Delhi High Court Stays FSSAI Orders Forcing PepsiCo, Monster Energy To Drop "Energy Drink" Label
The Delhi High Court has stayed orders of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directing PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited and Monster Energy India Private Limited to remove the description "Energy Drink" from their beverages.
Justice Amit Mahajan, passing identical orders in both petitions on October 6, 2026, noted that the FSSAI orders were passed without a show cause notice or a hearing.
PepsiCo sells "Adrenaline Rush Energy Drink - Ultimate Performance" and "Sting Energy". Monster Energy sells "Monster Energy" and "Predator Energy".
In orders dated June 30, 2026 (and, in Monster's case, July 01, 2026 as well), FSSAI told both companies to drop the term, saying it could amount to misbranding and misleading claims.
Letters were then sent to state authorities to begin enforcement action.
Both companies made the same argument. FSSAI's own advisory of March 28, 2024, they said, allows the term "Energy Drink" on products licensed under FCS 14.1.4.1 and 14.1.4.2, which cover carbonated and non-carbonated water-based flavoured drinks. PepsiCo said its products fall under these categories, while Monster said its products are licensed under FCS 14.1.4.1.
Having clarified this, they said, the regulator could not now take a "summersault" and call the same use misbranding, that too without any notice.
The regulatory authority handed over minutes of a meeting dated 20.07.2026. They said both companies and other similar manufacturers attended it and agreed to discontinue the term in all future production, with the only concern being stock already manufactured.
The Court stayed the impugned orders and the consequential letter of 17.07.2026 until the next hearing.
It said the orders were "undisputedly passed at that stage without issuing SCN and without giving an opportunity of hearing", and that the companies were "perhaps permitted to use the term 'Energy Drink'" for products licensed under the relevant FCS categories.
Both companies and their bottlers or contractors may sell stock manufactured up to 06.10.2026 with the "energy drink" description, and must keep an account of it.
The Court added that the stay does not allow bottlers or contractors to manufacture further products carrying the term.
The matters will be heard next on November 05, 2026.
For Monster Energy: Advocates Udayan Jain, Sandeep Devashish Das, Kanak Malik, Udbhav Sinha, Lokesh Kumar, Ranjan Mishra, Harsh Jaiswal and Chanchal Kumawat
For Pepsico: Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi with Advocates Dheeraj Nair, Angad Baxi, Avni Sharma, Aparna Singh, Aparna Singh, Aman Acharya, Devashish Vashishth, Krishna Gambhir, Shreya Sethi and Ritwik Sharma
For Respondents: CGSC Avshreya Pratap Singh Rudy with GP Arnav Mittal; Advocates Usha Jamnal, Nyasa Sharma, Siddhant Nagar, Abhinav Mall, Nishtha Dhall for UOI; Advocates Suransh Chaudhary, Gulshan Sharma and Saumya Singh for R2 and 3.