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United Spirits withdraws FSSAI challenge after regulator revokes liquor order
The company drops its Bombay HC plea after FSSAI revokes restrictions on select liquor products.
Mumbai: United Spirits has withdrawn its challenge before the Bombay High Court against restrictions imposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on select liquor products, after the regulator revoked its order earlier this month, according to a Mint report.
The dispute centred on the use of added ‘rum flavour’ in products marketed as rum. FSSAI had objected after laboratory tests detected external artificial or nature-identical flavouring substances in certain alcoholic beverages.
United Spirits had challenged the restrictions, arguing that adding rum flavour was an established industry practice and questioning the regulator’s authority to halt sales in the absence of findings that the products posed a health risk.
The company informed stock exchanges on August 18 that FSSAI had cancelled its order restricting the sale of products manufactured at its Baramati facility. Following the revocation, United Spirits has now withdrawn its court challenge.
The affected portfolio included McDowell’s No. 1 Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky.
FSSAI’s action was based on the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, which require standardised alcoholic beverages such as rum and whisky to retain their characteristic taste and aroma. The regulator argued that adding a flavour corresponding to the same spirit could misrepresent the nature of a standardised product.
The matter continues for other manufacturers. Mohan Rocky Springwater Breweries, the maker of Old Monk, is continuing its legal challenge against a similar FSSAI order before the Bombay High Court. The court had earlier clubbed the company’s petition with United Spirits’ plea.
During an August 10 hearing, senior counsel Navroz H. Seervai, appearing for Mohan Rocky Springwater, said Old Monk had been sold for more than five decades and that the prohibition was causing losses of nearly Rs 1 crore a day.
FSSAI’s action had covered select products from several manufacturers, including United Spirits, Mohan Rocky Springwater and Inbrew Beverages.
