FSSAI proposes ban on sucrose and fructose in infant nutrition products
FSSAI published a draft amendment proposing that sucrose and fructose shall not be added in the products intended for infants up to the age of 6 months. The change would amend the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020. Existing rules still permit sucrose or fructose as a carbohydrate source under prescribed limits while naming lactose and glucose polymers as preferred sources; those rules already cover products for children from birth to 24 months. The draft is open for stakeholder comments for 60 days once Official Gazette copies are available and is not yet final. Contested: sources disagree on the exact date, with the wire summary placing Gazette publication on October 16 and ANI plus Deccan Chronicle reporting notification on 17 Oct 2026. Outlets also supply background context that includes a 2024 controversy over differing sugar content in Nestlé products sold in India versus Europe, a Lancet study citing 180 million overweight or obese adults in India in 2021 projected to reach 450 million by 2050, and FSSAI’s August red hexagonal stamp proposal for foods high in two or more nutrients of concern that was later revised after public backlash to a single-nutrient-threshold warning label.