Associated Alcohols & Breweries Ltd has received a stay from the Madhya Pradesh High Court against an order by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) prohibiting the sale of one of its whiskey and rum brands.
The company said the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore, in an order dated August 6 and received by the company on August 12, stayed the FSSAI order prohibiting the sale of the product.
The development follows a July 29 communication from FSSAI’s regional office in Mumbai, which had prohibited the sale of one of the whiskey and rum brands manufactured by the company.
According to the company, FSSAI’s action was based on an allegation that the declaration of “artificial flavour” on the product label was not in conformity with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the rules and regulations framed under it.
Associated Alcohols & Breweries said its legal counsel had advised that the label declaration was in line with long-standing industry practices and applicable law. The company had therefore approached the High Court, calling the FSSAI action unjustified.
The company also said similar actions had recently been initiated by FSSAI at a pan-India level and that the matter had been taken up by industry bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) and the International Spirits & Wines Association of India (ISWAI).
According to the company, the industry bodies have represented to FSSAI that the practice is long-standing and that the established Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) nomenclature is consistent with the use of permitted flavouring substances declared in ingredient statements under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
Associated Alcohols & Breweries had earlier said it was assessing the operational and financial impact of the regulatory action and would update the stock exchanges on material developments.
With the High Court stay now in place, the company has informed the stock exchanges of the development under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
