Packaged Food Labels: The Legal Metrology Rules That Get Listings Rejected

What the label must declare

Every pre-packaged commodity must carry the manufacturer or packer's name and address, the common name of the product, net quantity in standard units, month and year of manufacture, MRP inclusive of all taxes, and consumer-care contact details — in the prescribed size relative to the pack's principal display panel.

Food products stack FSSAI's labelling requirements on top: ingredient list, allergen declarations, veg/non-veg mark, FSSAI license number, and nutritional information. Two regulators, one label — and both check it independently.

The rejections we see most

Font sizes below the prescribed minimum for the pack size, MRP stated without 'inclusive of all taxes', net quantity in non-standard units, missing customer-care details, and the FSSAI number absent from the artwork. Marketplaces run label checks on packaged food before approving listings — a compliant product with a non-compliant label still gets rejected.

The expensive version of this mistake is discovering it after printing ten thousand pouches. The cheap version is a pre-print review against both rulebooks.

A pre-print checklist habit

Before any packaging goes to print: check declarations against the Packaged Commodities Rules, check food-specific elements against FSSAI labelling regulations, and check the artwork at actual size — several font-size failures only show up off-screen. Make the printer's proof, not the design file, the thing you sign off.