Cosmetics will soon be colour-coded

New Delhi: On lines of packaged food products, cosmetics and toiletries like face wash, soaps, shampoos, and toothpastes will soon carry a brown/red or green dot indicating the source of the product as vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

A proposal in this regard was recently cleared by India's highest drug advisory body, the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), said a senior official in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

"The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) cleared the proposal regarding mandatory labeling of cosmetic products and toiletries with a brown/red and green dot on Wednesday. To incorporate the changes, the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, will have to be amended," the official said.

A notification in this regard is expected to be issued in another six months. Packaged food items sold in India are required to be labeled with a mark indicating whether the source of the product was vegetarian or non-vegetarian.