India’s food and nutrition regulations are entering an important phase.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is considering tighter implementation of restrictions on foods high in added fat, sugar and salt around schools. According to recent statements by FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani, the proposal focuses on restricting HFSS food on school campuses and within a 50-metre radius of school premises as part of efforts to encourage healthier eating habits among children.

For food and beverage companies, this is more than a compliance issue.

It could influence:

Product formulation → Labelling → School-area distribution → Advertising → Product pipeline → Competitive positioning → GTM strategy → New product launches

The Latest Government Proposal: Clearer HFSS Definitions

FSSAI’s draft Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Amendment Regulations, 2026 proposes specific definitions based on the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 developed by ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition.

Under the current draft:

• High Fat: More than 4.2 g of added fat per 100 g for solid foods or 1.5 g per 100 ml for liquids.
• High Sugar: More than 3 g of added sugar per 100 g for solids or 2 g per 100 ml for liquids.
• High Salt: More than 0.625 g of salt per 100 g for solids or 0.175 g per 100 ml for liquids.

The official draft is open for stakeholder comments until October 9, 2026.

These numbers are particularly important for food companies because they provide a measurable regulatory benchmark.

The strategic question is no longer simply:

“Is our product positioned as healthy?”

It is increasingly:

“Does our formulation fall within emerging regulatory thresholds?”

The 50-Metre Rule Is Not a Completely New Concept

India already has a regulatory framework focused on safe and balanced diets for children in schools.

FSSAI’s school food framework restricts the availability of commonly consumed HFSS foods in school premises and the area within 50 metres of schools. The regulations also restrict advertising and marketing of HFSS foods to children within school premises and the specified area around school gates. Compliance can involve State Food Authorities as well as relevant local authorities.

The 2026 amendment is important because it seeks to introduce more explicit definitions for foods considered high in added fat, added sugar or salt.

This could make product classification and enforcement more structured.

Government Nutrition Data: Why Is Food Policy Becoming More Important?

The Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 highlight the importance of limiting excessive consumption of sugar, salt and fat.

The guidelines specify that, for the A1 category of foods described in the school-food framework, added fat should be no more than 4.2 g per 100 g, added sugar no more than 3 g per 100 g, and salt no more than 0.625 g per 100 g. Foods exceeding the specified energy and nutrient criteria can fall into HFSS-related categories.

These official thresholds create an important product-development challenge.

A manufacturer cannot rely only on consumer perception, brand positioning or front-of-pack messaging.

Companies may increasingly need to assess:

• Added sugar per 100 g or 100 ml
• Added fat levels
• Salt content
• Energy density
• Ingredient composition
• Reformulation feasibility
• Product labelling
• Channel-specific regulatory exposure

Competitor Analysis: Which Food Companies Should Monitor This Closely?

The competitive impact will depend on product portfolios.

Companies with greater exposure to sugary beverages, salty snacks, confectionery and processed packaged foods may face different strategic challenges than companies with portfolios focused on staples or lower-processed products.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo operates across snacks and beverages, making regulatory developments involving added salt, sugar and fat strategically relevant across multiple categories.

Its competitive challenge is portfolio management.

The company must balance established products with changing consumer demand and potential growth in reduced-sugar, reformulated and nutrition-focused alternatives.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has significant exposure to the beverage category, making added-sugar regulation particularly relevant.

For beverage companies, competition could increasingly shift toward:

Traditional beverages → Zero-sugar options → Reduced-sugar products → New beverage formats

The strongest companies may be those able to retain taste and brand loyalty while adapting their portfolios.

Nestlé

Nestlé has a diversified food portfolio.

That diversification can create exposure across multiple categories, but it can also provide opportunities to use nutrition science, reformulation and product innovation to develop products aligned with changing consumer and regulatory expectations.

Mondelez International

Mondelez International is particularly relevant because confectionery and snacking are among the categories likely to face greater scrutiny in discussions around sugar and school food environments.

Its competitive priorities could include product formats, portion management, reformulation and channel strategy.

ITC

ITC operates across packaged foods and snacks while maintaining a diversified business portfolio.

For Indian companies, the opportunity may increasingly lie in developing products that combine familiar flavours and affordability with lower levels of nutrients identified as regulatory concerns.

The Competitive Divide

The food industry could increasingly separate into two strategic groups:

Group 1: Companies reacting after regulatory changes affect existing products

Group 2: Companies building reformulation and nutrition intelligence into product pipelines before major regulatory changes take effect

The second approach may provide an important first-mover advantage.

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GTM Strategy: How Should Food Companies Respond?

A modern food GTM strategy should begin before the product reaches retail shelves.

The process should connect:

Regulatory Intelligence → Product Formulation → Consumer Segment → Competitive Benchmarking → Channel Strategy → Pricing → Launch

1. Start With Regulatory Screening

Before launching a product, companies should compare the formulation against relevant FSSAI requirements and emerging thresholds.

This means assessing:

Added fat → Added sugar → Salt → Labelling → Claims → School-channel exposure

Waiting until the end of product development to examine regulation can increase reformulation costs and delay launches.

2. Choose the Right Buyer

A healthier product should not be targeted at everyone.

Potential buyers include:

• Parents
• Schools and educational institutions
• Young consumers
• Urban health-conscious consumers
• Fitness-focused buyers
• Consumers seeking reduced-sugar products

Each segment has different expectations around price, taste, packaging and convenience.

3. Build a Clear Product Proposition

Companies should avoid generic claims.

Instead, the product needs a measurable reason for consumers to choose it.

For example:

• Reduced added sugar
• Lower salt
• Lower added fat
• Whole-grain ingredients
• Higher protein
• Portion-controlled format
• School-focused nutrition profile

Patent Competition: The Technology Behind Healthier Food

Reformulating food is not as simple as removing sugar, salt or fat.

These ingredients affect:

Taste → Texture → Stability → Preservation → Mouthfeel → Manufacturing

This is where patent competition becomes important.

Companies are developing technologies involving:

• Sugar-reduction systems
• Alternative sweeteners
• Salt-reduction technologies
• Fat replacement
• Flavour enhancement
• Texture modification
• Encapsulation
• Functional ingredients
• Food-processing technologies

The key strategic question is:

Can a company reduce a nutrient of concern without reducing consumer acceptance?

Patent intelligence can help examine:

• Who owns the technology?
• Which formulations are protected?
• Where are competitors filing patents?
• Which technologies are active in India?
• Where are the innovation white spaces?

Product Pipeline: Where Could New Innovation Emerge?

The proposed HFSS definitions could increase innovation in products designed around nutrition and reformulation.

Important pipeline areas may include:

• Reduced-sugar beverages
• Zero-added-sugar formulations
• Lower-salt snacks
• Baked snack alternatives
• Alternative sweetener technologies
• Higher-protein snacks
• Whole-grain formulations
• Portion-controlled products
• School-oriented meal and snack solutions

The most successful products will likely need to balance:

Nutrition + Taste + Affordability + Shelf Life + Regulatory Readiness

Launch Strategy: A Five-Step Approach

Step 1: Regulatory Assessment

Evaluate the product against current and proposed food regulations.

Step 2: Competitor Benchmarking

Compare:

Nutrient profile → Ingredients → Price → Claims → Packaging → Distribution → Product positioning

Step 3: Formulation and Patent Review

Determine whether the formulation is differentiated and identify potential freedom-to-operate considerations.

Step 4: Pilot Launch

Test selected cities, retail channels or consumer segments before nationwide expansion.

Potential channels include:

Modern retail → General trade → E-commerce → Quick commerce → Direct-to-consumer → Institutional channels

Step 5: Scale Based on Evidence

Track:

Repeat purchases → Consumer feedback → Price acceptance → Competitor response → Regulatory developments

Then scale the strongest-performing products.

A New Competitive Scenario

Consider two food companies.

Company A waits until new regulations are finalized.

It then needs to review formulations, change ingredients, redesign labels and adjust distribution.

Company B is already monitoring FSSAI developments.

It has mapped its portfolio against government thresholds, identified products requiring reformulation, reviewed competitor launches and built healthier alternatives into its pipeline.

The difference is not just regulatory compliance.

It can become a competitive advantage.

How Towards Healthcare Can Help

Towards Healthcare Research & Consulting can help food, nutrition, consumer-health, ingredient and life-science companies connect policy changes with strategic decisions.

Our approach can connect:

Government Regulations → Competitors → Patents → Buyers → Product Pipeline → GTM → Launch Strategy

Regulatory Intelligence

Track developments involving:

• FSSAI regulations
• HFSS definitions
• Added sugar, fat and salt thresholds
• Food labelling
• School food policies
• Nutrition-related claims

Competitor Intelligence

Monitor portfolio and strategy developments across companies such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Mondelez, ITC and emerging food innovators.

Analyse:

Reformulation → New product launches → Nutrition positioning → Partnerships → Distribution → Product pipelines

Patent Intelligence

Track innovation involving:

Sugar reduction → Salt reduction → Fat replacement → Alternative sweeteners → Flavour technologies → Functional ingredients

Identify potential:

Patent risks → Competitor technologies → Filing activity → Innovation gaps

Buyer Intelligence

Identify potential customer groups based on:

Consumer preferences → Geography → Product category → Distribution channel → Institutional requirements

GTM Intelligence

Help companies answer:

Which product should we launch?

Who is the target buyer?

Which channel should we use?

Which geography should be prioritized?

Which competitors should we benchmark?

Launch and Pipeline Intelligence

Track:

Product launches → Competitor activity → Regulatory changes → Partnerships → Technology development

This can help companies make product and launch decisions with a clearer understanding of the evolving food and nutrition landscape.

Conclusion

FSSAI’s latest draft and the renewed focus on restricting HFSS food around schools show that food regulation is becoming increasingly connected with preventive health.

The official 2026 draft provides measurable thresholds, including more than 4.2 g of added fat, 3 g of added sugar or 0.625 g of salt per 100 g for solid foods, with separate thresholds proposed for liquids. The draft is currently open for comments until October 9, 2026.

For companies, this means product strategy can no longer be separated from regulatory strategy.

The next competitive advantage may come from connecting:

Government Data + Regulation + Product Formulation + Patent Intelligence + Competitor Analysis + Pipeline + GTM + Launch Strategy

The key question for food companies is no longer simply:

“What should we sell?”

It is:

“How can we develop products that remain competitive as regulation, nutrition science, consumer behaviour and food technology continue to evolve?”

Towards Healthcare Research & Consulting can help companies answer this question by connecting government intelligence, competitor activity, patent landscapes, buyer requirements, product pipelines, GTM planning and launch strategy.