Restaurants, food brands grapple with tougher enforcement as regulators step up scrutiny

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A few days before India’s apex food safety regulator issued a prohibition order against Dabur India Ltd late Monday, Diageo-owned United Spirits Ltd moved court against an earlier order restricting the sale of one of its rum products.

Last week, in another sign of growing friction between the food industry and regulators, three associations representing restaurants and hotels across India issued statements insisting that the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent spate of restaurant shutdowns in Mumbai was hurting business.

Restaurants, hotels and food brands are coming under greater regulatory scrutiny as food safety authorities become increasingly assertive, responding in part to public outcry over adulterated food and unhygienic kitchens.

On 4 August, a day after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) posted on X that Dabur products such as honey and cow ghee carried misleading ‘100% claims’, the company’s stock fell by more than 4% on NSE. Earlier on 12 June, shares of Nestlé India Ltd fell nearly 3% following media reports of FSSAI action against the company over a complaint of insect and larvae in a Maggi packet. Nestle has rejected the claims.

On 1 August, United Spirits, the maker of McDowell's No.1, Royal Challenge, and Signature whisky, filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court challenging FSSAI’s 29 June order stating that one of its product labels violated provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The company has said its labels comply with the legal framework and reflected long-standing industry practice.

FSSAI’s action was part of a broader enforcement drive against what it says are misleading use of identical flavouring and age-related claims in alcoholic beverages, which could reshape manufacturing practices across India’s Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) industry.

State food safety regulators too are increasing scrutiny, the most prominent being Maharashtra FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, who has initiated more than 1,100 inspections since taking charge in May, per media reports.

The state authority gained attention as it shut iconic Mumbai eateries including the 70-year old K Rustom Ice Cream Parlour and the 100-year-old Parsi Dairy Farm as part of its enforcement drive. It also suspended dining services at Mumbai’s elite clubs including the Cricket Club of India and the RK Juhu Gymkhana for unhygienic conditions.

In response, the Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India), the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), and the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) petitioned the Prime Minister, the Maharashtra chief minister, and the CEO of the FSSAI last week to “protect their rights”, arguing that regulators were singling businesses out, prematurely portraying them as violators, and disproportionately impacting small- and medium enterprises.

FSSAI and the Maharashtra FDA did not reply to emailed queries.

The enforcement drives are becoming more widespread, but some industry experts say these aren’t part of a crackdown.

The Food Safety Department in Telangana inspected 14 establishments in Hyderabad in July, seizing about 850 kg of allegedly adulterated ghee. In Lucknow, officials seized nearly 9.8 tonnes of spices and vegetables and destroyed 8.5 tonnes of unfit food products last month. In June, food safety authorities in Kerala restricted the sale of a specific batch of Patanjali sorghum flour in Kannur due to high pesticide levels.

“These efforts may coincide over a short period, creating the impression of a crackdown,” said Ashwin Bhadri, founder and chief executive of food testing agency Equinox Labs. Enforcement has always been part of FSSAI’s mandate but the difference now is that the regulator is actively publicising its orders on social media.

According to some industry experts, FSSAI and state FDAs turned more aggressive in their enforcement following months of social media outrage over unhygienic restaurant kitchens and adulterated food products, including milk made from fake ingredients.

Yet there is room for improvement.

Nonprofits such as the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPI) have been campaigning for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels. FSSAI first released draft regulations on front-of-pack labelling for packaged foods in 2018, but the rules have not been finalized yet.

NAPI convener Arun Gupta noted that the Supreme Court had instructed FSSAI in February to submit within four weeks its response to the proposal for mandatory front-of-pack warning labels. But there has been no public update on this since the Supreme Court’s directive.

“The duty has fallen on the consumer to notify the authorities to inform them about violations,” Gupta said. “The FSSAI has to act as an authoritative regulator rather than a facilitator.”

Neethi Lisa Rojan is a senior correspondent focusing on the consumer goods and retail sector working from Mumbai for Mint since 2026. She has been a journalist for a little over two years with Moneycontrol and The Morning Context. She has covered the consumer and healthcare sectors in earlier roles. She was a double gold medallist during her bachelor’s from Mahatma Gandhi University Kerala and post-graduation from Pondicherry University. With a background in commerce and journalism, she brings a sharp analytical lens to stories on India’s fast-evolving consumer goods and retail sector.

With an academic background in business administration and a keen eye for financial statement analysis, she bridges the gap between corporate data and compelling narrative journalism. Her reporting is characterized by a focus on how evolving consumer behaviours and regulatory changes impact India's largest mass-market brands. She is a keen learner with diplomas in international business, human rights and journalism. She specialized in business journalism at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. When she is not looking into shopping carts, you can find her explaining the latest conspiracy theory.

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