The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has barred the sale of certain rum and whiskeys sold by Diageo India’s United Spirits, Inbrew Beverages and Mohan Rocky Springwater.

FSSAI said laboratory tests found that some manufacturers were adding flavours of the alcoholic beverage itself, for example, rum flavour in rum or whisky flavour in whisky.

The action comes in the wake of recent regulatory actions as FSSAI has sped up scrutiny to ensure that safety regulations regarding food items are met.

The FSSAI has banned sales of Antiquity Blue Whisky, Royal Challenge Whisky and the popular rum variants of McDowell.

The ban extends to Inbrew’s Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum, produced in Madhya Pradesh.

It includes select variants of Old Monk Rum including Old Monk The Legend, Old Monk Gold Reserve, and Old Monk XXX Matured Rum, which is manufactured in Maharashtra.

FSSAI mentions that these brands’ used artificial flavouring instead of proper ageing for their beverages, and selected ingredients to achieve their taste and aroma.

In its tests, the regulator found that the products investigated were substandard due to the presence of external artificial or nature identical flavours in the product.

“There is no internationally recognised manufacturing practice whereby rum flavour is added to rum or whisky flavour is added to whisky,” the FSSAI said in a statement.