Today, “energy drinks” are everywhere – in paan shops, kirana shops and even in university canteens.
But now, the Food Regulatory Authority of India is taking strict action.
In July, FSSAI, or Food Standards Safety Authority of India, sent notices to six major brands, including Red Bull, Monster and Sting, to remove the term “energy drinks” from their labels.
Why did the food regulator say that? What is the content of so-called energy drinks?
To find out, watch the latest episode of Signal summary.
Nucleus produces Signal summary. Follow us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Note: The machine copied this episode. Humans have looked at this text but errors may still exist. Please refer to the audio above, if you need something clarified. If you want to give us feedback, please write to us at [email protected].
text:
Capabilities (Host): On the corner of a posh market in South Delhi is a small, busy paan shop called Apna Paan.
He sells cigarettes, paan and the usual cold drinks: Pepsi and Fanta.
Next to them also sit two bottles: a Red Bull and a Sting.
I spoke to Bali Arora, the shop owner, on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. He told me that it’s primarily blue collar workers who buy Sting.
Bali: They believe that drinking it gives energy. It is very sweet, so they love to drink it.
Capabilities (Host): Just a minute later, a young boy emerged from the store carrying a plastic bottle containing the distinctive bright red drink.
Qadrat (from the clip): What is the name?
Mohammed: Muhammad Fadel.
Qadrat (from the clip): age?
Mohammed: seventeen.
Qadrat (from the clip): What do you have in your hand now?
Mohammed: Sting.
Qadrat (from the clip): Okay. How do you feel?
Mohammed: Okay, okay. Why do you drink? Sometimes I feel like it, so let’s have a drink, ma’am. Okay. For taste or energy?
Mohammed: For energy, not just taste. Okay.
Qadrat (from the clip): Mohammed, who works as a carpenter after school, told me that he prefers Sting because it is much cheaper than Red Bull.
Mohammed: Sting, ma’am, that’s a bit unusual, twenty rupees and that’s one hundred and twenty-five. But you have to follow the limits. That’s it.
Capabilities (Host): One bottle costs 20 riyals.
And another for more than 125 rupees.
They both promise a version of the same thing: more power.
Now, FSSAI or Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has challenged that promise.
Just last month, the FSSAI sent notices to six major brands including Red Bull, Sting and Monster, asking them to remove the ‘energy drink’ tag from their labels.
It also asked them to remove claims such as “energizes the body and mind,” “enhances concentration,” “boosts energy levels,” and “helps with general weakness.”
So why did FSSAI take strict action?
What is the story of these caffeinated drinks in India?
Capabilities (Host): My name is Kudrat Wadhwa and you are listening to it Signal summary. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we give you in-depth information on the how and why of consumer trends.
Today: Why India’s food regulator says there may be no such thing as an ‘energy drink’.
Capabilities (Host): I’m sure you’re familiar with Red Bull, which holds the largest share of the energy drink market globally.
Although the brand is Austrian, its story begins in Thailand.
In 1976, a Thai man named Chaliu Yoovidhya noticed that truck drivers and construction workers were struggling during long shifts.
He had an idea – he created a thick, sweet tonic mixed with caffeine, taurine, sugar and B vitamins. He called it Krating Daeng – or Red Gore. A gaur is the largest animal in the cattle species, not a bull but close enough.
The drink came in small glass bottles and cost only 10 baht.
I snapped. Workers began drinking it between shifts. Drivers kept it in the cabin for overnight trips.
Then, a few years later, in 1982, Austrian marketer Dietrich Mateschitz arrived in Thailand, exhausted and jet-lagged.
Someone handed him a bottle of Krating Daeng. You succeeded.
Capabilities (Host): He tracked down Chalio, formed a partnership, and took the formula with him to Europe.
In 1987, they modified the product. They added carbonation, put it in a slim silver and blue can, and released Red Bull.
They even built an entire lifestyle around it. Extreme sports, diving into the abyss, and the slogan that everyone still knows:
section: Shot put
Capabilities (Host): India met Red Bull in the mid-2000s.
One can cost over a hundred rupees.
Red Bull teams have appeared on college campuses with free samples, sponsored college cricket tournaments, parked tour buses outside festivals, and made the drink part of late-night study sessions and club nights.
section: Imagine walking on the IISc campus and seeing a Formula 1 car
Capabilities (Host): At the time, energy drinks were owned by students and young professionals who wanted to feel energetic and live at full speed.
It has remained an expensive product for the big city.
Then, in 2017, PepsiCo launched Sting.
PepsiCo priced it at just twenty rupees. They packed it in a plastic bottle and pushed it to kirana shops and paan stalls.
They even brought in Akshay Kumar for the ads.
section: Sting Energy | Akshay Kumar | gorilla tvc | Hindi
Capabilities (Host): The bright red liquid was soon in the hands of construction workers, auto rickshaw drivers and students who needed something cheaper than Red Bull but stronger than regular soft drinks.
Today, Sting the accounts For about 80-90% of the size of the so-called “energy drinks” market in India: a category now worth more than Rs 13,000 crore.
The drink that started with Thai workers has come full circle.
Its biggest new audience was Indian workers like Mohammed who were looking for the same thing: a cheap, reliable jolt to get through their day.
Today, energy drinks are everywhere. In kirana stores. Pan stores. Gyms. College canteens.
But while consumers see it as their own category, the Food Regulatory Authority of India does not.
On July 1, 2026, the FSSAI sent notices to six major brands: Red Bull, Sting, Adrenaline Rush, Monster, Hell Energy and Campa Energy.
Later that month, it gave companies 90 days to remove the phrase “energy drink” and several marketing claims from their packaging and advertising.
FSSAI says India does not have a separately notified food standard for a product called ‘energy drink’.
Therefore, companies cannot market them as “energy drinks.”
Nor can they claim to “boost energy,” “enhance focus,” or “energize the body and mind.”
Under the FSS Act 2006, companies can only make science-based claims backed by rigorous, peer-reviewed clinical trials and validated by an FSSAI scientific committee.
Now, FSSAI’s concern over energy drinks is no longer new.
I started over a decade ago.
That’s when the FSSAI expert team He doubted The term “energy drink” itself. She called the name a misnomer and recommended that these products be regulated as caffeinated beverages instead.
India eventually introduced standards for caffeinated drinks.
The regulatory body limits caffeine to between 145 and 300 milligrams per liter.
They also required labels warning that the drinks are not recommended for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women or people sensitive to caffeine, and instructed consumers not to drink more than 500 milliliters per day.
Around the world, countries have different approaches to energy drinks.
Canada limits caffeine per serving. Many European countries have banned its sale to minors. Australia requires warning labels.
India already has caffeine limits and warning labels.
This time the regulator asked a more existential question: Should companies be allowed to call these products “energy drinks” at all?
Capabilities (Host): Now, nutritionists and FSSAI agree on one thing: the term energy drink is misleading.
One of them is nutritionist Neeti Desai.
My intention: Because the energy drink gives you the impression that it is beneficial for the body. It will energize my body. right? For example, let’s say a cup of milk or fatty soup could be an energy drink. But it puts this drink in the same category as you would a cup of vegetable juice or, like I said, a delicious warm soup, but that’s not the case. So it is basically man-made. It is not a natural ingredient. So it’s a completely different combination. So it’s a misnomer.
Capabilities (Host): “Energy drinks” do not contain a magic ingredient called energy. Instead, they rely on two familiar things: sugar and caffeine.
One gives you calories. The other makes you feel more alert.
My intention: And the sugar numbers are also kind of amazing for a 250 ml bottle of these, one of these 16 oz drinks or cans contains… So, for example, let’s talk about a 250 ml bottle first. There are 28 to 30 grams of sugar in that one bottle. Our ICMR NIR requirements, and even WHO requirements, SFDA requirements tell us that our sugar intake should not exceed 25 grams per day. So just one bottle will exceed our daily requirement.
We know this especially in our country, India, where after all we are a carbohydrate-loving nation and we eat a lot of carbohydrates, we don’t need that, even 25 grams of sugar. We don’t need any sugar for that matter. So it is clear that excessive sugar intake will lead to weight gain, obesity and a dangerous spike in insulin. Your sugar will rise like a rocket. High blood sugar and high insulin levels are the beginning of most so-called lifestyle diseases. So clearly we don’t need this for the general population.
Capabilities (Host): Nitti explained that there is a lot of sugar in these drinks.
Then there’s caffeine.
Caffeine works by temporarily blocking adenosine, a chemical that makes you sleepy.
80% of the world drinks Some form of caffeine every day.
But consuming too much caffeine can cause anxiety, heart palpitations, poor sleep, and high blood pressure.
But this does not mean that caffeine itself is the problem.
Nutritionists say that moderate amounts of unsweetened tea or coffee are perfectly beneficial for most healthy adults.
The biggest problem is relying on drinks with a high percentage of caffeine to compensate for lack of sleep or fatigue.
My intention: So drinking coffee in moderation is not evil. Two cups of coffee a day, no problem.
Black coffee is actually good for the liver. So, if you drink two cups of black coffee a day, it is actually good for your liver. Obviously, this is minus the milk, minus the sugar.
Capabilities (Host): Back at the dairy shop, seventeen-year-old Mohammed already knows all this.
Mohammed: Now ma’am, if you look at people, you’ll find that ninety percent of the time they say everything is wrong and it is, it is wrong. This is wrong.
You will see that everything is wrong. You say Red Bull is not suitable for some bodies. But people still drink. Nowadays, if you look at everything, you look at anything, you will find something wrong with everything.
Capabilities (Host): By questioning the term ‘energy drink’, FSSAI wants consumers to stop confusing these products with something that is good for them.
But this is only part of the story.
Muhammad already knows that Sting is not healthy.
He buys it anyway.
Because it’s cheap and he likes the taste.
Now, changing what’s written on the bottle may be the easy part.
Changing why people come to it is much harder.
last: That’s all for today. I just heard Signal summary. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we give you in-depth information on the how and why of consumer trends.
Nucleus produces Signal summary. Follow us wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in.
If you have comments, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us at [email protected] or you can write to me personally at [email protected].
Thank you for listening.
