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‘Old Monk’ cannot be sold as rum, says FSSAI
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Wednesday, 09 September, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has submitted before the Bombay High Court that the popular liquor brand ‘Old Monk’ cannot be categorised or sold as standard rum, arguing that its reliance on neutral spirits and added flavourings fails to meet statutory characteristics required under food safety regulations.
The submission came during the hearing of a petition filed by Mohan Rocky Springwater against an enforcement action imposed by the food regulator. FSSAI flagged the brand for using natural-identical flavourings without explicitly declaring the product as ‘flavoured rum’ on its primary packaging.
Refusing to stay the regulator's enforcement order, a Division Bench of the High Court granted no interim relief to the manufacturer.
According to reports, the company subsequently agreed to modify its packaging labels to prominently display ‘added flavour’ and remove the long-standing ‘7 Years Old Blended’ declaration from its bottles.
Reports added that counsel representing FSSAI argued that the product fails to comply with standardised parameters prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. The regulator maintained that any product marketed as rum must derive its distinct sensory characteristics and quality through traditional manufacturing processes rather than artificial compounding.
The FSSAI action follows a broader nationwide enforcement drive launched by FSSAI in August targeting several alcoholic beverage manufacturers over deceptive age claims and the unauthorised use of external flavourings.
FSSAI inspections revealed that multiple manufacturers were utilising neutral alcohol, which inherently lacks natural profile characteristics, and blending it with natural-identical flavour extracts to mimic standard rum or whisky, bypassing traditional fermentation, distillation, and barrel-aging protocols.
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