India finds Nestle baby food sample substandard, takes legal action

NEW DELHI: India's food regulator said on Friday it had found a Nestle baby food sample to be substandard and was pursuing legal action against the Swiss company in one of its biggest growth markets. Nestle said its products are "fully compliant with all the applicable regulations" and that it will continue to work closely with the regulator, without specifically commenting on the finding of a substandard sample. The scrutiny is the latest in a crackdown on India's $100 billion food industry which has included surprise factory visits and product testing. Officials found a sample of Nestle "follow-up formula", which is a milk product for infants, was "sub-standard with respect to biotin", the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said. The regulator specifies a standardized reference range for biotin, more commonly known as vitamin B7, in baby food. "A re-analysis" of the sample found it was "non-conforming" with respect to prescribed biotin requirements under Indian laws, the regulator said in a social media post. The FSSAI did not say whether it would order a recall of the product. Nestle faces legal cases Nestle, whose shares in India fell almost 3% following news of the action, counts India as a key growth market. Milk and nutrition products, including infant formulas and baby foods, were Nestle India's biggest revenue category in the year ending March 2026, generating a third of its product sales worth $2.4 billion. The FSSAI said it has also filed cases over two other Nestle baby food products, NAN Excella Pro Stage 1, and Lactogen Pro 1, for making misleading claims in breach of regulations. "Three separate adjudication cases have been filed against Nestle," the FSSAI said. In response to the notice, Nestle India said it has again submitted its detailed response to the authorities regarding statements appearing on the label, "which are factual in nature, and supported by scientific literature." The labels "were approved by the expert committee of FSSAI," it added. Nestle also fell foul of India's food regulator in 2015, when authorities banned its popular Maggi noodles over alleged excess lead levels and labelling lapses, triggering a massive recall. Maggi later returned to shelves after fresh tests. Debate over food safety in India has intensified since Reuters reported last month that the government opted for a weaker labelling regime after lobbying by Coca-Cola and groups backing Nestle and PepsiCo, which argued that warning labels were ineffective. Many companies, however, have implemented such measures voluntarily in European markets.