New food labelling and advertising rules effective 1 Jan. spark concerns in F&B industry
Rules include mandatory nutrition labels, trans-fat testing and ban on featuring children under 12 years in food advertisements
Stakeholders argue unclear guidelines and high compliance costs, with trans-fat testing costing Rs. 150,000 per product amid limited facilities in country
Raises questions on monitoring children in foreign cable TV ads
Argues use of animal imagery as mascots on packaging is prohibited
Claims unclear Govt. actions and impractical rules harm global competitiveness, SMEs
Requests changes like bigger packaging exemptions, reduced language rules, international standards for trans-fat testing
Urges better collaboration to protect consumers while supporting business growth, warning economic damage if concerns go unaddressed
By Charumini de SilvaThe multi-billion rupee local food and beverage (F&B) industry has expressed serious concern over the Government’s new food labelling, advertising, and nutritional standards regulations which came into effect on 1 January. These regulations, aimed at enhancing consumer protection and food safety, have sparked a huge debate among industry stakeholders, with concerns ranging from unclear implementation guidelines to the financial and logistical burden on businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).The regulations, introduced via a gazette in February 2023, were extended from their original January 2013 implementation date, including stringent requirements on nutrition labelling, trans-fat testing, and advertising restrictions.Among the most contentious clauses is the ban on featuring children under 12 years old in advertisements for food products, which stakeholders argue will disproportionately impact brands reliant on family-oriented marketing. Industry representatives highlight a lack of updated gazettes or clear guidance on certain regulatory clauses, leaving businesses scrambling to comply. They claimed the absence of clarity, particularly on deceptive or misleading brand names, has raised fears of subjective enforcement.Businesses also cite the financial strain, adding that the prohibitive cost of compliance, such as trans-fat testing, estimated at Rs. 150,000 per product coupled with limited testing facilities in the country. “Small packaging concessions applicable only to products under 100 square centimetres exclude many single-serve items, such as yoghurt cups and sachets,” they said, adding that stakeholders have urged the Food Control Administration Unit (FCAU) to extend this threshold to 200 square centimetres and adopt globally standardised detection levels for trans-fat.Additionally, they said the mandatory inclusion of warnings in all three languages poses serious challenges for smaller products like essences, which are sold in ounces.The collective industry leaders, therefore, are requesting exceptions for voluntary warnings and redu
Lun. Gen 6th, 2025
