The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's food safety regulator, banned the sale of some of the most popular whiskies and rum in India — including Old Monk and Royal Challenge Whisky — for using artificial flavouring instead of proper ageing and ingredients to achieve their taste and aroma.
This sudden crackdown puts popular flavoured vodkas, such as Minty Jamun or Mirchi Mango, in focus. Will they be next? Under the FSSAI regulatory framework, the answer is no, because these niche vodkas are legally protected.
Under FSSAI (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, standard vodka is defined strictly as a distilled alcoholic beverage made from a neutral spirit. This base spirit must be obtained from the fermented mash of agricultural carbohydrates, such as rye, potatoes, cassava, or grains.
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FSSAI regulations define flavoured vodka as a beverage made from standard vodka infused with permitted natural or artificial flavourings, allowing for distinct external flavours in a legally recognized manner.
Although FSSAI's recent actions targeted deceptive practices in certain whiskies and rums, Minty Jamun and Mango Chilli Vodka are legally protected as flavoured vodkas and comply with FSSAI regulations.
Brands must declare any added flavours during the licensing process under the FSSAI's 'Premix/Flavoured Vodka' category and must label these ingredients clearly to comply.
Yes, companies must relabel products misrepresented as standard spirits to accurately indicate their nature, such as 'rum-flavoured spirit', to avoid consumer deception.
Flavoured vodka is made from standard vodka with added flavours, while traditional vodka is a neutral spirit without distinct characteristics, as defined by the FSSAI.
The regulations, however, explicitly carve out a separate category for "Premix/Flavoured Vodka".
The FSSAI has defined flavoured vodka as a beverage made out of standard vodka and permitted natural or artificial flavourings, with or without added colour and sugar.
By definition, the law anticipates and fully allows the infusion of distinct, external flavours into a neutral vodka base.
The regulatory halt on specific batches of Old Monk and other standard whiskies is not a blanket ban on flavoured alcohol.
FSSAI’s enforcement specifically targets a deceptive industry loophole: the practice of adding "rum flavour to rum" or "whisky flavour to whisky".
The regulator said it allows the use of natural flavouring substances in alcoholic drinks, but its tests found that some Diageo and Inbrew factories were adding flavours from the alcoholic beverage itself, such as rum flavour to rum.
"There is no internationally recognised manufacturing practice whereby rum flavour is added to rum or whisky flavour is added to whisky," the FSSAI said in a statement.
Such flavours would allow companies to bypass maturation or the use of natural ingredients such as molasses, malt, or grapes, the FSSAI added.
“FSSAI’s focus on consumer safety and its efforts to curb misleading age-related health claims are necessary and welcome,” Nita Kapoor, former CEO of ISWAI, told LiveMint. “Strong oversight in this area is essential to maintain public trust, and there is broad agreement that exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims must be addressed firmly.”
She also noted that the use of artificial or simulated flavours is a long-established and widely accepted practice across FMCG categories, including the alcoholic sector. “Such ingredients are often deployed to ensure consistency, safety, and consumer acceptability, and are typically governed by defined regulatory standards.”
“Any policy approach should therefore avoid conflating standard industry practices with misleading claims or non-compliance,” Kapoor said.
The FSSAI also clarified that adding natural and nature-identical flavouring to alcohol products is permissible — “Flavours like coffee, vanilla, or other similar items can be added to alcohol, but adding rum flavour to what is being sold as rum is like adding tea flavour to tea and coffee flavour to coffee.”
The violation, therefore, lies purely in using artificial flavours to fake the taste of a standard, traditionally aged product.
The safety of innovative craft spirits like minty jamun or mango chilli vodka from regulatory scrutiny hinges on this crucial legal distinction: the difference between using flavours to deceive consumers and using them transparently.
Standard vodka is legally defined as a neutral spirit without any distinct character, aroma, or taste. But when a brand creates a mango chilli vodka, it does not apply for a licence under the standard "Vodka" category. Instead, it applies specifically under the FSSAI's separate "Premix/Flavoured Vodka" category.
When a brand produces flavoured vodka, it is not attempting to trick the consumer into thinking the spirit developed those profiles through traditional barrel ageing.
The manufacturer explicitly declares the added ingredients—whether natural fruit extracts or artificial food-grade flavours—to the regulator during the licensing process and prints those flavours clearly on the label.
As long as the additives are FSSAI-approved and the product is honestly marketed as a flavoured concoction, it remains fully compliant.
The core issue with the penalised rum and whisky manufacturers is misbranding and consumer deception, and not product toxicity. The FSSAI mandated that spirits relying on external flavourings to mimic traditional drinks cannot legally bear the standard "rum" or "whisky" tags.
Therefore, these companies do not necessarily have to abandon their products; they can simply relabel them as "rum-flavoured spirit" or "whisky-flavoured spirit" so that consumers know exactly what they are buying.
These companies will also have to strip away any deceptive age statements. For instance, the FSSAI flagged Old Monk’s “7 years old blended” claim on a variant that predominantly contained unaged neutral alcohol.
“The core issue is balance: India needs a regulatory system that is both strict and enabling, one that eliminates misleading claims while ensuring credible, evidence-based innovation is not unintentionally hindered,” Kapoor said.
Some industry giants, such as United Spirits and Diageo India, have challenged the FSSAI's interpretation in the Bombay High Court.
