The Task Force constituted by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to regulate special food items like nutraceuticals and dietary supplements submitted its recommendations to the apex food authority last week.
The recommendations basically comprise guidelines for the approval of dietary supplements and nutraceutical products that are manufactured and marketed throughout the country.
It is understood that the 17-member team had submitted the recommendations based on a detailed study conducted on the market in consultation with all the stakeholders. It basically highlights the key regulatory requirements that need to be implemented to regulate this huge market. Once these recommendations get the nod from FSSAI, all the manufacturers in the country falling under this category will have to get a no objection certificate (NOC) and approval from the Centre prior to manufacturing and marketing the products.
Dr H G Koshia, commissioner, FDCA, Gujarat, who was part of the Task Force informed that the aim behind coming out with these recommendations was to bring in a regulatory semblance to this highly unregulated segment, especially considering the adverse health implications it might have on people if left unchecked.
At present, India does not have any kind of regulatory guidelines for the approval or monitoring of the products under this segment. Interestingly, a lot of Ayurvedic products in the country, are sold as nutraceuticals or dietary supplements. According to experts, though there are currently no fixed statistics to show the size of the market, the scope of the same is huge as it is basically a direct-to-consumer segment.
“Implementing these guidelines will not only help in effectively regulating the market but also maintain a proper data on the same, which is not the case today. In the recent past, there has been an increase in the incidents of misuse or improper manufacturing conditions. Considering the huge health risks it can pose to the consumers it is high time to concentrate on having an ideal approval policy that will ensure proper compliance of manufacturing of all the products that are available in the market,” informed Dr Koshia. It was in this light that the Centre constituted the Task Force over two-and-a-half months back.
Meanwhile, sources from the Centre informed that this move would help in checking a lot of activities that go unaccounted in the country as of now. It has been observed that a lot of Ayush (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) products are currently sold under the segment directly to consumers.
Further, certain products especially those that claim to aid health benefits to the consumers, having ingredients which usually need to undergo stringent approval process under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, are easily available in the market as a dietary or nutraceutical product.
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