Introduction

You flip over a packet of chips and squint at the ingredient list. Twelve items. Half of them unpronounceable. Palm oil third on the list. Artificial colour and ‘nature-identical flavouring’ somewhere near the bottom. Sound familiar?

India’s snack aisles are full of products that look healthy on the front — ‘baked!’, ‘multigrain!’, ‘low fat!’ — but tell a very different story on the back. The clean-label movement is changing that, and Indian consumers are becoming savvier about what they put in their bodies.

This guide breaks down exactly what to look for — and what to avoid — when choosing snacks in India.

What Does ‘Clean Label’ Actually Mean?

A clean-label product is one made with simple, recognisable, minimally processed ingredients — no hidden additives, no deceptive marketing claims, no ingredient-list gymnastics. Clean-label snacks are transparent about what’s inside and why it’s there.

Key characteristics of a clean-label snack:

• Short ingredient list (fewer than 10 items as a rough guide)
• Ingredients you can picture in their natural form
• No artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives
• No hydrogenated oils or palm oil
• Honest serving sizes and realistic nutritional claims

Red Flags: What to Avoid on Indian Snack Labels

1. Palm Oil (and its aliases)

Palm oil is the most commonly used cooking oil in Indian packaged snacks, and for good reason — it’s cheap and extends shelf life. But it’s also high in saturated fat and linked to gut health concerns. Watch for it listed as: palm oil, palm olein, vegetable oil (when unspecified), RSPO palm oil.

2. Artificial Flavour Enhancers

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and disodium inosinate/guanylate are common flavour boosters. Some people are sensitive to these, and they mask the natural flavour of real ingredients. Clean-label snacks use spices and real food ingredients for flavour.

3. Refined Flour (Maida) as the Primary Base

Maida-based snacks offer little nutritional value and digest rapidly, causing blood sugar spikes. Whole grains, millets, and legumes are far superior bases.

4. Artificial Colours

Tartrazine (Yellow No. 5), sunset yellow, and other synthetic dyes add zero nutritional value and have been linked to hyperactivity in children. India’s FSSAI permits many of these, but clean-label brands avoid them entirely.

5. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils

The source of trans fats. While FSSAI regulations have tightened on trans fats, hydrogenated oils still appear in some snack products. Always check.

Green Flags: What Good Snack Labels Look Like

Whole Grain or Millet Base

Ingredients like ragi, jowar, bajra, and foxtail millet indicate a nutritionally dense foundation. These provide fibre, complex carbohydrates, and micronutrients absent in refined flour.

Named Plant Proteins

Moth beans, soya, chickpea flour, and lentils are excellent plant protein sources. Seeing these named specifically (rather than ‘protein isolate’) is a good sign.

Cold-Pressed or Expeller-Pressed Oils

Where oil is used, high-quality options like cold-pressed sunflower, groundnut, or rice bran oil are preferable to generic ‘vegetable oil’.

FSSAI Certification

All legitimate Indian food products should display a valid FSSAI licence number. This is a baseline, not a guarantee of quality, but its absence is a red flag.

How Grabeto Meets the Clean-Label Standard

Grabeto, Biome’s snack range, was built from the ground up around clean-label principles:

• Every product is palm-oil-free
• Whole grains and legumes form the base of each snack
• No artificial colours or flavours
• Roasted or baked — never deep-fried
• FSSAI licensed (21522607100022)
• Short, readable ingredient lists across all six products

Reading the back of a Grabeto packet should feel reassuring, not confusing. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.

The front of a pack is marketing. The back is the truth. Always read the back.

A Simple Label-Reading Framework for Indian Shoppers

Next time you pick up a snack, run through this quick checklist:

• Is the oil specified? Is it palm oil or a clean alternative?
• Is the first ingredient a whole grain or legume, not maida?
• Are there more than 3 numbers or codes in the ingredient list? (E-numbers, INS codes)
• Does ‘multigrain’ mean actual whole grains, or refined multigrain flour?
• Is the FSSAI number present and verifiable?