The Delhi High Court has set aside FSSAI's order directing Red Bull to stop describing its beverage as an 'Energy Drink', holding that the regulator issued the directive without first giving the company a chance to respond: a breach of natural justice that was enough, on its own, to undo the order, regardless of where the underlying labelling question might ultimately be decided.
On 30 June 2026, FSSAI had directed a group of beverage makers, including Red Bull, Sting, Adrenaline Rush, Campa Gold Boost, Hell Energy and Monster, to stop using the description 'Energy Drink' on their products, taking the position that this was not a labelling category separately recognised under the food safety framework. Red Bull challenged the order before the Delhi High Court.
Justice Amit Mahajan set aside FSSAI's order as it applied to Red Bull, finding that the company had been given no opportunity to file a reply or otherwise explain its position before the order was passed. That procedural failure was, by itself, sufficient to vitiate the order. The Court was careful to confine its ruling to that procedural defect: it expressly declined to decide whether 'Energy Drink' is in fact a permissible product descriptor under FSSAI's rules, and left FSSAI free to reconsider the question and pass a fresh order: provided it first issues a proper show-cause notice and affords Red Bull a genuine hearing.