Old Monk cannot be sold as rum, FSSAI tells Bombay High Court, flags neutral spirit, rum flavouring

MUMBAI: Old Monk may have a legendary name, but according to India’s food safety regulator, it cannot quite call itself rum.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that Old Monk cannot be sold as rum because the product is made using neutral spirit and rum flavouring.

The regulator’s objection, however, is not primarily about what appears on the bottle. Its concern is what is actually inside it. FSSAI told the court that the product could instead be described as a “rum-flavoured spirit”.

The matter came before a division bench comprising acting chief justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and justice Gautam A. Ankhad, after the manufacturer submitted revised labels for consideration.

FSSAI has sought additional time to examine the modified labels and decide whether they can be approved. The case will next be heard on 11 September.

The dispute also involves the wording used on Old Monk packaging. At an earlier hearing on Monday, the company told the court that it was willing to remove the phrase “7 years old blended” from its labels.

The court had directed the company to submit a revised label by Thursday and asked FSSAI to specify the information and requirements that must appear on the packaging so that the product is not misleading to consumers.

The state excise department was also asked to examine the revised label and speed up the approval process.

The court had previously expressed concern that the wording could lead consumers to believe that the rum itself had been aged for seven years. It also questioned the manufacturer about text on the packaging that was so small that consumers could struggle to read it.

The company’s senior counsel, Navroz H. Seervai, told the court that the business had suffered losses of around Rs 1 crore a day during the 120-day ban.

But the labelling dispute is only one part of the wider regulatory challenge.

The case stems from laboratory testing by FSSAI that found external artificial or nature-identical flavouring substances in the alcoholic beverages. The regulator maintains that such additives can mask the natural characteristics expected of standardised alcoholic beverages.

FSSAI has relied on the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, which prescribe characteristics for standardised alcoholic beverages such as rum and whisky.

Its position is that a product sold as rum should retain the characteristic taste and aroma associated with rum. In the regulator’s view, adding rum flavouring to a product marketed as rum, or whisky flavouring to one sold as whisky, can amount to misrepresentation.

The regulator has therefore challenged several products across the spirits industry, not just Old Monk.

The products covered by its action include specific variants of McDowell’s No. 1 Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky manufactured by United Spirits; select Old Monk variants produced by Mohan Rocky Springwater; and Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum made by Inbrew Beverages.

The regulatory action has already prompted changes elsewhere in the industry. United Spirits withdrew its case on 24 August, while its parent, Diageo, and other liquor makers agreed to comply with FSSAI’s directions by either removing the disputed flavouring agents or modifying product labels.

For Old Monk, the immediate question is therefore whether a revised label can satisfy the regulator, or whether the product itself will have to be presented differently. With the next hearing set for 11 September, the long-running rum row is far from over.