Delhi HC stays FSSAI order barring Dabur from using 100% pure claim for food products

The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the order passed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banning Dabur from selling food products carrying claims such as '100% Pure', '100% Natural', '100% Purity Guaranteed' and '100% Organic'..Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order after noting that an order of such a nature ought not to have been passed without hearing Dabur first. "The order is stayed till the next date of hearing," the Court said. The matter will be heard next on August 24. .Justice Mahajan passed the order after Dabur approached the High Court against the FSSAI order dated August 3, 2026. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for the company today and argued that Dabur has been selling these products for decades and that the officer who passed the banning order does not have the power to prohibit the sale of these products in the manner in which it has been done. He added that the order was passed without following principles of natural justice or a show-cause notice. Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Ashish Dixit appeared for FSSAI and defended the decision. He said that an improvement notice was given to Dabur. Dixit said that Dabur had earlier challenged the order restraining the company from using 100% claims for its fruit juice but the Court had not granted any stay in that matter. After considering the case, the Court held that a prima facie case was made in Dabur's favour. Therefore, it stayed the FSSAI order. .The FSSAI had banned the use of 100% claims, stating that such declarations are ambiguous, unverifiable and potentially misleading to consumers. The prohibition order covers several products including honey, cow ghee, apple cider vinegar, virgin coconut oil, sesame oil, coconut water and coconut milk. Dabur argued that the order was passed without issuing a show-cause or improvement notice or providing it an opportunity of hearing. The company relied on the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, to argue that the FSSAI is required to seek clarification from a food business operator and consider its response before taking action.It contended that the FSSAI order was non-speaking and failed to explain how the “100%” claims were misleading. It argued that such expressions, when factually accurate, for instance, “100% pure” for a single-ingredient product such as honey, cannot by themselves violate the regulations.Dabur further claimed that FSSAI's action could require products worth over ₹150 crore to be withdrawn, destroyed or repackaged. The company said that the measure is disproportionate and arbitrary. It also alleged that FSSAI’s publicisation of the order on social media had caused negative publicity and created an impression that Dabur's products were substandard."It is pertinent to state that the expression '100% ' is being used in one way or the other, across several categories of food products by many other major players, however, the Petitioner has been singled out," the plea stated. .Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Ankur Chibber along with R Jawahar Lal and Meghna Kumar of J-Law Offices and advocates Krisna Gambhir and Shreya Sethi appeared for Dabur. FSSAI was represented through CGSC Ashish Dixit.