Delhi High Court Stays FSSAI’s Ban on Dabur’s ‘100% Natural’ Product Claims

Justice Tushar Mahajan, presiding over the matter, held that the FSSAI’s order “ought not to have been passed without hearing them [Dabur India] first,” and directed that it remain stayed till the next date of hearing, according to live updates from legal reportage platform Bar and Bench.

What was banned by FSSAI, and why

The FSSAI had passed the original order on August 3, publishing it on social media platform X, directing Dabur to immediately stop selling products labelled “100% Natural,” “100% Pure,” “100% Purity Guaranteed,” “100% Organic” and “100% Tender Coconut Water.”

The regulator said the claims violated the FSS (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018, on the grounds that they were “ambiguous, unverifiable and likely to mislead consumers.”

Rule of natural justice invoked by High Court

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Dabur, told the bench there had been no show-cause notice and no hearing before the prohibition took effect. “The reason given is I use 100%,” Sethi submitted.

CGSC Ashish Dixit, appearing for the Centre, told the court that an earlier improvement notice had been issued to Dabur and that a separate writ concerning the “100%” claim on the company’s real fruit juice range was already pending. Sethi clarified that the improvement notice in question related specifically to the juice matter.

Sethi argued that the FSSAI’s August 3 order amounted to an unauthorised prohibitory action, asking the court to examine “who can issue a prohibitory order” of that nature. The bench appeared to note Dabur’s long-standing use of the labels, observing that the products had “been sold under the same label for decades” and that the company had “made a prima facie case.”

In its order, the court recorded that the petition challenged the August 3 order prohibiting the sale of the named products with immediate effect, noting Dabur’s submission that the products had been sold under the relevant labels for several decades.  

The court held that the order had been passed without following principles of natural justice or issuing a show-cause notice — and that even an emergency prohibition requires prior notice to the concerned party, which, the court noted, was “concededly” not the case here.

The FSSAI’s August 3 order remains stayed in the interim.

Which Dabur products were under the scanner

The FSSAI’s notice named honey, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, cow ghee, coconut water and coconut milk among the products affected.

The regulator also flagged the use of the Jaivik Bharat logo on Dabur’s Himalayan Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and Organic Honey without a valid FSSAI organic endorsement, calling it a breach of the FSS (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017.

Separately, Dabur’s Homemade Coconut Milk was flagged for being marketed under a “100% Purity” claim, which the FSSAI said “is not permissible for compound foods” under the advertising and claims regulations.

FSSAI says earlier order was not complied with

The regulator’s order followed what it described as Dabur’s failure to comply with an earlier direction to withdraw the claims. “Despite an earlier notice directing discontinuation of misleading ‘100%’ claims, no satisfactory corrective action was taken by the FBO [food business operator],” the FSSAI said.

The FSSAI had directed Dabur to “immediately prohibit the sale” of the named products, as well as any other products carrying similar 100 per cent claims, and asked the company to submit an “action-taken report” within 15 days of the notice.

In court, counsel for the FSSAI argued that an earlier order on the same issue had already been passed and not complied with by Dabur; Dabur’s counsel responded that a ruling on that matter was still pending.