Open Access Research Article

FOOD LABELLING IN INDIA: PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE REGULATION OF UNHEALTHY FOODS

Author(s):
ARNAV KALBHOR ARINDAM GUPTA MAHAK YADAV
Journal IJLRA
ISSN 2582-6433
Access Open Access
Volume 3
Issue 7
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Abstract

“This article examines the Supreme Court’s orders in 3S and Our Health Society v Union of India, in which the Court has pressed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to adopt interpretive warning labels on packaged foods high in fat, sugar and salt, and has tied that exercise to Articles 21 and 47 of the Constitution. The litigation raises two questions. The first is whether the right to health merely permits the State to regulate food or also requires it to shape the information environment in which food choices are made. The second is where judicial enforcement of that duty ends and judicial design of technical regulation begins. The article argues that front-of-pack labelling is better understood as an informational measure that makes consumer autonomy meaningful than as hard paternalism, although it is less neutral than its defenders suggest, and that the right to health supports a duty to decide and act within a reasonable time, not unlimited discretion over thresholds, label design and timelines, which must rest on transparent scientific reasoning. Drawing on the Chilean, Mexican and United Kingdom models and on the evidence on label comprehension and purchasing, it concludes that the Court stands on firm ground when it compels FSSAI to decide, and on less secure ground when it prescribes how. It recommends supervised, time-bound regulation by FSSAI in place of judicial administration of a food standard.”

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Authors: ARNAV KALBHOR, ARINDAM GUPTA & MAHAK YADAVRegistration ID: 1013307 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13307, IJLRA13309 & IJLRA13310Year: Oct-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 7Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, IndiaPage No.: 640- 658

Article Information

FOOD LABELLING IN INDIA: PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE REGULATION OF UNHEALTHY FOODS

Authors: ARNAV KALBHOR, ARINDAM GUPTA, MAHAK YADAV

  • Journal IJLRA
  • ISSN 2582-6433
  • Volume 3
  • Issue 7
Citation Download Paper Full Details Search on Google Search on Google Scholar

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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis

  • AbbreviationIJLRA
  • ISSN2582-6433
  • AccessOpen Access
  • LicenseCC 4.0

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