What you can and cannot claim on a nutraceutical pack
Nutraceutical marketing lives close to the line. Knowing exactly where the line is lets you write stronger copy, not weaker.
Read the article →A label is the only part of your product a regulator reads before a consumer complains. It is also the cheapest thing to get wrong and the most expensive to reprint. In our label reviews, the same seven issues account for most of the corrections.
1. The product is filed under the wrong category
Category determines which additives are permitted, which limits apply and what the product may be called. A beverage filed as a proprietary food when it fits a standardised category invites questions at licence renewal. Fix the category first, because every other decision follows it.
2. Additives used outside their permitted category
An emulsifier that is permitted in bakery is not automatically permitted in a dairy beverage. Each additive has to be checked against the specific category, at the specific maximum level, for the specific function. Carrying over a supplier's recommendation without that check is the most common technical non-compliance we see.
3. Nutrition panel values that were never tested
Panels calculated purely from ingredient databases drift from analysed values, particularly for fat, fibre and sodium. Once a product is on shelf, the analysed number is the one that matters. Calculate first for design, then confirm with a NABL lab before printing.
4. Claims that the formulation cannot support
- A 'high protein' claim requires the product to meet the defined threshold per 100 g or per serve, not per pack.
- 'No added sugar' is not the same as 'sugar free', and both have specific conditions.
- Functional and health claims must map to a permitted claim, with substantiation held on file.
5. Allergen declarations buried in the ingredient list
Allergens need to be identifiable at a glance. Where cross-contamination is genuinely possible, a precautionary statement is appropriate. Where it is not, adding one anyway to be safe weakens the credibility of every other statement on the pack.
6. Missing or wrong FSSAI logo and licence number
For products made by a third party, both the manufacturer's and the brand owner's details are required in the prescribed format. This is one of the most frequently flagged issues in retail compliance checks, and it is entirely avoidable.
7. Best-before dates that outrun the stability data
We regularly see a twelve month date on a product with three months of accelerated data and no real-time study. If the number was chosen by the marketing calendar rather than by the study, it will fail somewhere in the supply chain, usually in the hottest month of the year.
The practical fix
Run one label review before artwork goes to design, and a second before it goes to print. Two hours of checking at those two points prevents the reprint cycle, the retailer rejection and the consumer complaint that all cost far more.