The clarification issued by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that the word 'tea' can be used only for products derived from Camellia sinensis (tea plant), and herbal and other plant-based infusions cannot be labelled as tea, is a welcome development for Assam tea growers. The clarification will also benefit the consumers, as clear labelling will remove the confusion and will ensure that they are drinking authentic tea. The enforcement of the FSSAI directive - requiring all Food Business Operators (FBOs), including e-commerce engaged in manufacturing, packing, marketing, importing or selling such products, to refrain from using the term 'tea' for any products not derived from Camellia sinensis - needs to be supplemented through building awareness of the health benefits of drinking tea. Official clarification issued by the apex food regulator states that as per standards specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, tea (including Kangra tea, green tea and instant tea in solid form) shall be exclusively from the plant of the Camellia sinensis. Further, the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, specified that every package shall carry the name of the food, which indicates the true nature of the food contained in the package, on the front of the pack. Therefore, the use of the word "tea" directly or indirectly for any other plant-based or herbal infusions or blends not derived from Camellia sinensis is misleading and amounts to misbranding under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, it adds. Rapid growth of herbal and plant-based infusions in the Indian beverage market driven by growing health consciousness among consumers led to many FBOs mislabelling infusions as tea to tap the lucrative market. This affected the market of traditional tea like Assam tea, prompting the tea industry to flag the issue and seek regulatory action. The harsh reality is that the tea industry also failed to promote traditional tea as a healthy beverage and leverage the growing health consciousness among consumers. Nevertheless, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States recognising tea from Camellia sinensis as "healthy" last year gave a boost to the claim of the Indian tea industry. Many FBOs in the wellness industry took advantage of the lack of clarity on earlier FSSAI regulations on flavoured tea. The Tea Board observed that the FSSAI Regulations, 2011, allowed that tea may contain natural flavours and natural flavouring substances, which are flavour preparations and single substances, respectively, acceptable for human consumption, but as there was no mention of the maximum percentage of flavour in the regulations, the ambiguity allowed some manufacturers of flavoured tea to add a high percentage of flavour and a lower percentage of tea. The Tea Board issued a circular in 2022 stating that the addition of flavour beyond 5 per cent shall not be considered for the issuance of a flavoured tea registration certificate. The Tea Board made it clear that promotion of value-added products like flavoured tea, which is a demand of present consumers, cannot be at the cost of compromising with the "inherent, unique characteristics of globally acclaimed beverage tea." While the regulatory action brought clarity on the matter of flavoured tea, the ambiguity did not end for consumers due to the mislabelling of plant infusions as tea and aggressive marketing by many FBOs. The FSSAI directive, therefore, is now expected to remove this ambiguity, and the consumers now will be able to take an informed decision while picking the beverage for their health benefits from the shelves of shopping malls or online marketplaces. Merely distinguishing the labelling on tea and plant-based infusions is not going to automatically increase the demand for tea as a healthy beverage. The tea industry ensuring strict quality control and final tea packets released to the markets meeting the FSSAI safety standards is crucial to boost confidence of consumers to increase its intake. The FSSAI norm mandates that pesticides in tea shall not exceed the Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) prescribed in the Food Safety SafetyStandards and Regulations (FSSR), while the "Plant Protection Code - Policy on Usage of Plant Protection Formulations (PPF) in Tea Plantations of India" issued by the Tea Board in February, which is the comprehensive guideline for safe usage of PPFs in the tea plantations in India, makes it mandatory that all manufacturers of tea are required to test their products as per FSSR 2011 standards from a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) laboratory and upload the report on the FSSAI portal. Creation of required testing infrastructure through the establishment of an adequate number of laboratories in the state is critical to tea growers meeting the FSSAI norms. While the FSSAI mandate on tea labelling will remove the ambiguity, the tea industry ensuring strict quality control is crucial to boost consumers' confidence in traditional tea as a healthy beverage to replace tisanes.