NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has initiated enforcement action against several alcoholic beverage manufacturers, including makers of Old Monk, McDowell’s, Bagpiper, Antiquity Blue, Royal Challenge over the alleged use of non-permitted flavouring practices and misleading age-related claims, saying the products violated existing food safety and labelling regulations. The food regulator said inspections and laboratory testing found that some manufacturers were adding external “rum flavour” to rum and “whisky flavour” to whisky instead of allowing the characteristic taste and aroma to develop naturally through raw materials, fermentation, distillation and maturation. According to FSSAI, such products are being marketed as standard rum or whisky despite being predominantly made from neutral alcohol or extra neutral alcohol, which lacks the inherent flavour profile of these beverages. The authority said these products should instead be labelled as “Rum-flavoured Spirit” or “Whisky-flavoured Spirit” to accurately reflect their nature.“Few manufacturers are found to add flavour externally, which mimics the product’s inherent aroma and taste, and sell the same as a standard product, thereby misleading consumers. The potential need for the addition of such flavour is observed due to an existing malpractice wherein manufacturers, instead of creating products through maturation and/or from base materials such as molasses, malt, or grapes to develop their flavour naturally, use spirit/neutral alcohol primarily, which has no specific flavour and therefore add flavour externally,” it said in a statement.“Such products are not only sub-standard but are also misrepresented by using the names of 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 nature of the product,” it added. Laboratory reports described several sampled products as “sub-standard”, stating that the addition of artificial or nature-identical flavours masked their natural characteristics. FSSAI said failing to disclose this on the front of the pack amounted to misleading consumers and violated the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. The regulator also flagged the “7 Years Old Blended” claim on an Old Monk XXX Rum variant as misleading. It said investigations found that the product primarily contained unaged neutral spirit, while matured rum spirit constituted less than 5% of the blend. Under existing regulations, the age statement must correspond to the youngest spirit in the blend.“The claim of ‘7 years old blended’ in the label of Old monk XXX Rum variant was also found to be misleading. The major ingredient of the rum is neutral (unmatured/unaged) spirit, while the matured rum spirit is only a minor ingredient of the rum (less than 5% as per investigation findings). This is also a clear violation of existing regulations, as the age claim of the spirit should be from the youngest of spirit in the blend as per FSS (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations. 2018,” it said. Based on laboratory findings, FSSAI has prohibited the sale of specific products manufactured by Mohan Rocky Springwater (Old Monk variants), United Spirits (McDowell’s No. 1 Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky), Inbrew Beverages (Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum), and Associated Alcohol & Breweries (Central Province Whisky and McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Matured XXX Rum). The regulator also carried out inspections and sampling at Mandexi Distilleries & Breweries in Goa and issued notices to six other manufacturers in Maharashtra, with further action expected. FSSAI clarified that it is not banning the use of flavouring substances such as coffee or vanilla where permitted by law. The issue, it said, is the addition of flavour identical to the alcoholic beverage itself—such as adding rum flavour to rum—which serves no legitimate technological purpose and misrepresents the product. The authority added that the action is not aimed at the liquor industry as a whole, stressing that many manufacturers continue to produce alcoholic beverages fully compliant with prescribed standards. It also granted conditional relief to two manufacturers, allowing them to sell existing stock only after clearly disclosing the true nature of the product on the front label, while directing them to discontinue the use of identical flavouring in future production.
