United Spirits Limited, Diageo’s Indian subsidiary, has agreed to reformulate some of its major whisky and rum brands following regulatory action by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), according to Reuters.
The agreement covers products that were banned in some Indian states over concerns related to the use of added flavouring substances. Reuters reported government officials saying that the regulator could withdraw the bans once Diageo implements the agreed changes.
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The government earlier this month banned several whisky and rum products from Diageo and other Indian companies as part of one of India’s biggest food-safety enforcement drives in recent years. The action involved alleged violations related to labelling and the use of flavouring substances.
Among the affected Diageo products are McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Matured XXX Rum in Maharashtra and Antiquity Blue and Royal Challenge whisky in Madhya Pradesh.
According to government officials familiar with the matter, Diageo has agreed to stop adding whisky flavouring to whisky and rum flavouring to rum as part of the reformulation.
The changes will apply to the affected products across India, rather than only in states where sales were previously restricted.
Royal Challenge Among Key Brands
Royal Challenge is one of Diageo’s major brands in India. The company says more than 4.5 million nine-litre cases of the whisky are sold annually, placing it in the mid-prestige price segment.
Its front label describes the product as a blend of Indian grain spirit and imported Scotch matured in American oak casks. The back label currently states that the product contains permitted natural colour and added nature-identical whisky flavouring substances.
As part of the agreement, Diageo has also agreed to make the presence of added flavouring clearer through front-of-pack labelling while the reformulation process is completed.
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Separately, Indian inspectors last week seized nearly 18,000 crates of Diageo liquor bottles over alleged packaging violations.
The bottles were reportedly seized because they lacked labels indicating that they had been manufactured using safe recycled plastic, adding to the regulatory scrutiny facing the company.
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