How to Read an Indian Supplement Label

Under the FSSAI's 2022 regulations, re-operationalised from 1 October 2022, a supplement sold in India must carry its category on the front in bold capitals, the words NOT FOR MEDICINAL USE, a 14-digit FSSAI licence number, a recommended usage level and duration, a warning not to exceed it, the percentage of the ICMR recommended dietary allowance each serve provides, an ingredient list in descending order by weight, a batch number and expiry, and a warning to keep it out of reach of children. The lines that let you compare products are serving size, the amount of each named ingredient per serve, and the RDA percentage. A proprietary blend, which declares a total for a group of ingredients without the amount of each, is legal and makes comparison impossible, and that is usually its purpose.

1. The category, in capitals, on the front: HEALTH SUPPLEMENT, NUTRACEUTICAL, FOOD FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USE and the other categories are required on the front of pack in bold capitals. A product that avoids naming its category, or names one that does not match what it is sold as, is telling you something about how carefully the rest of the label was made. 2. NOT FOR MEDICINAL USE, and why it is there: Required in bold capitals on almost every supplement. It is the regulator's statement that the product is a food, not a medicine, and it is the line to remember when the marketing on the same pack implies otherwise. A supplement sold with disease claims is either mislabelled or outside the category it is licensed in. 3. The FSSAI licence number: A 14-digit number printed with the FSSAI logo. Mandatory, and its absence is disqualifying on its own. The genuine supplement guide covers how to verify it and the product it is on; this page is about what to do once you know the tub is real. 4. Serving size is the unit everything else is measured in: Every figure on the label is per serve, and serves differ between products in ways that make headline numbers meaningless. A 25 gram protein figure from a 40 gram scoop and a 25 gram figure from a 30 gram scoop describe two very different products. Read the serving size first and convert everything to per 100 grams or per gram of the ingredient you are buying it for. 5. RDA percentage, per serve: The FSSAI requires the percentage of the ICMR recommended dietary allowance that each serve provides, per nutrient. This is the line that lets you compare a multivitamin against another on something other than the front of the pack, and it is the line that shows whether a product is providing a meaningful fraction of anything. A long ingredient list with small RDA percentages is a long ingredient list. 6. Ingredients in descending order, and what a proprietary blend hides: Ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, which means the first named is the largest. A proprietary blend declares the total weight of a group of ingredients without the amount of each. It is legal. It means you cannot know whether an ingredient the marketing leads with is present in a useful amount or a trace, and there is no way to compare it against a product that states its amounts. Treat an undisclosed blend as an unstated amount. 7. Usage level, duration and the warnings: The label must state a recommended usage level, a duration where applicable, a warning not to exceed the daily usage, an advisory where excess could be a risk, and that the product is to be kept out of reach of children. These are the manufacturer's own limits for the product as sold. They are not advice for you, and whether a supplement is appropriate at all is a question for a doctor or a registered dietitian rather than for a label.

Read the serving size before any other number, and convert protein, vitamins and every named ingredient to a per 100 gram or per gram basis so that two products are being compared on the same unit. Use the RDA percentages, which the regulations require per serve, as the comparison line for vitamins and minerals. Treat a proprietary blend as an undisclosed amount of each ingredient inside it, because that is what it is. Check for the category declaration, the NOT FOR MEDICINAL USE line and the FSSAI licence, and treat the absence of any of them as a reason to put the product back. This page is about reading a label so that products can be compared honestly. It is not guidance on whether to take a supplement, in what amount, or whether one suits a medical condition, pregnancy or existing medication, and the usage figures on a pack are the manufacturer's limits for the product rather than advice for a person. Those questions belong with a doctor or a registered dietitian. Once the label checks out, the supplement storage guide covers keeping the product in the condition it describes, and the supplement claims guide decodes the words on the front of the pack.