Chennai, August 15, 2026: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India revoked its prohibition order against 11 liquor varieties sold at Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation outlets within 24 hours of the ban taking effect, after the manufacturer appealed against the order and promised to bring its products into compliance within 30 days. The ban had covered 10 brandy varieties and one rum brand manufactured by Enrica Enterprises Private Limited, based in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
The sequence of events unfolded over four days. FSSAI’s southern regional office inspected Enrica’s manufacturing unit and issued the original prohibitory order on August 11, finding that the distiller had used nature-identical and artificial flavouring substances in its products, in violation of the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018. The Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise communicated the findings to Tasmac on August 12. Tasmac on August 13 directed its senior regional managers, district managers and depot managers statewide to stop transferring the 11 brands from depots to retail outlets including FL2 and FL3 licence holders. Retail sale was effectively halted from August 14.
However, FSSAI revoked the prohibition order on August 14 itself, after Enrica appealed and committed to full compliance. The Prohibition and Excise department communicated the revocation to Tasmac’s managing director, authorising depots and retail outlets to resume transfer and sale of the affected brands. FSSAI replaced the ban with a formal improvement notice valid for 30 days, within which Enrica must submit a compliance report.
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V K Pancham, Director, FSSAI Southern Regional Office, said: “The improvement notice is valid for 30 days. By then the distiller must submit a compliance report.” FSSAI also clarified that existing stock of the affected liquor varieties is safe for consumption and can continue to be sold at Tasmac outlets.
The rapid U-turn drew political criticism, but Prohibition and Excise Minister K Vignesh defended the state government’s position, saying both the ban and its revocation were decisions made entirely by FSSAI, a central government body, with no role for the state. “I got information about the ban only on Friday afternoon and by Saturday morning I came to know that the ban was revoked. We cannot directly check liquor quality through the state food safety department when a liquor manufacturer’s business exceeds ₹50 crore. FSSAI is the only authority to check quality for such manufacturing units. So we had no role in these developments. This is being politicised without knowing the facts,” he said.
The minister said the Prohibition and Excise department will now consult experts on possible ways to conduct quality checks across all brands procured by Tasmac. “Tamil Nadu has more than 100 varieties across multiple brands. Though we currently lack legal provisions to test liquor, we will explore options, possibly involving FSSAI, to ensure quality checks for all liquor brands,” he added.
The improvement notice requires Enrica to comply with labelling rules, good manufacturing practices and good hygiene practices under Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards Act. FSSAI said similar inspections at other liquor manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu are expected in the coming weeks, signalling a broader enforcement drive across the state’s spirits manufacturing sector that follows the authority’s recent nationwide notices to alcoholic beverage manufacturers over synthetic flavour additives and misleading age claims on labels.
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