New Delhi: Whether it is Maggi or milk, the FSSAI seems to have come down heavily on the selection of product for approval this year.
Data shows Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has granted only 67 approvals for product licenses since January this year as compared to a generous 763 approvals in the calendar year 2014. The list of rejected applications is a scary 523.
The food regulators are finding a lot of irregularities and inaccuracies in the shelf-life analysis data submitted by the FMCG companies, who seek faster approval despite lacking proper examination reports.
Sources in FSSAI told Bloomberg TV India that companies which fail to provide shelf life analysis data suiting the Food safety and Standard rules 2011 are asked to re-apply for the approval. However, companies tend to dilly-dally in re-filing another application and often launch unapproved products in the market.
This year FSSAI has taken strict initiative by declining approvals on non-adherence of the food safety rules. Sources also informed that improper data has become a major hurdle for companies to acquire the approvals despite having no quality deficiencies.
This comes as a major setback for the food sector, as they experience delay in reaching their products to the retail shelf. FSSAI has denied the allegation of industry that they intentionally delay the process. They have clearly stated the reasons for increase in rejections and closure of food product applications.
The data published by FSSAI highlights the fast track mode FSSAI has adopted to reduce the pending files and increase the check on approval process to assure products that match the regulatory Standard don’t queue up for long.
No comments:
Post a Comment