Turn over almost any packet on a supermarket shelf and you will find a dense little table of numbers: energy, protein, carbohydrates, fat, sodium. That panel is the nutrition label, and under FSSAI rules it is mandatory on most packaged foods sold in India. Yet few shoppers know how to read it — which is a problem, because the label is often the only honest conversation a packet has with you. The marketing is on the front; the truth is on the back.

And the front is about to change. In July 2025, the Supreme Court directed FSSAI to implement front-of-pack nutrition labelling, and the regulator has since proposed bold red hexagonal warnings for foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Before those arrive, here is how to decode the labels we already have.

Start with the serving size, not the claims

The single most misunderstood line on any label is the serving size. Indian labels declare nutrients both per 100 grams and per serve — and the “% RDA” figures, which show how much of your daily allowance one serving provides, are calculated per serve, not per packet. A biscuit pack that claims “only 60 calories” may contain four servings; eat the whole pack and you have had 240. Always check how many servings the pack holds before trusting the headline numbers.

Treat front-of-pack claims with the same scepticism. Words like “low fat”, “sugar free” or “high protein” are regulated claims with specific definitions, but they describe the product per 100 grams — and a “low fat” snack can still be loaded with sugar. The ingredient list, printed in descending order of weight, is harder to game: whatever appears first is what the product mostly is.

Sugar, salt and fat: where they hide

Total sugars and added sugars are different numbers, and the distinction matters. Fruit and milk contain natural sugars; added sugars — the kind linked to obesity and diabetes — are what manufacturers stir in. A product that boasts “no added sugar” can still be sugary by nature, so check the total.

With fats, the key split is between saturated fat and trans fat. Saturated fat should be limited; trans fat is best avoided as far as possible — India has capped trans fats at 2 per cent in oils and fats since January 2022. And watch the salt: labels declare sodium, not salt. Multiply the sodium figure by 2.5 to get the actual salt content, and you may be surprised how quickly a packet of chips or instant noodles eats into your day’s limit.

The front-of-pack change coming to India

The back panel works only if shoppers turn the packet around and do arithmetic. That is why public health experts have long demanded warnings on the front. According to a Hindustan Times explainer on FSSAI’s proposal, the regulator plans red hexagonal warnings reading “HIGH FAT”, “HIGH SUGAR” or “HIGH SALT” on products that exceed thresholds for two or more of these nutrients, with a separate “HIGHLY SWEETENED BEVERAGE” warning for sugary drinks. The thresholds follow the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition’s Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024, and the warnings would appear in a font larger than the back-panel table.

The rollout would be phased: first covering products high in two or more of the flagged nutrients, later extending to products high in any one of them. Single-ingredient foods and pantry staples inherently rich in these nutrients — ghee, edible oil, salt, sugar, jaggery and honey — would be exempt. The Supreme Court, acting on a public interest petition, has pushed FSSAI to stop delaying after years of stalled consultations over an earlier star-rating proposal.

Until the red hexagons arrive, a quick routine at the shelf serves you well:

• Check the serving size and the number of servings per pack first.
• Read the ingredient list: the first three items tell you what the food really is.
• Compare total sugars and added sugars; beware “no added sugar” claims.
• Convert sodium to salt (multiply by 2.5) and check saturated and trans fat.
• Use % RDA per serve to judge whether a snack is a treat or a meal.
• Ignore the front; decide on the back.

Labels cannot make anyone healthy on their own — but a shopper who can read them is a shopper who cannot be fooled by them. That is the whole point.

Compiled by the Khabar 24h Editorial Desk from publicly available sources.