When it comes to packaged food, what is natural or real? The definition, as laid out by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), can lead to a fair bit of confusion, even anger.

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On Thursday, a Twitter user posted a picture of the packaging of Parry’s Amrit Natural Brown Sugar, which carried a rather bold disclaimer: Natural is only a brand name/trademark and does not represent its true nature.

I wonder how Parry's is getting away with this haha pic.twitter.com/I1qIvqi3Ns

— Sandhya. (@TheRestlessQuil) September 24, 2020

Would that mean Parry's 'natural brown sugar' after all, wasn't natural?

The question posed on Twitter attracted several comments from other users, who pointed out they had noticed a similar warning label on other products, ranging such as 'fresh' tomato ketchup, 'real' fruit juices, 'homemade' ginger-garlic pastes, or 'kacchi ghani' (or cold-pressed) oils.

Soon, in a message in the same thread, Parry said that according to regulatory requirements by the FSSAI, words such as ‘natural’, ‘fresh’, ‘original’, ‘traditional’, ‘pure’, ‘authentic’, ‘genuine’ and ‘real’ on the labels can be used without a disclaimer only when the product is not processed in any manner except washed, peeled, chilled and trimmed.

"Since sugar involves processes to convert sugarcane juice into sugar, it is considered processed and therefore mandates the disclaimer for the term natural," the company said. "You can rest assured that we have not made any alterations detrimental to the product or process and you can continue to safely and confidently enjoy our products."

As per the latest FSSAI regulations (Food Safety Standards Authority of India) we have to now use this disclaimer. pic.twitter.com/FuUeKffd2n

— parrysugar (@parrysugar) September 24, 2020

While Parry's explanation may have satisfied some, others continued to question the company's rationale.

"Why don't you just drop the word natural instead?" asked one Twitter user.

First Published:Sept 24, 2020 5:33 PM IST