The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Second Amendment Regulations, 2025, which amends the standards for alcoholic beverages. The amendment follows the publication of the draft regulations in June 2024 and consideration of objections and suggestions received from the public.
Change to Esters Limit
The key change is an amendment to the maximum permissible limit for Esters expressed as ethyl acetate in Table 2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018:
The regulations propose changes to Table-2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018. Table-2 sets out the characteristic requirements for different categories of wines, including table wine, wine containing carbon dioxide, fortified wine, fruit wine other than grape wine, cider and perry, as well as wine produced from other agricultural and plant sources.
The amendment aims only to increase the permissible maximum level of esters, calculated as ethyl acetate (g/l of absolute alcohol), and this change applies exclusively to fruit wine other than grape wine. The limit is being raised from 2.0 g/l of absolute alcohol to 3.0 g/l of absolute alcohol.
There is no change to the ethyl acetate ester requirements for any of the other wine categories.
This change significantly increases the maximum limit for esters, which are compounds formed during fermentation and aging that contribute to the flavor and aroma profile of many alcoholic beverages.
The new regulations will come into force on June 1, 2026.
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