FSSAI draft bars added sugars in food for babies under 6 months

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed that no sucrose or fructose be added to foods meant for babies up to six months old. The proposal is part of a draft amendment to the country's infant nutrition rules, published in the official Gazette on Friday, October 16, 2026. A separate draft published in the Gazette the same day proposes maximum limits for two insecticide residues in tea. Both drafts are open for public comment before the regulator decides on final rules.

The first six months are the most sensitive stage of a child's diet. Health authorities, including the World Health Organization, recommend that babies are fed only breast milk in this period, and products such as infant formula are meant to stand in where breastfeeding is not possible. Reports on the draft say the move is linked to concerns about childhood obesity and to the advice on exclusive breastfeeding. Taking these sugars out of foods for the youngest babies would leave lactose, the sugar found naturally in milk, and glucose polymers as the main carbohydrate sources.

The issue of sugar in baby food has been in the news in India before. In 2024, a Swiss investigative group reported that infant cereals sold by a large multinational company in lower-income countries, including India, contained added sugar while the same products in some European markets did not. The regulator said at the time that it was examining the report. The new draft does not name any company and applies to the whole category of foods for infants up to six months.

The tea proposal touches one of India's most widely consumed drinks. Acetamiprid and imidacloprid belong to the neonicotinoid group of insecticides, which tea growers use against sap-sucking pests. A maximum residue limit (MRL) is the highest amount of a pesticide legally allowed to remain on or in a food. Without a specific limit for a crop, testing and trade can become uncertain, both for growers and for buyers abroad. Reports on the draft say the acetamiprid limit of 20 milligrams per kilogram is lower than the limits of 30 in Japan and 50 in the United States, and that the imidacloprid figure was set with reference to standards of the Codex Alimentarius, the international food standards body.

Short-term: Makers of infant formula and other foods for babies under six months have 60 days to send their comments. Parents will not see any change on shop shelves yet, because the draft must be finalised and notified, usually with time given to companies to change their recipes and labels. Tea producers and exporters will also study the proposed limits during the comment period.

Long-term: If adopted, the rule would set a clear, uniform standard: no added table sugar or fruit sugar in foods for the youngest infants. Companies would need to reformulate any product that now uses these sugars. For tea, fixed residue limits would give food safety officers a clear test standard and give growers a target to plan their spraying around.

Who is affected: Parents and caregivers who use infant formula or other infant foods; doctors and nutritionists who advise them; infant food manufacturers and importers; tea growers, processors and exporters; and state food safety officials who test samples.

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