India’s food regulator has issued a show-cause notice to Fitshit Health Solutions-owned The Whole Truth over labelling that its chocolate products contained “no added sugar,” a move that could have a broader impact on how companies make and consumers perceive such claims.
The notice issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) followed a complaint filed by rival chocolate maker Paul & Mike that The Whole Truth was using dates as sweeteners while claiming that no sugar was added to its cocoa products.
Under FSSAI’s “non-addition of sugars” rules, such claims are not permitted if ingredients containing sugars are used as substitutes for added sugars. Following a Right to Information petition filed by the complainant in December, the Maharashtra FSSAI issued the notice to The Whole Truth.
This tighter regulatory scrutiny could set a precedent how food companies make “no added sugar” claims while using dates, date paste and similar ingredients as sweeteners. India’s chocolate market is projected to grow over 55% to $3.93 billion by 2031 from $2.53 billion in 2025, data from Mordor Intelligence showed.
Documents reviewed by Mint show the dispute dates back to August 2023, when the National Advertising Monitoring Service (NAMS), acting under the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), initiated a suo motu review over potential advertising violations by The Whole Truth. Complaints filed by Paul & Mike before FSSAI in October 2024 and September 2025 alleged that the Fitshit brand continued selling chocolates sweetened with date powder using “no added sugar” claims despite regulatory observations.
While certain online listings were later updated from “no added sugar” to “sweetened with dates,” older products carrying the claim continued to be available on quick-commerce platforms, including batches manufactured after the show-cause notice.
The Whole Truth compliance
In response to the February notice, also reviewed by Mint, The Whole Truth said it would discontinue the use of “no added sugar” claims in products using dates or similar ingredients as sweeteners.
“Globally, where chocolates like ours exist, this matter is clear and settled. In the US, you will find date-sweetened products claiming ‘no added sugar,’” The Whole Truth co-founder Shashank Mehta told Mint, adding that the brand had made the change to ‘sweetened with dates’ labelling.
The changes needed time because of procurement lead times and existing inventory, and Mehta said the company had “fully respect(ed) the position of the authorities.”
FSSAI did not respond to Mint’s email seeking comment on the matter.
Chocolate brand Paul & Mike had filed complaints with FSSAI, consumer protection authority Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and ASCI. ASCI is a self-regulatory body whose observations are not legally binding on brands. CPGRAMS and ASCI did not respond to Mint’s emails seeking comment on the matter until press time.
The issue goes beyond technicalities and is more about how consumers understand health claims, said Vikas Temani, co-founder of Paul & Mike owner Zenriva Brands Pvt Ltd, in turn owned by leading oleoresin maker Synthite Industries. “Ingredients such as dates and date derivatives are being used by some clean-label brands as sugar substitutes while continuing to market products as ‘no added sugar,’ creating what we believe is a misleading health halo around these products."
Sweet, yes; but healthy?
Temani said the company decided to pursue the matter after some customers told Paul & Mike they were consuming such products even with conditions such as diabetes or high blood sugar.
“If such claims are not challenged in time, they risk becoming accepted industry practice," he said, adding substitutes such as date powder are still metabolized by the body as sugars.
A comparison of publicly available nutrition labels suggests The Whole Truth’s 70% dark cocoa bar, which uses date powder as a sweetener instead of refined sugar, has an overall sugar content of roughly 22gm per 100gm, which is broadly comparable to Cadbury Bournville 70% at 24–25g per 100gm.
Mehta said that the dates powder used by The Whole Truth is rich in fibre and how it is made is different from industry standards. “We take whole dates, chop them, dry them, and grind them into a powder. …it has a glycemic index of 43, akin to boiled carrots (GI 39) and apples (GI 42) than sugar (GI 65).”
Glycemic index ranks foods by how quickly they can raise sugar levels in the blood.
An endocrinologist added a nuance to what Mehta said. “Though date powder retains some fibre, its nutritional advantage may be limited as processing reduces fibre and makes its impact closer to sweeteners like honey, jaggery or sugar," said Dr Anand Vishal, who practises at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi.
The total sugar intake and portion size matter more for blood glucose control than the source of the sweetener, he added.
The Whole Truth journey
The brand, started in 2019 by former Unilever executive Mehta, is built on “absolute transparency” with no added sugar, no artificial ingredients and fully disclosed labels. It also sells protein bars, protein powders and nut butters.
Backed by $80 million from investors such as Sofina, Sauce.vc and Peak XV, among others, the fast-growing company reported revenues of ₹215.8 crore in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) versus ₹64.9 crore the year earlier, filings with the ministry of corporate affairs accessed via Tofler showed.
Experts said the regulatory framework goes beyond conventional sugars. While not commenting on this specific case, Biplab Lenin, a partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and expert in health and pharma lawsuits, said: “The intent of the regulation is clear that companies should not be able to achieve through structurally and functionally (alternative) ingredients what the law seeks to restrict directly.”
Claims must be truthful, unambiguous, meaningful, not misleading, he added.
“This is a larger consumer transparency issue. …companies must ensure that ‘no added sugar’ claims do not end up misleading consumers into believing the product is sugar-free or significantly healthier,” said Ashim Sanyal, chief executive of Consumer Voice, a consumer advocacy group.
Protein powder too
Complaints by Paul & Mike reviewed by Mint also questioned marketing claims used by The Whole Truth for its range, including phrases such as “cleanest” and “lightest”. According to the complainant, the claims continued to appear on packaging and online marketplace listings even after an August 2025 communication from ASCI related to potential violations of advertising norms.
Product images and marketplace listings reviewed by Mint appeared to show products carrying the claims months after the notice, including on quick-commerce and e-commerce platforms. The complainant has alleged that the continued use of such superiority claims created an uneven playing field for brands adopting more conservative interpretations of advertising and labelling rules.
Mehta said The Whole Truth had demonstrated to ASCI that the company’s protein powder was the cleanest and lightest by comparing ingredients with those of competitors. “…within a year of launch, so many competitors copied us that we couldn’t any more say that we are cleanest (because now others had a similar product). So, later, we voluntarily changed that line across all packs.”
A senior executive at a leading chocolate company said the outcome of the case could influence how a wider set of packaged food brands frame sugar-related claims going forward, particularly in categories such as protein bars, chocolates, snacks and breakfast products.