New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- Food safety is no longer just a compliance issue for packaged food and beverage companies in India. With regulatory scrutiny growing, issues like product labels, safety standards and claims are currently being discussed at the top levels. For example, many CEOs and start-up founders are now taking charge of such matters that previously rested with functional heads.

A chief executive of a large packaged-food company told Economic Times that in a recent leadership townhall last week, they only discussed about labelling and compliances and not growth or inflation.

Executives said companies are even diverting funds from functions such as marketing to step up regulatory compliance checks in minute detail.

Ashwin Bhadri...