BENGALURU: Diageo-owned United Spirits has moved Bombay high court against a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) order concerning McDowell’s No. 1 Rum manufactured at its Baramati plant.The company disclosed the legal challenge on Tuesday, days after the food regulator barred the sale of certain rum and whisky products made by United Spirits and other liquor companies. FSSAI said manufacturers cannot add “rum flavour” to rum or “whisky flavour” to whisky and market them as regular spirits.United Spirits challenged the regulator’s June 29 order on Aug 1. The company said the order pertains to the labelling of a single product manufactured at its Baramati facility, which FSSAI alleged was not compliant with food safety regulations.“Based on legal advice, the company is of the view that the declarations on the product labels in question are in compliance with the current applicable legal and regulatory framework in India and are consistent with long-standing industry practice,” United Spirits said in a regulatory filing. The company added that the order has had no material financial or operational impact so far. It declined to comment further as the matter is sub judice.According to FSSAI, the characteristic taste and aroma of rum and whisky should be derived from their ingredients and the manufacturing process, including fermentation, distillation and ageing. However, inspections found that some manufacturers were using neutral alcohol with little inherent flavour and adding flavouring agents to replicate the taste and aroma of rum or whisky.The regulator said such products should instead be labelled as “rum-flavoured spirit” or “whisky-flavoured spirit” and classified the products tested as “substandard” under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
