Is Your Beverage FSSAI-Ready?

June 11, 2025

You’ve made your fantastic new beverage! It might be a sparkling protein water, a new plant milk, a healthy shot, or a nutritious juice. It tastes great, looks cool, and you want to sell it in the market.

But wait, there’s a big question- Is your beverage FSSAI-ready?

FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) is the main food safety regulatory body in India. They oversee and make sure the safety and quality of food products in India, making sure that health rules are followed strictly. For new beverages, understanding FSSAI beverage compliance rules is important. Missing even a small FSSAI rule can put you in big problems, like restrictions on the product or large fines.

Food businesses focus on taste and marketing first. That’s normal! But ignoring FSSAI rules is a hidden problem that can have a large negative impact on your business. Your beverage needs to be safe and legal, not only tasty and pretty! Let’s look at 7 hidden red flags that can destroy new drinks due to failing in FSSAI rules. Knowing this can help you save time and money.

Using Ingredients That Are Not Approved By FSSAI

This is the first big challenge that new beverage makers face. FSSAI uses a clear working method that is a “yes list” for ingredients. This means that if an ingredient, food additive, or any other compound is not mentioned in the FSSAI “yes list”, it cannot be used. It is not sufficient for an ingredient to only be “natural” or “popular in other ingredients”; there are other factors that are more than this. This “yes list” is applied from basic flavors and colors to complex items like plant extracts, sweeteners, vitamins, and minerals.

The Hidden Red Flag

Ingredients Are Not Listed- Your beverage uses ingredients that are not on FSSAI’s “yes list”.
Delay Approval Of New Ingredients- The new ingredients, like unique plant extract, a new fermentation product, or a different functional ingredient, as these ingredients are considered “non-specified” by FSSAI and require an approval process to add to the beverages, which can take months or years.
Limits Are Exceeding- There are also strict limits on how much permitted additive you can use; you cannot go above those limits.

How To Solve This?

Always verify all the ingredients with FSSAI’s yes list for your beverage type.
Get food consultants’ help, especially when you want to deal with new ingredients.
Formulate your drink with R&D beverage formulation experts to follow the permitted limits for additives and ingredients.

False Claims On Labels That You Can’t Even Prove

FSSAI is very strict with the claims you have mentioned on your product label. The words like “health drink” or “energy booster” do not have a clear meaning in the FSSAI rules for functional drinks, so saying them without proof is a big red flag. Any health or nutrition claim must be science-proven or should follow the FSSAI labelling rules.

The Hidden Red Flag

Claims without proof- Your product label makes claims (like “boosts immunity” or “super healthy”) that you can’t prove with facts.
Misleading language- You have used tricky words that are not clear to the customers about the functions of your beverage.
Ignoring Advertising rules- You are ignoring your claims that don’t follow FSSAI’s specific guidelines on how to advertise the beverage product.

How To Solve This?

Take help from food consultants to verify that your claims are based on the facts and science of the drink.
Get expert help to review your wording on product labels are clear for honesty and simplicity of your beverage, avoiding confusion.
Work with a food consultant to make sure all your ads and labels strictly follow FSSAI guidelines.

Wrong Category Of Your Beverage

FSSAI has different rules for different types of drinks, like fizzy drinks, juices, milk drinks, healthy supplements, and more. The biggest red flag is considering your complex drink with herbs and vitamins like a basic fruit juice. Each type of drink has its own FSSAI regulations for carbonated drinks regarding ingredients and process.

The Hidden Red Flag

Wrong category of product- You have put your drink into the wrong category that does not match with ingredients and function of your beverage.
Ignoring some rules- Because of the wrong category, you are not matching the FSSAI beverage compliance rules that apply to the actual product type.
Not meeting the standards- For the same reason, your drink is not meeting the correct ingredients or quality standards.

How To Solve This?

Get expert help to correctly identify your beverage’s FSSAI product category.
The food consultants will help you to list all specific FSSAI compliance for beverages rules for that correct product type.
Consult a food expert to meet the correct standards for your beverage’s proper category.

Problems With The Shelf Life Of Your Beverage

Your beverage is perfect when its formulation is done, but FSSAI wants it to stay good and safe for the entire shelf life you have claimed. Problems like growing germs, separation of ingredients, and changes in color and taste than expected are the major red flags. These problems show that your beverage recipe formulation is not right and can be unhealthy.

The Hidden Red Flag

Spoil quickly- Your beverage goes bad before it has reached its expiry date.
Decrease in quality- The taste, color, or texture of your beverage changes a lot with time.
Separation of ingredients- Ingredients get separated from your beverage and making it look unappealing to the consumers.

How To Solve This?

The beverage formulation experts will guide and look after the shelf life and quality testing of your beverage.
Work with the best beverage formulation experts to adjust your drink recipe and preservation methods for better stability.
Get a food consultant’s advice on perfecting the manufacturing process and packaging to maintain the quality of your beverage.

Hidden Impurities Can Fail The FSSAI Beverage Compliance

The “natural” ingredients don’t mean that they are “clean”. Raw materials, mostly plant-based ingredients or agricultural products, can contain heavy metals, chemicals from pesticides, or germs. FSSAI has strict limits for these ingredients in your drink. Even a small amount over the limit can result in a hidden red flag for FSSAI compliance for beverages.

The Hidden Red Flag

Toxic Metals- Your beverage contains harmful heavy metals that are above the FSSAI safety limits.
Leftover chemicals for farms- Your drink ingredients have chemical leftovers from the farm that are more than the limit.
Unwanted germs in the food- The harmful bacteria found in your drink can fail the FSSAI beverage compliance.

How To Solve This?

A beverage formulation consultant can help you do tests for raw materials and your finished drink to fine hidden chemicals.
Get a food consultant’s advice on keeping your factory clean to prevent germs and unnecessary substances.
Work with a beverage recipe formulator to set up checks on ingredient suppliers and make sure the materials are safe and clean.

Not Meeting The Correct Packaging Rules

FSSAI also has rules for packaging, like containers or bottles, of your drink. The packaging material of the beverage must be safe and not contain any chemicals that can be harmful to your drink. Also, if the bottle can be easily opened or is messy, then also a red flag in FSSAI rules.

The Hidden Red Flag

Materials are not safe- The packaging of your beverage can contain chemicals that are harmful to your drink.
No proof of sealing- The bottle of the beverage doesn’t clearly show that if it has been opened before or not.
Wrong Packaging Type- The packaging material is not suitable or protective for your drink.

How To Solve This?

The beverage recipe experts will guide you in choosing the right packaging materials that are certified food-safe and not harmful to your beverage.
Work with the consultant to make and clear safety seals for your beverage.
The food consultant’s advice will help you to pick the best packaging type that protects your specific beverage and fits its needs.

Missing Records Or Documents Of Your Beverage

The FSSAI beverage compliance rules are not just for ingredient or packaging checks, but also clear paper records for each step, where the ingredients came from, when the drink was formulated, what tests were done, and where it was sent. This is the most important factor to trace the safety of the beverage product. FSSAI needs complete records of failures, where its bottle went, and everything.

The Hidden Red Flag

Records are incomplete- Your records are missing information on where ingredients came from or when they were used.
QC logs are missing – Quality control checks aren’t properly recorded or are missing for your beverage.
Tracking is poor- You cannot easily trace specific batches of your beverage product after they leave the factory.

How To Solve This?

Have a food and beverage consultant who can help you set up a system to perfectly track where all your ingredients come from and when they are used.
They will make sure all your quality control checks are properly written down and easy to find for every batch.
Work with the beverage consultant to create a clear management plan for following specific batches of your beverage from the factory to consumers.