Dabur gets relief from court: Delhi HC stays FSSAI's order banning the sale of products with 100% claims

In a big relief, the Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the ban by the country’s food regulator, FSSAI, on Dabur for selling products like honey, cow ghee, edible oil, etc., with 100% purity claims.

Justice Amit Mahajan said Dabur had made out a prima facie case for relief, observing that the company had been selling the products for decades and that the FSSAI had issued the order without granting it a hearing.

“The court is prima facie of the opinion that the prohibitory order ought not to have been passed without giving an opportunity of hearing. Till the next date of hearing, the impugned order is stayed," said the judge. The court further listed the case for hearing after two weeks.

What is the case against Dabur?

Dabur Limited is one of India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, which has a dominant position in several FMCG product markets. On Monday (August 3), the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked the FMCG company to stop selling multiple products with 100% purity claims as it was against the guidelines issued by the regulator.

Giving details about the violations, the FSSAI said, “Food products being sold on the company's website were found carrying misleading "100%" claims such as "100% Natural", "100% Pure", "100% Purity Guaranteed", "100% Organic" and "100% Tender Coconut Water.”

“The use of the 100% claims is in contravention of the FSS (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, as they are ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers,” the regulator further added.

How has Dabur responded to the ban action by FSSAI?

After the FSSAI’s directive, Dabur had removed the 100% claim from multiple products.

"As a good corporate citizen, Dabur had already initiated transitioning of the product labels as mentioned in the FSSAI letter to new labels/advertisements without the 100% claim. Most product labels, advertisements and websites as mentioned in the aforesaid order have either already transitioned or are in the process of transition," the company had said in its statement.

However, Dabur also maintained that it was selling and advertising the products in line with the regulator’s guidelines and framework despite the FSSAI’s directive, which said the company violated the law.

No prior warning to Dabur before the action?

In its Monday directive, FSSAI had said that despite an earlier notice directing the discontinuation of misleading "100%" claims, no satisfactory corrective action was taken by the (FBO)” was taken by Dabur.

However, during the court hearing on Friday, Dabur's senior counsel argued that the FSSAI order violated the ‘principles of natural justice’ as it was issued without a show-cause notice or an opportunity for a hearing.

In response, the Centre's standing counsel defended the order, arguing that Dabur had previously been issued improvement notices and advisories, and that its "100 per cent" claims on food products were misleading.