FSSAI Bans Misleading ORS Labels
By Manu Shrivastava
In mid-October 2025, a long-awaited chapter in India’s food safety campaign finally closed – and a new era began – as FSSAI, the nation’s apex food regulator, laid down a sweeping ban on the use of ‘ORS’ for any beverage or food product that failed to meet strict WHO rehydration standards.
The move was far more than regulatory action—it was the triumph of persistence, truth, and spirited public activism, galvanised by a single paediatrician's eight-year crusade.
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| For representational purpose only |
For years, families and caregivers across India found themselves reaching for bottles plastered with ‘ORS’—often brightly packaged, heavily advertised liquids, promising relief and recovery for dehydrated children.
But quietly, beneath the surface, something was amiss. Many of these so-called ORS products were loaded with sugar, missing essential electrolytes, and bore only a faint resemblance to the life-saving medical formulation prescribed by doctors and recommended by the World Health Organization.
Instead of helping, these drinks could, in some cases, make matters worse—delivering bursts of empty calories or dangerous imbalances that sparked warnings from pediatricians and consumer advocates.
The confusion was not accidental. Food manufacturers, cashing in on a technical loophole, had threaded disclaimers through their labels—tiny print that clarified “not the WHO formula” but left the main branding untouched.
FSSAI had allowed this, at least for a time, provided those caveats existed. Yet in the clinics and hospitals, doctors found the reality: worried parents and unassuming caregivers mistook these drinks for medical-grade oral rehydration, sometimes to devastating effect.
Here, the story pivots around a Hyderabad-based pediatrician, Dr. Sivaranjani Santosh, whose determination has finally tipped the scales. Year after year, Dr. Santosh fought—first with facts, then with social media campaigns, finally with a PIL in the Telangana High Court.
She saw too many children walk into her clinic worse off after gulping down ‘ORS’ drinks that weren’t, and channelled her outrage into activism. Her voice grew: from local WhatsApp groups to national news, she rallied doctors, lawyers, influencers, and parents alike in a clarion call against misleading health claims.
October’s FSSAI order arrived not with bureaucratic coldness but a sense of justice won after years of battling systemic evasion. Gone now is the ambiguity: the directive is unyielding. No more prefixes, suffixes, clever tweaks or disclaimers—the term ‘ORS’ is banned for anything short of true medical-grade solutions.
Any beverage or food labeled with ‘ORS’ without conforming to the WHO’s strict standards is now plain misbranding, punishable under the law.
When news of the ban broke, there was celebration and catharsis. Dr. Santosh, whose fight had often seemed lonely, wept on camera—her tears reflecting collective relief, gratitude, and pride. She recorded her reaction in a viral video, declaring the victory as one belonging not just to herself but to “doctors, advocates, moms, influencers—all who fought beside me.
We finally won.” With the order, the fog of confusion cast by misleading advertising began to clear, and a powerful precedent for food safety and truthful labelling in India was set.
This isn’t merely the story of a government order—it's the story of the power communities wield when truth is their ally. Today, FSSAI’s mandate may keep dangerous drinks off shelves, but it’s the spirit of the activists, health professionals and ordinary parents who ensured that every sip a child takes has their safety at its heart.
The campaign for ‘ORS’ truth will be remembered not for the ban, but for the movement it inspired—and the lives it will protect from now on.
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