How India’s informal watchdogs are forcing consumer brands to clean up their act

Himatsingka shared details of the legal notice publicly. This ended up amplifying the issue and led people from all walks of life to rally behind him. The video also drew regulatory attention and eventually led Bournvita parent Mondelez to announce that it would reduce the sugar content in the beverage by 14%.

In the weeks that followed, Mumbai-based Himatsingka, a former management consultant and author, released more videos dissecting misleading labels: sugar-loaded and fat-laden packaged food items that were being passed off as “healthy”. His scepticism of claims made on food labels had been born out of experiences in the US, where he had pursued a one-year course in nutrition. While there, Himatsingka noticed a gap between how packaged foods were marketed as opposed to the ingredients they actually contained.

The videos caused a huge uproar. They also earned him more legal notices—from Nestle, Dabur, and others. Within months, however, the exposés had turned into a consumer movement. Parents forwarded them across WhatsApp groups and schools invited Himatsingka to address students. The movement took on a life of its own, sparking a label-awareness campaign called ‘Label Padhega India’ (India will read labels), a nationwide campaign that was endorsed by actors and entrepreneurs.

Himatsingka is not alone in puncturing the claims made by brands. Hepatologist Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known by his online handle The Liver Doc, uses social media to challenge misleading claims made by health supplements. He often uses his clinical experience to call out supplement brands making false claims. Wellness coach Luke Coutinho has also built a large following on social media around integrative and preventive health.

They have no connection with each other, but together, independent food watchdogs such as Himatsingka, Cyriac, Coutinho, as well as an army of influencers, online communities, and third-party verification platforms have kindled a consumer awakening across India.

Although they operate entirely outside the regulatory system, these watchdogs have today become pillars of credibility for sceptical buyers wary of the claims being made by brands. In a sense, they have become a ‘trust economy’, a term used to describe a parallel ecosystem in the age of social media, where reputation is the primary currency. Instead of just looking at a brand or a price tag, people follow individuals or platforms they find credible and decide where to spend their money based on the views of these entities.

In India, this trust economy largely covers new segments that have taken off in recent years, such as health supplements, premium packaged foods (protein bars etc). As a consequence of its emergence, consumer trust is shifting away from regulators, certifications and brand claims towards these informal watchdogs. And their work is paying off.

Reading the writing on the wall, a number of brands are making attempts to now become less unhealthy. For instance, Maggi ketchup reduced its sugar content by about 22%, while Pepsico India announced it had started trials to replace palm oil in Lay’s.

Packaged food is not the only category being affected by this disruption. The parallel trust ecosystem straddles a cross-section of industries, from supplements to skincare and beyond.

Regulation sans trust

India’s food system is governed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. According to FSSAI guidelines, packaged food products are required to disclose ingredients, nutritional information and licensing details. Enforcement is carried out by state authorities.

However, given the scale and diversity of India’s food market, across the organized and unorganized categories, regulators cannot always examine every product closely. Some labels technically comply with norms on paper but make claims that exploit regulatory grey zones.

Mint sent queries to regulator FSSAI as well as major packaged food companies, including Amul, ITC Foods and Nestlé, but had not received responses at the time of publication.

Samarth Bansal, head of content at packaged food brand The Whole Truth Foods, says that misleading claims, partial disclosures and on-paper compliance have made packaged food a low-trust category.

As a result, while regulator FSSAI still frames the formal rules of the game, consumers are increasingly turning to the informal trust economy to ascertain the credibility of brands. They do so through multiple avenues, including reviews, recommendations and peer validation, which have become important in guiding purchase decisions.

A 2026 consumer report by iCubeswire suggests that trust and distrust are increasingly being mediated outside brands and regulators. The report states that 61% of the 1,194 Indian consumers who participated in the survey said influencer content feels credible, while 83% said they have stopped buying a brand after a negative influencer review.

But some brands, across product categories, have been working hard to game the system. As earlier reporting by Mint has shown, a thriving underground market now exists where sellers offer free products, refunds and cash in exchange for five-star reviews from users.

This effort is coordinated through WhatsApp groups, Telegram channels and shared Excel sheets. The entire effort is aimed at garnering positive reviews—reviews that are not genuine—to drive up sales.

Consumers therefore have to work that much harder to get the real picture. And many are turning to online communities of their peers to do so.

The Reddit deference

Three consumers Mint spoke to confirmed that their purchase decisions are now shaped by Reddit threads, where people dissect ingredients and discuss side effects, especially in categories such as skincare, supplements and wellness.

For instance, Pooja Shrivastava, a 27-year-old advertising professional in Bengaluru, says that she relies on online communities on Reddit, which she feels are more authentic and reliable than paid influencers or customer reviews on ecommerce sites.

From finding the best running shoes for her partner to deciding whether a budget skincare brand selling a retinal-based formula for under ₹1,000 is worth trusting, Shrivastava says she often outsources research to Reddit forums before making a purchase decision.

“While Reddit has its share of PR folks and influencers trying to sneakily create perceptions, most people don’t sound like they are selling you something,” Shrivastava says. “You get to read detailed experiences, people calling out brands, others correcting them, which feels closer to how real decisions are made.”

According to Reddit’s internal consumer research, the platform has emerged as a key decision making layer for shoppers. It found that users frequently reference conversations on the platform to assess product quality, uncover drawbacks and verify brand claims.

The business of verification

Besides influencers, reviews and online communities, third-party ratings, which are a more structured form of verification, are also coming up to support this parallel trust economy.

Bengaluru-based Unbox Health, which positions itself as an independent ratings and testing layer for packaged foods and supplements, says it has rated close to 400 products across more than 50 categories so far.

“Most consumers don’t want to decode nutrition tables,” says Arjun Anjaria, the company’s cofounder. “They just want to know whether a product is actually good for them.”

Unbox Health follows existing FSSAI, NABL, ICMR and WHO standards, but packages the results in a way that makes it easier to comprehend them. The platform provides an aggregate rating of products it has tested on the basis of label accuracy, non-toxicity and nutritional profile.

According to Unbox Health, more than 80% of the brands return to get additional products tested or renew ratings once their 12-month validity expires. The platform claims over six lakh users have used its ratings to arrive at purchase decisions, largely through word of mouth.

Verification has also taken a more creator-led form through platforms such as Trustified, run by fitness influencer Arpit Mangal, which publishes independent lab reports on protein powders and supplements. These reports are often circulated, debated and discussed widely on social media.

Hepatologist Philips has also published a study that analyses protein powder claims and supplement formulations, which was funded by entrepreneur Paras Chopra.

This shift has made third-party assessment harder to ignore for brands. “India is still early in the supplement adoption curve, so third-party certification reduces friction,” says Shivam Hingori, founder of nutrition brand Ace Blend. He adds that third-party certifications help address pre-purchase doubts and lead to more informed customer questions.

According to Hingori, when product performance aligns with expectations and a neutral assessor validates the formulation, loyalty becomes more conscious and less hype driven. He says that customers are also increasingly asking for lab reports and certifications that go beyond influencer endorsements. “They want to know if a product is safe for regular use,” he says.

Forcing brands to act

On a wider level, marketing executives fear the growing clout of public influencers will undo years of brand building efforts. They have come to recognize that this shift to informal arenas and the role they play in shaping perception, as much as traditional advertising—if not more than it—have become critical.

According to Satish Kadu of growth marketing platform YOptima, influencers, online communities and third-party validators are now treated as complementary trust layers when it comes to overall brand and media strategy.

“These signals now reinforce traditional advertising by adding context, credibility, and real-world proof closer to the consumer’s decision moment,” said Kadu. “They are becoming must-include layers in modern media plans.” In some categories, he adds, professional validation on social media has translated into measurable lifts in engagement and sales.

For instance, a women’s health and hygiene brand campaign, amplified organically by dermatologists on Instagram without formal influencer contracts, delivered significantly stronger results. This contributed to an overall sales lift of nearly 70%, says Kadu.

The flip side

Despite their well-meaning efforts, there is only so much these independent watchdogs can do given how deep and wide the market is. Fuelled by startups and legacy FMCG brands launching direct-to-consumer products, India’s health and wellness food market was valued at $35.89 million in 2024 and projected to reach $139.56 million by 2032 at a CAGR of around 18%. The country saw over 5,000 clean labels—13% of the global total—launched in 2024 alone, mainly in the snacks, cosmetics and dietary supplement categories, according to a study by consulting firm Towards FnB. The term clean label refers to brands that claim to have been made with minimal, mostly natural ingredients.

While regulators still define the baseline, creators, communities and platforms that shape public perception operate with their own standards and incentives. The parallel trust economy does not offer a standard resolution either for brands or consumers. So, while the label awareness movement has increased choices among consumers, given the lack of a structure, consumers are forced to evaluate information from multiple sources to arrive at a decision.

Brands with scale and capital at their disposal can respond by commissioning audits, reformulating products and managing reputation across platforms. But smaller companies often cannot compete equally in this parallel trust economy.

“Trust comes at a real cost,” says Bansal of The Whole Truth. “The cost shows up in ingredients, testing, documentation and time.”

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the challenges of this new economy, where trust is increasingly commoditized, better than the packaged food brand Only What’s Needed. It was launched by Himatsingka, of all people, last year, marking his transition from critic to founder.

The newly minted founder admits that launching a food brand was not part of his plan, but claimed that it was the result of years of sustained audience engagement and repeated requests from consumers for alternatives to the products he criticised. Launching a clean brand, Himatsingka adds, also seemed like a good way to make his work financially sustainable.

The shoe is now firmly on the other foot. Time will tell Himatsingka if it’s a good fit.