FSSAI Seizes 18,000 Boxes Of Diageo Bottles Over Missing Recycled Plastic Markings

Food safety inspectors have seized around 18,000 boxes of Diageo liquor bottles for allegedly lacking markings required to certify that they were made using safe recycled plastic, according to a Reuters report.

Diageo India confirmed the regulatory action, stating that some of its bottles have been "quarantined by authorities until further direction." The company said the bottles were sourced from a recycler approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and that mandatory tests had been carried out by its suppliers.

"Our products are completely safe for consumption. We are engaging with FSSAI for further direction on this matter," United Spirits, Diageo's India unit, told Reuters in a statement.

Inspection Details

FSSAI officials visited United Spirits' factory in Bengaluru last week, where they were informed that the company used recycled plastic bottles. However, inspectors found that the mandatory markings on these bottles were missing, according to a government memo as reported by the news agency.

"This raised serious food safety, misleading and misbranding compliance concerns regarding the safety of finished alcoholic beverages for consumers," the memo stated, adding that the seizure was carried out in the interest of public health.

The regulator has been increasingly strict with liquor companies, energy drink makers such as PepsiCo, and food manufacturers over labelling and compliance issues in recent months.

A separate government memo said inspectors found that Diageo's bottles carried markings identifying them only as made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These bottles were required to carry a government-mandated recycled PET symbol, which also certifies that the packaging is food-grade.

While most large bottles of Diageo drinks are made of glass, the inspection focused specifically on plastic bottles, typically used to sell products in smaller quantities of around 180 millilitres.

The inspection, carried out in a southern Indian city, led to the seizure of products worth an estimated $1.6 million, along with plastic packaging material. The action affected more than half a dozen brands, including DSP Black Deluxe Whisky, Smirnoff Zesty Lime Triple Distilled Flavoured Vodka and VAT 69 blended scotch whisky, according to the memos.

Diageo, which has described India as its "consumer market of the decade," has maintained that it complies with the law. The company recorded revenue of $3 billion in India for the year ending March 2026, making it one of the two dominant foreign liquor players in the country, alongside France's Pernod Ricard.

The latest seizure comes days after the FSSAI barred two of Diageo's popular whisky brands, citing misleading claims about the liquor's maturity and the use of artificial flavouring. The broader crackdown on flavouring practices, which also covers some Indian companies, has affected India's $40 billion alcohol industry, particularly certain Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands modelled on international spirits.

Separately, the FSSAI has warned Diageo that one of its top-selling whiskies was misleadingly marketed as being "matured in American oak casks," when most of the product had not undergone such maturation, Reuters had earlier reported.