Madras High Court refuses to review its order on micro/nano plastics warning labels on bottled water, sugar, and salt

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The Madras High Court on Monday (September 28, 2026) dismissed a petition filed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) urging the court to review its order mandating drinking water, sugar, and salt sold in plastic bottles and packets to contain a warning in bold and red letters that read: “This water/sugar/salt may contain micro/nano plastics.”

A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy dismissed the review application after observing that the court had not concluded that the water, sugar or salt becomes unsafe because of the plastic packaging but had only ordered issuance of a warning on the labels so that the consumers could take an informed decision before consumption.

In its review application, FSSAI had contended that research on the subject remained inconclusive, and hence, it may not be appropriate to cause “public panic” by displaying such warnings.

Filing the application through Central government senior panel counsel V. Chandrasekaran, the FSSAI said all available materials and research articles, invariably and unequivocally, stated that the harmful effects of micro and nano plastics on human body remained inconclusive and the research was at a nascent stage.

“Hence, directing the applicant (FSSAI) to issue a notification (requiring the forewarning to be printed in bold letters in all PET bottles used to sell drinking water and plastic packs used to sell sugar and salt) may cause public panic and disruption in supply chain,” the authority said.

It also said a report relied upon by the court to issue such a direction on February 6, 2026 was only a review of various papers written by different scholars worldwide on the topic of micro/nano plastic as an emerging contaminant and that the review too does not conclusively establish harmful effects on human body.

“While some studies do suggest that there may be impact to human health from exposure to microplastics and nano plastics, the overall scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nano plastics found in foods pose a risk to human health,” the FSSAI said.

It was also brought to the notice of the court that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had taken cognisance of an article titled ‘Detecting microplastics in human blood’ published in The Hindu on March 29, 2022, and directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct further studies relating to microplastics.

“The FSSAl has written to ICMR twice requesting it to conduct the relevant research. However, the ICMR has not yet responded,” the authority said and agreed to fund the study by the ICMR, as well as the one to be conducted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras at the request of Tamil Nadu government.

Further, claiming no country had so far come up with regulations with respect to micro and nano plastics, the FSSAI said: “Such a labelling requirement would be impractical and would impose an additional burden on Food Business Operators (FBOs). There is a possibility that such labelling might cause panic to foreign nationals when they arrive in India and find them on food articles.”

The authority also told the court if similar directions were given for every other contaminant/heavy metal or microbiological parameters, then a number of warnings may have to be incorporated on the labels of food products. Its review plea, along with an application to condone the delay of 151 days in filing it, have been listed for hearing before the Special Bench on Monday (September 7, 2026).

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the FSSAI had initially approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s direction. However, Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta of the top court on May 18, 2026 dismissed the special leave petition as withdrawn, and hence, the present review.

Apart from the FSSAI, PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Packaging Association for Clearn Environment (PACE) had also approached the High Court with a plea to recall its February 2026 order on similar grounds. The Federation of All India Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association had also filed an impleading petition complaining that the order had been passed without giving them an opportunity of hearing.

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