning labels, Deepak Jolly of the Ind Food & Beverage Association said at the March meeting with regulators.
Health activists seeking greater transparency have petitioned the Supreme Court, which in February directed regulators to consider warning labels. It suggested that the agency examine Israel’s system of red-and-green messaging.
After the March meeting with industry, however, the FSSAI backed off on interpretive labeling. It told the court in August that it was “difficult” to match international standards on packaging, echoing the industry position.
That earned it a rebuke from judges, who said “the world should know that India is very much concerned about the overall health of its citizens.”
As India grows more affluent, middle-class consumers have also become more conscious of their health. Monthly sales of weight-loss drugs that reduce appetites have grown 400% since early 2025, according to market-research firm Pharmarack.
On social media, activists and influencers are campaigning against processed and packaged food.
Among them is Revant Himatsingka. The former McKinsey management consultant has built an audience of more than 5 million across YouTube and Instagram, where the 34-year-old goes by the name Food Pharmer.
The videos have occasionally landed him in hot water. In 2023, Himatsingka made a clip that criticized the amount of sugar and artificial sweetener used in PepsiCo's Sting caffeine drink. The beverage, marketed as an energy drink, is popular with young people in India.
PepsiCo successfully sought a take-down order from a Delhi court. It argued that the claims made in the video were false and intended to instigate a campaign against the beverage.
Indian regulators in July ordered PepsiCo and other companies to drop the “energy drink” label in 90 days.
Multinational food producers often make different versions of the same products to comply with local regulations, tastes and spending capacity. Mexican Coke, for instance, has achieved cult status due to its less-syrupy taste.
“Pricing and affordability are one of the biggest reasons recipes differ so much across countries," said former Mondelez executive Parul Sharma.
But in India, many consumers feel that they are being sold inferior products, said Himatsingka, who has made videos that unfavorably compare the ingredients in the Indian version of Fanta and Nestle’s KitKat against those sold in Europe and Australia.
Indian standard KitKats have 4.5% cocoa solids, while the milk chocolate in the Australian version contains at least 22% cocoa. All variants of Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles sold in India are made with palm oil, whereas many versions sold in Britain use pricier sunflower oil. Many of the Maggi packets sold in Britain are made in India, but they carry red front-of-pack labels warning of their high salt content.
“It is the frustration of feeling cheated," Himatsingka said.
There are some signs that changing consumer tastes are forcing companies to evolve.
Nestle in 2024, for instance, announced it would start selling sugar-free Cerelac baby food in India. Activists, including Himatsingka, had complained that for 50 years, only the version that contained sugar was sold in the country.
The company has long sold sugar-free Cerelac elsewhere.
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