Mumbai: Dabur India Ltd has told the Bombay High Court that it will withdraw terms like "anti-inflammatory," "anti-bacterial," and "analgesic" from the labels of its two toothpaste products with effect from June 2025.
The move follows concerns flagged by the Maharashtra government's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the legality of these claims on labels of Dabur Meswak Toothpaste and Dabur Herb1 Anti-Bacterial Toothpaste Tulsi.
A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna accepted Dabur's undertaking on March 26. It noted: “The statement made on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner product ‘Dabur Meswak Toothpaste’ and “Dabur Herb’1 Anti-Bacterial Toothpaste Tulsi” will not bear the words ‘anti- inflammatory’ and ‘anti-bacterial’ and ‘analgesic’ respectively with effect from June 2025 stand accepted as an undertaking to the court.”
The HC disposed of a petition by Dabur India Ltd challenging the order passed on January 29 by the Commissioner of FDA directing Dabur to amend the labels of their toothpastes to ensure compliance with statutory provisions.
The FDA order stated that the claims made on the labels were legally incorrect, although it acknowledged that the products were not hazardous to health. Hence, the company was asked to revise the labels before the restricted stock could be released.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Ravi Kadam, representing Dabur, made a statement that the company would voluntarily discontinue using the disputed terms and had already initiated the process to revise the labels and packaging. Dabur confirmed that the new labels would be in circulation by June 2025, following a detailed process involving design, printing and distribution.
State’s advocate, PJ Gavhane, submitted that the concerned department of the government would have no objection on Dabur’s stand and that the company would not manufacture or sell the products with objectionable labels with effect from June 2025.
The Court accepted Dabur's undertaking and held that the disputed products could be sold until May 31 but could not be marketed with the contested labels after June 1.
