'Vegetarian food must have a symbol of a green color-filled circle inside a square with a green outline prominently displayed on the package, contrasting against the background on the principal display panel, in close proximity to name or brand name of the food.' According to the law, vegetarian food should be identified by a green symbol and non-vegetarian food with a brown symbol. The symbol is in effect following the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Act of 2006, and received a mandatory status after the framing of the respective regulations ( Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation) in 2011. Packaged food and toothpaste products sold in India are required to be labelled with a mandatory mark in order to be distinguished between lacto-vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The green dot symbol (left) identifies lacto-vegetarian food, and the brown dot symbol (right) identifies non-vegetarian food.
