India Bans Ashwagandha Leaves: What Wellness Shoppers Need to Know

On April 16, 2026, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an advisory that stated plainly: "It has been brought to the notice of FSSAI that certain manufacturers of these products are using ashwagandha leaves and their extract in their products. It is clarified that use of ashwagandha leaves in crude or extract or any other form is not permitted under the said regulations."

The regulatory basis is Schedule IV of India's Food Safety and Standards Act regulations from 2016, which lists permitted plant parts for food use. Only roots and root extracts are listed for Withania somnifera (ashwagandha).

This is not a new rule — it is a reiteration and enforcement escalation of an existing one. An earlier advisory in 2021 had already flagged that there was insufficient safety evidence for leaf-based formulations. The April 2026 advisory came after regulators observed that manufacturers continued using leaves anyway, with the Ministry of Ayush issuing a parallel directive to Ayush drug producers at the same time.

State food safety commissioners across India were directed to maintain strict vigilance. Non-compliance carries penalties under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a small evergreen shrub native to India, Africa, and the Middle East. The plant has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 3,000 years, primarily as a restorative tonic and adaptogen. Traditionally, it was the root that practitioners used — dried, powdered, or prepared as a decoction.

The active compounds in ashwagandha are called withanolides, a family of steroidal lactones. Withanolide A is associated with neuroprotection and anti-inflammatory effects. Withanolide D and Withanoside VI have been studied for their role in stress reduction.

Both roots and leaves contain withanolides, but in very different ratios and profiles. The key distinction is a compound called Withaferin A.

Withaferin A is the most abundant single compound in ashwagandha leaves, and it exists at significantly lower concentrations in the root. Research published in a PLOS One study found that leaves contain several-fold higher withanolide content than roots — with the distribution skewed heavily toward Withaferin A.

The KSM-66 root extract, one of the most clinically studied ashwagandha ingredients on the market, is standardized to 5 percent withanolides with negligible Withaferin A content. This was by design: the manufacturer's position is that the root's safety profile is well-established, while the leaf's high Withaferin A levels introduce risk.

Withaferin A is not a simple toxin. It is a bioactive compound with a dual identity: researchers are actively studying it as a potential anticancer agent, while regulators and safety bodies are increasingly concerned about its cytotoxicity in healthy tissue.

The mechanism is precise. Withaferin A reacts with cysteine residues in proteins via a Michael addition — an irreversible chemical bond that disrupts the function of key structural and regulatory proteins. It inhibits NF-κB signaling, disrupts tubulin (a protein critical to cell division), and induces apoptosis (programmed cell death) in exposed cells.

In cancer research, those properties are potentially useful. Withaferin A is being investigated for ALT cancers (a subset accounting for about 15 percent of all cancers), as well as gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and liver malignancies. The compound shows real promise in laboratory models.

In a healthy person consuming it as part of a supplement or protein powder, the same properties become a concern. The cytotoxic activity does not distinguish between cancer cells and healthy ones at the doses that might be consumed through multiple servings of a leaf-containing product over time.

The liver toxicity signal is the clearest real-world concern. A review published in MDPI Pharmaceuticals in August 2023 catalogued published cases of herb-induced liver injury linked to ashwagandha. One documented case involved a 24-year-old male who developed jaundice, nausea, and elevated liver enzymes after taking 450 to 1,350 mg per day for seven days. Several documented cases involved supplements that contained both root and leaf material, complicating efforts to determine which part of the plant was responsible. The review noted that the cytotoxicity of both Withaferin A and Withanone (another withanolide found in leaves) had been linked to DNA damage in liver cells.

This does not mean all ashwagandha products cause liver damage. The majority of clinical trials — of which there are now dozens — have used root-only formulations and reported no significant safety signals. The concern is specifically with products using leaf material, unspecified "whole plant" extracts, or high-withanolide blends that incorporate leaf components to hit concentration targets.

There is an economic dimension to the leaf ban that the industry has been candid about. Leaves are cheaper than roots to harvest and process. A manufacturer wanting to advertise a high-withanolide percentage on a label — say, "10% withanolides" or "35% withanolides" — can hit that number more easily by blending in leaf extract, which is dense with Withaferin A, rather than using more root material.

Vitafoods Insights, citing industry sources after the April 2026 advisory, described the ban as "a strong step towards minimising adulteration." The framing suggests that some "ashwagandha root extract" products on the market have been quietly incorporating leaf material to increase the apparent withanolide content cheaply. Standardized extract certificates may show a withanolide percentage without disclosing what fraction is Withaferin A specifically.

This is a supply chain authenticity issue as much as a safety issue. India supplies the overwhelming majority of the world's ashwagandha, so the advisory has global implications for sourcing.

The regulatory situation varies by country, but a few label-reading principles apply broadly.

Root-only (safer, compliant with India's rules):

• "Ashwagandha root extract" — specifies root, not whole plant
• "Withania somnifera root" — botanical name with plant part specified
• "KSM-66" — branded root-only extract, 5% withanolides, proprietary low-Withaferin A process, 20+ clinical trials

Contains leaf (higher Withaferin A, non-compliant in India):

• "Ashwagandha leaf extract" or "ashwagandha leaf"
• "Ashwagandha aerial parts" — aerial parts means stems and leaves, not root
• Generic "ashwagandha extract" without "root" specification — ambiguous and potentially leaf-inclusive

Branded blends (root + leaf, variable Withaferin A):

• "Sensoril" — a branded root-and-leaf extract standardized to 10% withanolides with Withaferin A capped at 0.5%
• "Shoden" — a full-spectrum root-and-leaf extract standardized to 35% withanolides in a 3:2 blend; typically used at very low doses (70 to 120 mg)

The 10% or 35% withanolide standardization in the leaf-inclusive products is often used to justify the inclusion of leaves: the argument is that Withaferin A is controlled to a specific level. The Indian regulatory position is that no level of leaf material is permitted, regardless of Withaferin A control, because the 2016 rules did not authorize leaves in the first place.

India's April 2026 advisory is the most recent in a series of regulatory moves that are creating a patchwork global picture for ashwagandha.

Denmark banned ashwagandha entirely in 2023, citing concerns about hormonal effects and the potential to induce abortion during pregnancy. This is part of a broader trend of European regulators diverging from US food safety decisions on ingredients with unresolved safety signals. The Netherlands confirmed it was moving toward a full ban in April 2026. Poland and Hungary already restrict use to root extract only. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) noted in its May 2026 statement that it was working to understand the global supply chain implications.

The EU's novel food regulations pose a separate set of questions. Several EU countries have treated ashwagandha in food products as a novel food requiring authorization before sale — though enforcement varies widely.

The US and UK have not issued comparable restrictions as of May 2026. Ashwagandha remains a legal dietary supplement ingredient in both countries, with no novel food review requirement. FDA classifies it under the dietary supplement framework; unless a company makes a drug claim or the ingredient has a demonstrated safety issue flagged through the New Dietary Ingredient notification process, it can be sold without formal pre-market approval.

The contrast matters for global consumers. A product made for the US market can legally contain ashwagandha leaf extract. A product made for India cannot.

If you use ashwagandha products — protein powders, stress supplements, sleep capsules, adaptogen blends — the primary action item is to check the label for which part of the plant you are consuming.

Root-only products with clinical-grade standardization (KSM-66 is the most rigorously studied) have a clean safety record. The concern centers on unspecified extracts, whole-plant products, and high-withanolide blends that rely on leaf material to hit concentration targets.

If a product does not specify "root" on the label, that is worth investigating further. A generic label that says "ashwagandha extract 300mg" without a plant part specification leaves open the question of whether leaves are included.

IngrediCheck can help you identify ashwagandha in the ingredient lists of food products and supplements — including branded extract names like Sensoril and Shoden — so you know what you are scanning before you consume it.

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