FSSAI says some alcobev firms add flavours to mask natural chemical composition, mislead consumers

Reiterating its position on the matter, the food security regulator said that it found that some alcobev manufacturers are externally adding flavour, which mimic the product’s inherent aroma and taste however are sold as a standard items, which misleads consumers. “The possible need to the addition of such flavour is observed due to an existing malpractice wherein manufacturers, instead of creating items through maturation and/or from base materials such as molasses, malt, or grapes to develop their flavour naturally, consumption spirit/neutral alcohol primarily, which has no specific flavour and therefore add flavour externally,” it added.

The regulator said that such items are not “only sub-standard “however are also “misrepresented “ as they are labelled under standard categories. “At best, they can be identified as Rum-flavoured Spirit or Whisky-flavoured Spirit, etc. Further, the front-of-the-pack completely fails to disclose the true environment of the product,” it added.

It also said that lab reports post testing of samples of these items stated that “the addition of artificial flavours is masking its natural flavour and making the product substandard”. Also failing to name these items as “flavoured or premix rum” on the product label might mislead or be deceptive to the consumers, FSSAI’s statement added.

FSSAI stressed that the consumption of natural and environment-identical flavouring substances is permissible under the applicable regulations governing alcoholic beverages. “The present matter, however, does not pertain to a prohibition on the consumption of flavouring substances . Rather, it concerns the practice adopted by certain manufacturers of adding the flavour of the standardized alcoholic beverage itself, to instance, the addition of rum flavour in rum or whisky flavour in whisky,” it added.

FSSAI said it has issued prohibition of sale orders to certain manufacturers including Mohan Rocky Springwater, Khopoli unit, United Spirits in Baramati & Madhya Pradesh, INBREW Beverages, Madhya Pradesh and Associated Alcohols & Breweries, Madhya Pradesh. It said notices have also been issued in Goa and six other manufacturers in Maharashtra while giving conditional revocation to two players to be able to sell their existing stocks after making changes on front of the pack labels.

It also raised concerns about deceptive age claims regarding the maturation stage of these items in violation of its regulations.

Noting that this issue is not representative of the entire sector, it added that several manufacturers continue to make standardised alcohol beverage items in compliance with prescribed standards. It further noted that certain manufacturers are producing beverages predominantly from neutral alcohol or extra neutral alcohol, which inherently lacks the characteristic flavour profile associated with standardized alcoholic beverages, and thereafter introducing identical or artificial flavouring substances to recreate such characteristics.

“It is also noteworthy that there is no internationally recognized manufacturing practice whereby rum flavour is added to rum or whisky flavour is added to whisky to the purpose of generating the defining sensory characteristics of standardized alcoholic beverages,” FSSAI’s statement added

Published on August 2, 2026