India, Dec. 26 -- India's food safety regulator has directed companies to stop using the word "tea" for beverages not derived from the camellia sinensis plant, a move that aligns the world's second-largest tea producer with strict botanical definitions but threatens the branding of the booming herbal wellness sector.

In a notice dated December 24, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) warned that labelling herbal or flower-based infusions as "tea" amounts to misbranding. The order effectively bans common market terms like "rooibos tea," "herbal tea," and "flower tea" unless the product contains leaves from the specific evergreen shrub defined by global standards.

"The use of the word 'tea'... for any other plant-based...