The Supreme Court’s directive to the central government to enforce clear labelling on packaged foods within three months is a huge empowerment of the consumers to make informed choices on food products they buy. The front-of-package warning labels play a crucial role in providing information to consumers about nutritional values such as total sugar, salts and saturated fats, enabling them to decide if the packaged food is unhealthy or has adverse consequences on their health. Health experts have attributed the alarming rise in obesity and various non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc. in the country affecting both children and adults to unhealthy food habits and overconsumption of processed and ultra-processed packaged food items excess in sugar, salt and saturated fats. The SC directive observed that the packaged foods do not contain this information and directed mandatory display of this information on food wrappers. A study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in 2023 found that most consumers read food label information, but they often check only the manufacturing and expiry dates. Based on the study, the institute recommended that in the context of growing overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases, if the front-of-package labelling has to serve as a preventive tool and deter the consumers from consumption of nutrients of concern, then warning indicator labels could be helpful. It further recommended that ‘ultra-processed’ foods whose basic edible and nutrient portions are greatly altered and those that have artificial ingredients may be clearly indicated by a symbol or any such indicator right on the front of the pack to specify the food is ‘ultra-processed’ to promote informed and healthy food choices. Establishing fairness in claims and advertisements of food products and making food business operators accountable for any false claims require strict enforcement of strong regulatory measures. Apart from effective monitoring and inspection of food labels to verify the claims through quality testing at food laboratories, educating consumers to identify pictorial and textual contents of food labels is also essential to enforce the regulatory measures. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, prohibits misleading or deceiving claims and advertisements about any food product. The SC directive will require the finalisation of the draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Amendment Regulations, 2025, published by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), that mandates the mention of nutritional information on the labels with respect to salt, sugar and fat in bold letters and relatively increased font size on labels. The Economic Survey 2024-25 also flags the issue of food labelling. The report states that if India were to realise the vast potential of its youthful population, their mental, emotional and physical health needs to be nurtured. Asserting that scientific evidence abounds that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (High in Fat, Salt and Sugar or HFSS) is a big factor in undermining both physical and mental health, the Economic Survey report points out globally, self-regulation has been ineffective and stringent front-of-the-pack labelling rules are needed and to be enforced. It refers to the WHO report published in 2023, which highlights the worrying trend of India’s consumption of ultra-processed foods increasing from about 900 million dollars in 2006 to over 37.9 billion dollars in 2019. The FSSAI has already notified the regulation which prescribes voluntary standards for fortification of processed foods such as cereal products, bakery wares and fruit juices, but attaching a warning label to the food wrapper will caution the consumer if the packaged food brought conforms to the regulation. The labels being simple and easy to read is critical to make the consumers informed in the true sense. In many food wrappers the font size of text is so small that most consumers cannot read it, and sometimes a diabetes patient ends up buying a food packet containing sugary ingredients or a consumer suffering from a cardiovascular ailment ends up buying food high in salt content. Notifying the regulations will not automatically bring about the desired change if the food inspection ecosystem is not strengthened to improve surveillance, inspection, and monitoring across the food distribution chain. Building awareness on healthy eating habits can have a positive impact on changing food habits among children and adults. Popularising the “Dietary Guidelines for Indians” issued by ICMR-NIN in 2024 can help educate people to voluntarily avoid unhealthy and ultra-processed packaged food. The guidelines point out that various additives in packaged food enhance food’s taste, appearance, and shelf life, but extensive processing involved often results in depletion of fibre and micronutrients, rendering them unhealthy for regular consumption. The pragmatic solution to reduce consumption of ultra-processed packaged food and high fat, sugar, and salt is encouraging home-cooked food over which the consumer has control to ensure that food is fresh, nutritious, and free from additives like preservatives, sweeteners, flavours, and colours.