中文India’s food safety regulator has redrawn the packaging rulebook for one of the country’s most contentious products. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced new packaging requirements for pan masala that effectively eliminate plastic-based and metallised packaging formats, pushing manufacturers toward paper, paperboard, cellulose, and other naturally derived materials that are completely free from plastic.
The change was notified through the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Amendment Regulations, 2026, which add pan masala to Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018. The amendment came into force the moment it was published in the Official Gazette, giving manufacturers little runway to adjust existing structures.
Under the revised requirements, pan masala may be packaged only in paper, paperboard, cellulose, or other naturally derived materials, provided they are entirely free from plastic. The permitted materials must not contain synthetic polymers, copolymers, or laminates, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The rules go further by specifically excluding aluminium foil and metallised layers. As a result, a paper-based pouch that incorporates a plastic film, a laminate, aluminium foil, or a metallised layer will no longer qualify as compliant.
Tin and glass containers are listed separately as permissible options. The amendment also pulls the relevant provisions of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, into the packaging requirements that now apply to pan masala. In other words, the change is not a stand-alone packaging tweak but a convergence of food-safety and plastic-waste law.
The notification follows a consultation FSSAI opened on April 28, 2026, when it issued draft regulations inviting objections and suggestions from stakeholders. That consultation stayed open for 60 days, after which the authority considered the feedback before finalizing the amendment. Notably, the rules target packaging only. They do not constitute a ban on pan masala as a product; rather, they force manufacturers to re-engineer how it reaches the shelf.
For pan masala producers, the practical impact is significant. Companies that have long relied on multi-layer plastic and metallised pouches, valued for barrier properties, shelf life, and printability, will have to identify compliant alternatives, qualify new materials and new suppliers, and reassess how the transition affects converting, filling, distribution, and logistics. The shift could also move packaging costs, depending on which alternatives and formats are chosen.
For the converting and packaging supply chain, the rule is both a constraint and an opening. Suppliers of paper, paperboard, and cellulose-based structures gain a clear mandate, while those anchored to plastic laminates and metallised films lose a major application. The episode underscores a broader global direction: regulators are increasingly willing to ban specific formats outright rather than simply nudge brands toward recycling.
India has been tightening packaging and plast regulation across several fronts, and pan masala, with its high visibility and contested health profile, was a predictable early target. For converters serving the category, the lesson is blunt: material substitution is no longer a future scenario but a present compliance obligation. The brands that move fastest to qualified paper, paperboard, tin, or glass structures will keep their shelves; those that wait risk being caught between regulation and a supply chain that no longer fits the law.
