An Indian ghee label must carry the name "Ghee", a nutrition panel, the green vegetarian symbol, the FSSAI logo and licence number, the net quantity, price and consumer care details, a batch or lot number, the manufacture and expiry dates, and the brand owner's name and address. Agmark, an organic logo and the word "A2" are not required items. Here is each item with the rule behind it, and what the optional marks mean.
At a glance
- Regulation 5 of the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 lists what every pre-packaged food must declare; a plain ghee, as a single-ingredient food, does not need the ingredients list.
- FSSAI standard 2.1.8 fixes the name "Ghee" and requires at least 99.5 per cent milk fat and at most 0.5 per cent moisture, with no added colour, flavour or preservative.
- On a front panel of up to 100 cm² the vegetarian symbol must be a green circle at least 3 mm across.
- FSSAI's advisory of 21 August 2024 said its milk standards "do not mention/ recognize any differentiation of milk on the basis of A1 and A2 types"; an order of 26 August 2024 withdrew it.
- The word Agmark does not appear in the labelling regulations; it is a separate grading mark.
What must an Indian ghee label show?
Everything in Regulation 5 of the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, read with the ghee standard. The table takes the items in the regulation's order and names the rule; the text quoted is FSSAI's compendium of 9 September 2025.
| Label item | On ghee | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Name of the food, on the front of pack | Mandatory: "Ghee" | Reg. 5(1); standard 2.1.8, item 6 |
| List of ingredients | Not required for a single-ingredient food | Reg. 5(2) |
| Nutrition panel per 100 g and per serve | Mandatory | Reg. 5(3) |
| Green vegetarian symbol | Mandatory | Reg. 5(4)(b) |
| Name and complete address of the brand owner | Mandatory | Reg. 5(6) |
| FSSAI logo and licence number | Mandatory | Reg. 5(7) |
| Net quantity, retail sale price, consumer care details | Mandatory, as the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 provides | Reg. 5(8) |
| Batch, code or lot number | Mandatory | Reg. 5(9) |
| Date of manufacture or packaging, and expiry or use-by date | Mandatory; "best before" optional | Reg. 5(10) |
| Instructions for use, such as "Refrigerate after opening" | Only where needed for proper use or safety | Reg. 5(13) |
| Organic logo | Only if the ghee is certified organic | Reg. 5(7)(e); Schedule I |
| Agmark | Not in these regulations; a separate grading mark | None |
| "A2" | Not an FSSAI category; a seller's claim | Advisory of 21 Aug 2024, withdrawn 26 Aug 2024 |
Regulation 4 adds the general rules: declarations in English or in Hindi in Devanagari script, a label that is "clear, unambiguous, prominent, conspicuous, indelible and readily legible", and nothing "false, misleading or deceptive". A seller online must show you the mandatory information before sale, except the batch number and dates.
What does the name "Ghee" commit the maker to?
A composition. Regulation 5(1) says that where an FSSAI standard fixes a food's identity, "the name provided therein shall be used", and the Standard for Milk Fat Products (2.1.8) gives three names: milk fat or butter oil, anhydrous milk fat or anhydrous butter oil, and ghee. A product called ghee must meet the ghee column of that standard.
The standard describes these as "fatty products derived exclusively from milk or products obtained from milk", with almost all water and milk solids-not-fat removed; "Ghee has especially developed flavour and physical structure as a result of its method of manufacturing." The raw material "shall be free from added flavour, colour or preservative". Ghee must have at most 0.5 per cent moisture and at least 99.5 per cent milk fat.
Two things it does not fix are worth noticing. It names no breed, so "cow", "Badri" or "Gir" on a jar is the maker's description, not part of the legal name, and it prescribes no particular method, so "bilona" is likewise the maker's word.
Does ghee need a nutrition panel and an ingredients list?
A nutrition panel, yes; an ingredients list, no. Regulation 5(2) requires a list of ingredients "except for single ingredient foods", and a jar containing nothing but milk fat is one. Regulation 5(3) exempts from nutrition labelling only "unprocessed products that comprise a single ingredient", and ghee is processed, so the panel stays.
The panel gives, per 100 g and per serve, energy in kcal, protein, carbohydrate with total and added sugars, total fat with saturated and trans fat, cholesterol and sodium, plus each serve's share of a reference intake set at 2,000 kcal, 67 g total fat, 22 g saturated fat and 2 g trans fat a day. Cholesterol must be given "only for products containing fats of animal origin and where total fat content is more than 0.5%", which describes ghee exactly.
Is the green vegetarian symbol required on ghee?
Yes. Regulation 5(4)(b) requires every package of vegetarian food to carry "a green colour filled circle inside a square with green outline", on a contrasting background close to the name or brand name on the front of pack. The exemption list covers liquid milk, milk powders and honey, among others; ghee is not on it. The circle must be at least 3 mm across in a 6 mm square on a principal display panel of up to 100 cm², and larger on bigger packs.
One ghee-specific rule sits beside it. Regulation 5(15) says that food sold in retail "but which is not meant for human consumption example Pooja water, Ghee for diya, Oil for Pooja etc." must carry "a black colour cross inside a square with black outline". A jar meant for the lamp, not the kitchen, should show that cross.
What do the batch code and the dates tell you?
Regulation 5(9) says that "a batch number or code number or lot number shall be declared on the label". Regulation 5(10) requires the "date of manufacture or packaging" and "expiry/use by", grouped together in one place, with "best before" as optional extra information. For a shelf life over three months the month and year suffice, the month in capital letters, though DD/MM/YY may also be used. Any storage condition on which the date depends must be stated.
The batch code is the one item on the label that can be checked against evidence from outside it. A laboratory report is issued for a sample, and a sample belongs to a batch, so a report is only as good as the code that links it to the jar in your hand. Every Himdhara jar carries a batch code, and the report for each batch is published on the lab reports page before that batch ships. Whatever the brand, ask for the report that matches the code on your jar.
Is Agmark required on a ghee label?
No. The word Agmark appears nowhere in the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, and the ghee standard's labelling item asks only for the name and the general labelling rules. A label that carries every item in the table above and no Agmark is complete.
Agmark is a separate grading mark with rules of its own. What its grades are, and what the mark cannot tell you about breed or method, is in our article on what Agmark ghee means. Its presence does not replace any FSSAI item.
Is "A2" an FSSAI category on a ghee label?
No. No FSSAI standard defines an A2 milk, an A2 ghee or an A2 logo. FSSAI said so itself in an advisory dated 21 August 2024 (File No. RCD-02004/1/2023-Regulatory-FSSAI-Part(1)), addressed to e-commerce food businesses: "Standards of milk as specified in Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 do not mention/ recognize any differentiation of milk on the basis of A1 and A2 types."
The advisory went further. It noted that businesses were "selling/ marketing Milk & Milk products such as Ghee, Butter, Curd etc in the name of A1 & A2", held that the distinction "is essentially linked to difference in structure of protein (beta casein)" and that "use of any A2 claims on milk fat products is misleading", and told businesses to remove such claims, allowing six months to use up pre-printed labels. All India Radio's News on AIR reported it on 24 August.
Five days later it was gone. An order dated 26 August 2024 under the same file number states that "the advisory dt 21.08.2024 issued with respect to the subject cited, stands withdrawn for further consultation and engagement with the stakeholders." We found no later FSSAI standard or order on the question. So nothing in the standards defines A2, and nothing in them forbids the word.
What governs it is the general law on claims. The FSS (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 say that "claims must be truthful, unambiguous, meaningful, not misleading", and that a claimed nutritional attribute "shall be scientifically substantiated by validated methods of characterising or quantifying the ingredient or substance that is the basis for the claim." An A2 claim therefore stands or falls on what the seller can show about the herd, since the beta-casein behind it is a milk protein and ghee is at least 99.5 per cent fat. What A2 means in milk, and how little of it reaches ghee, is in what A2 milk is.
What should you check on a ghee label before buying?
Read the mandatory items first, because a seller can be held to them, and treat everything else as description.
- The name is "Ghee". Not a brand name alone; the name fixes the composition.
- The FSSAI logo and licence number are printed in a contrasting colour. The brand owner's number, and the manufacturer's or packer's if different.
- The green symbol sits next to the name on the front.
- The nutrition panel shows cholesterol and the fat split. A panel that omits cholesterol on a 99.5 per cent animal fat does not follow the regulation.
- The batch code, manufacture date and expiry date are together in one place. Then ask for the lab report for that batch code.
- The descriptive words are read as claims. "A2", "bilona" and "pure" are not FSSAI categories; the question is what evidence the maker offers, as set out in how to choose A2 bilona ghee.
The short version
Regulation 5 of the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 sets what an Indian ghee label must carry: the name "Ghee", a nutrition panel, the green vegetarian symbol, the brand owner's name and address, the FSSAI logo and licence number, net quantity, price and consumer care details, a batch number, and the manufacture and expiry dates. An ingredients list is not required for a single-ingredient food. The name binds the jar to standard 2.1.8, at least 99.5 per cent milk fat with no added colour, but fixes neither breed nor method. Agmark is a separate grading mark the labelling regulations never mention, and "A2" is a seller's claim: FSSAI's advisory of 21 August 2024 said its standards do not recognise the distinction, and its order of 26 August withdrew the advisory.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2025). Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, Version VIII (09.09.2025). FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011: Chapter 2.1, Dairy products and analogues. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2024). Clarification regarding Selling/ Marketing of Milk & Milk products such as Ghee, Milk etc in the name of A1 & A2, 21 August 2024. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2024). Order: Clarification regarding Selling / Marketing of Milk & Milk products such as Ghee, Milk etc in the name of A1 & A2, 26 August 2024. FSSAI.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (2022). Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, Version IV (14.12.2022). FSSAI.