From Maggi noodles to Thums Up: How India became dependent on cheap packaged food
India’s push for red warning labels on high sugar, salt and fat foods fuels debate over cheap packaged staples like Maggi and Thums Up, recipe differences vs other markets, and rising diabetes risk
LONDON/NEW DELHI: India's proposal to put health warning labels on some food products has sparked a nationwide debate over how the country came to rely on cheap packaged food while companies sold more nutritious versions of the same brands in other markets.
With an income per household well below the global average, Indians are keen consumers of cheap food products such as Nestle-owned Maggi instant noodles and Coca-Cola Co's Thums Up - giving big food manufacturers a huge market with little pressure to apply the food standards they adopt in many other countries.
Until now.
In a setback to the industry, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said on Thursday it could introduce tougher red warning labels on food that exceeds government-set limits on added sugar, salt or saturated fat in one go, after Supreme Court judges raised questions about FSSAI's initial plan for a phased introduction.
High sugar content is a particular risk in India, which accounts for about a quarter of all global cases of diabetes, which health experts have blamed partly on processed food. More than 101 million people in India are living with diabetes, while another 136 million have prediabetes, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said in July.
Fast-growing market
India's packaged food market grew to $137.25 billion in 2026, from $129.18 billion in 2025, and is projected to reach $238.83 billion by 2034, according to research firm IMARC Group.
Around 6 billion meals eaten in Indian households and on street corners every year are Maggi two-minute masala noodles, made by Swiss food giant Nestle.
Maggi launched India's first brand of instant noodles in 1983, targeting newly working mothers and children as a fast evening snack with print ads featuring kids slurping bowls of Maggi noodles "after school, after play" and saying "Mummy, I'm hungry."
The product's success strengthened Nestle's foothold in what is today the company's fastest-growing region, where all variants of Maggi are made with palm oil, whereas many versions sold in Britain use pricier sunflower oil. Similarly, Nestle's KitKat bars in India have less cocoa in them than Australian versions.
"It plays on national pride - why is it that India is getting short-changed? Why do companies make the call on my behalf that I can't afford better ingredients?" said Shashank Mehta, a former marketing manager at Unilever's India unit.
Higher quality ingredients are also more expensive and could prompt price hikes in a cost-conscious market, a former senior Nestle executive, who declined to be named, said.
Nestle said in a statement that its recipes are developed taking into account consumer expectations, local taste preferences depending on the food culture, availability of ingredients and climatic conditions.
Recipe variations do not affect product quality, Nestle said, adding that it has more than 10 regional KitKat recipes globally. The company said it complies with all Indian food safety laws and that ingredients are clearly declared on packs.
Public anger
India has debated front-of-pack warning labels for years to flag high content of sugar, salt and fat, like those implemented in Chile and Mexico, but faced industry opposition, with businesses specifically worried as many traditional Indian products are high in sugar or fat.
Chile's 2016 food labelling law, which puts separate black octagons on a pack for each high nutrient, was followed by a 23.7% decline in purchases of sugary drinks, researchers have said.
The All India Food Processors' Association says 80% of packaged food could be flagged in India as having high fat, sugar or salt content under the proposed labelling rule.
Pressure in India for stricter labelling has intensified recently from health advocates and social media influencers among others.
The food safety regulator's proposal came amid public anger after Reuters reported that India's government had yielded to industry lobbying in March when Coca-Cola and groups backing Nestle and PepsiCo opposed having warning labels on the front of food and drinks packaging.
Brands never questioned
Western packaged food giants have been in India for about a century. Nestle started to sell sugary condensed milk in 1912 to what was then a British colony with an extremely poor local population. Unilever began selling "dalda" - a hydrogenated vegetable oil formulation - in India in 1937. It provided a very affordable alternative to expensive traditional ghee and quickly became a staple in lower-class kitchens, restaurants, and sweet shops. Foreign corporations quickly began producing locally to keep prices low.
"Many recipes in India were designed decades ago for a very cost-conscious consumer, and those recipes have simply been carried forward,” said Parul Sharma, a former executive at Mondelez's India unit who oversaw supermarket sales. "For the longest time, Indian consumers never really questioned brands."
Coca-Cola Co's Thums Up - a cola moulded over decades to suit local tastes - has grown into a more than $1 billion brand that is sold in India and exported to the Indian diaspora.
Thums Up looks similar to Pepsi and Coca Cola but tastes different. Coca-Cola Co bought the brand for about $60 million in 1993 to slowly phase it out and replace it with its own flagship drink. But Indian shoppers were so loyal to the taste that Coke decided to keep it. Coca-Cola's traditional cola is also a cultural mainstay, sold on street corners with a healthy dose of spices as 'masala coke.'
Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment.
A Unilever spokesperson said that in the last five years the company has "made significant progress in reducing both sugar and salt across the portfolio, reflecting our support towards healthier diets."
"We have a long-standing commitment to improving nutrition, guided by rigorous science-based standards."
Former Mondelez executive Sharma said taste entrenchment is one of the biggest deterrents for large companies to modify recipes.
"You can’t change a recipe overnight without risking the loss of a very loyal consumer base,” Sharma said.