India regulator won’t ease ‘energy drink’ label deadline, unnerving companies, sources say

India's food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has rejected demands from global beverage companies to extend the deadline for removing "energy drink" labels from high-caffeine products. Sources indicate that the regulator will not grant the requested one-year extension, sticking to its original 90-day timeframe.

Major players like PepsiCo, Red Bull, Monster Beverage, and Reliance have been in discussions with the FSSAI regarding product labeling regulations. In July, the FSSAI privately informed these companies that they had 90 days to cease using the term "energy drink" or similar descriptions, citing a lack of specific Indian standards for such products and asserting that the current labeling breaches existing regulations.

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The companies have breached regulations by labelling them energy drinks, they should be happy (India) is not prosecuting them.

The FSSAI's decision is poised to significantly disrupt the burgeoning energy drink market in India, which Euromonitor estimates is growing at 12.6% annually. Retail sales nearly doubled year-on-year from 2018 to 2023, reaching 907 million liters in 2025. The regulator's stance is based on feedback from various Indian states, which have indicated that existing stocks can be depleted within 60 to 90 days.

Industry sources expressed concern, noting that companies have substantial inventories and pending orders for imported components, making a swift transition challenging. The FSSAI official stated that companies should be grateful for not facing prosecution and must provide clear inventory tracking. Meanwhile, beverage giants are also reportedly appealing to the Indian government to halt seizures of energy drinks by state authorities, as seen recently in Rajasthan and Ladakh, where thousands of cans were confiscated during enforcement drives.

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The companies have not told FSSAI how much inventory is lying in which state, which they are supposed to track to ensure traceability.