Jan 3, 2019

FSSAI's new packaging regulations would raise the bar for food safety



DINAKARAN NEWS


DINAKARAN NEWS


Food aggregators can’t just get away with substandard deliveries in India anymore

Multi-million dollar funding rounds aside, food-delivery startups are facing regulatory heat in India—but no one’s really complaining.
On Dec. 29, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a new set of guidelines for them. They mandate:
  • Acquiring a licence from the central licencing authority
  • Making provisions for arbitrary quality checks by the regulator during any time in the delivery process
  • Only selling products with a remaining shelf life of either 30% or 45 days before expiry at the time of delivery
  • Signing deal stating sellers’ compliance with food-safety rules, liability rests with food-business operators
  • Food establishments have to now mention their FSSAI licence registration and hygiene grading
  • Provide the actual image of the dish on their platforms so that consumers can recognise the product
  • Before purchase, consumers to be provided information in the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act
  • Trained personnel to ensure last-mile delivery, product safety must not compromised at the time of delivery
So far, startups such as Swiggy and Zomato operate only as a conduit between the consumer and restaurants, picking up orders and delivering them. The government is now clearly putting the onus on the conduits.
The FSSAI has already been auditing food-delivery apps to ensure compliance on the safety and hygiene fronts.
“Aggregators must begin to use some of their resources in training and capacity building of restaurants for improving food safety and hygiene rather than focusing only on deep discounts and aggressive marketing..,” Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, had said in a statement on Aug. 02.
Under the radar
Following a series of complaints against the aggregators for listing sub-standard restaurants and for delivering low-quality food, the FSSAI in July asked 10 such companies, including Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats, Foodpanda, and Lime Tray, to delist unlicenced restaurants by July 31.
Despite the directive, licences and registrations of up to 40% of the restaurants listed by the platforms were not verified, according to an FSSAI audit revealed on Aug. 02. By October, though, they had de-listed over 5,000 restaurants.
In December, a video of a Zomato delivery personnel eating food from delivery boxes went viral on social media and caught the company unaware. Zomato identified the executive and suspended him, calling it an “unusual and rare case.” Nevertheless, it triggered a tirade on food-safety concerns.
Therefore, analysts, in general, believe the FSSAI’s move to tighten the industry standards is in the right direction though it can add to the aggregators’ overheads.
“The guidelines are to improve efficiency and quality of service in food delivery. The companies should ensure compliance with the amended regulations,” said Varsha S, associate partner at law firm Dhir & Dhir Associates.
The companies themselves are taking the development positively it seems.
Coping with the change
While Swiggy did not share its specific plans for compliance with the FSSAI norms, it expressed broad agreement with the authority’s initiative.
“In full compliance of Food Safety and Standards Act and Rules, all unregistered restaurants were disabled from Swiggy. We are working with FSSAI to bring the necessary confidence and control in last-mile delivery and safety of food,” Swiggy said in an e-mail response to Quartz’s queries.
Zomato said it recently introduced initiatives like training sessions for restaurant partners to educate them on the subject and to obtain certification.
“We have also tied up with third parties to set up a helpline for restaurants to meet compliance. The DIY kit is also circulated to our restaurant partners to further ease the process. We have also tied up with third parties to help us validate the FSSAI licences of all our restaurant partners,” Zomato said in an e-mail response.
The company also has a supply platform, HyperPure, which helps it source fresh ingredients for the restaurants. The company launched hygiene-rating services for restaurants in late 2017 and has already conducted audits at over 6,000 restaurants in India.
“While we are already compliant with the mandatory directives in the FSS Act, we will work with FSSAI on any measures required to drive the development in the ecosystem,” Zomato said.
Grofers, a grocery delivery startup, said it works closely with its merchant partners to ensure compliance of food safety and hygiene standards.
“But there is some ambiguity. It is not clear what mandatory food information must the aggregators provide to their consumers, or what kind of standards will determine the quality training of personnel,” said Varsha S.

Understanding standards on printing ink for food packaging necessary

In India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
In India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. FSSAI is now revamping its standard on packaging and labelling, and is laying emphasis on packaging safety by bringing a specific regulation focussed on food safety aspects of the packaging material.
The standard prescribes that any material used for packaging, preparation, storing, wrapping, transportation and sale or service of food shall be of food grade quality (“Food grade” refers to materials made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and shall not endanger human health and bring change in the composition of food or organoleptic characteristics).
FSSAI has always promoted the principle of self-discipline in the industry, which eventually helps the brand owners to apply best practices available globally and produce safe products for the consumer.
Packaging regulation prescribed by FSSAI is a more stringent version of the current regulation and now encompasses more elements such as paper, metal, and packaging inks. FSSAI now prescribes that printing inks for use on food packages shall conform to IS 15495. The standard is being developed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and will be mandatory post-FSSAI notification of the regulation.
Packaging supply chain needs to understand the standard in order to ensure the adherence to the prescribed standard.
Packaging Inks conformance to IS 15495
The Indian Standard IS 15495:2004 ‘Printing Ink for food packaging – Code of Practice’ prescribes guidelines for printing inks for use in food packages. The standard differentiates between four categories of printing inks and gives guidance on the formulation of the respective inks:
Printing inks on external (secondary/tertiary) food packaging: They can be formulated freely, but must not contain substances from the exclusion list and must not contain toxic substances. In the case, that a functional barrier does not exist, bleeding dyes and colouring agents need to be avoided.
Printing inks on immediate food wrappings: Those must be applied to the outside of the food wrapper, comply with the exclusion list and must not contain toxic substances. Inks are to be printed in such a manner as to avoid set-off. The final intended articles need to be manufactured in a manner that under normal or foreseeable condition of use, they shall not transfer their constituents to the food in quantities, which may endanger human health, cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics or an unacceptable change in the nature, substance and/or quality of the food. In the case, that a functional barrier does not exist, bleeding dyes and colouring agents need to be avoided.
Printing inks for direct food contact: They must be formulated only with food additives under the appropriate regulation of the Government of India. The final intended articles need to be manufactured in a manner that under normal or foreseeable condition of use, they shall not transfer their constituents to the food in quantities, which may endanger human health, cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics or an unacceptable change in the nature, substance and/or quality of the food. In the case, that a functional barrier does not exist, bleeding dyes and colouring agents need to be avoided.
Printing inks for disposables (e.g., paper plates, drinking straws or table napkins):Those inks must not contain substances from the exclusion list or those, which are otherwise known to be toxic. Moreover, they shall be formulated to avoid bleeding onto the food.
Requirements across Supply Chain Stakeholders
Ink Manufacturer
Ink manufacturers are responsible to formulate packaging inks by using only raw materials other than those known to be toxic, carcinogenic, sensitising or mutagenic, primarily governed by the exclusion list as per Annex A.
Ink manufacturers are expected to take all necessary precautions to meet the guidelines of the standard.
Ink manufacturers shall inform the converter and print buyers on the suitability of ink type towards the packages of food and the norms followed in formulations as per the requirement.
Printer / Converter
The printer and converter is finally responsible for manufacturing and storage of the food packages in such a manner by which all preventable transfer of material from the ink or coating to the food content is avoided, even if such transfer is unobjectionable on the grounds of health, odour and flavour.
The printer needs to ensure that the storage environment should be free from potential volatile contaminants, which could adversely affect the organoleptic characteristics of the food.
For immediate food wrappings and direct contact applications the final intended articles need to be manufactured in such a way, that under normal or foreseeable condition of use, they shall not transfer their constituents to the food in quantities, which may endanger the human health, cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics or an unacceptable change in the nature, substance and/or quality of the food.
For immediate food wrappings and direct contact applications the printer needs to establish appropriate controls to avoid set-off in the printing process.
The converter needs to perform adequate analysis for the specific application in context of validating the bleeding capacity of dyes and pigments used in the inks.
Print Buyer/Brand Owner
Print buyers need to design the packaging with the restriction of printing in mind.
For immediate food wrappings and direct contact applications the final intended articles need to be manufactured in such a way, that under normal or foreseeable condition of use, they shall not transfer their constituents to the food in quantities, which may endanger the human health, cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics or an unacceptable change in the nature, substance and/or quality of the food.
Relationship between the press speed and the curing/drying power needs to be fully understood to ensure that an adequate curing/drying takes place.
For immediate wrappers, the print buyer needs to recommend substrates with sufficiently low permeability to prevent migration.
It is very important to understand that packaging safety can only be implemented when packaging supply chain partners share information among each other and follow an integrated approach. Integrated packaging supply chain is the key to success of packaging safety implementation.

India’s food regulator has kicked off the new year with a set of new food standards

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced a set of new food standards on pulses, organic food, and honey. 
In a first, it has decided to include standard certification and labeling in organic food sector in India. 
It is notified 27 standards in 2018 including those on alcoholic beverages that will be enforced in the coming year. 
With the beginning of new year, India’s top food regulator, The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), introduced a new set of food standards on 1 January on items such as pulses, organic food, and honey,reported Press Trust of India. 
FSSAI has begun enforcing microbiological standards for fruit and vegetables and their products as well as further specified the tolerance limit of antibiotics and pharmacology active substances. Additionally, Food fortification regulations will become effective from 1 July 2019 said the report. 
FSSAI has also included standards for certification and labelling in the organic food sector of the country. Simultaneously, it is also looking forward to crackdown the uncontrolled adulteration in honey along with addressing issues related to its quality and purity, reported The Business Line citing a statement by FSSAI. 
Some of the regulations including those on alcoholic beverages will come into effect from 1 April whereas regulations on advertising and claims, packaging and labeling requirements of blended edible vegetable oils will be effective from 1 July 2019. 
FSSAI has been making efforts to protect consumers by speeding up the process of framing new food standards. The food regulator aims to ensure that consumers are eating ‘safe’ food. FSSAI wants to focus on compliance, monitoring, inspection, and enforcement of the drafted regulations said the report. 
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has drafted nearly 27 new regulation in 2018. 
The new standards framed by FSSAI introduced on Monday includes all pulses, whole and decorticated pearl millet grains, de-germedmaize flour and maize grit, couscous, tempe, textured soy protein, sago flour, bee wax, and royal jelly. 
According Food businesses in India are generally provided with a transition period of 6 months time and the date for implementing any new standard is either 1 January or 1 July, said FSSAI. 
The FSSAI has been working aggressively to check on food security and quality to avoid health risk to consumers in India.In 2018, it modified the provision for milk and milk products. It also banned the food industry for using recycled plastic or newspaper and magazine pages to pack food items,according to media reports. 

FSSAI Will Crack Down On Calcium Carbide User

Positive India:As per information available with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), some reports have appeared in the media regarding use of calcium carbide for ripening fruits. As per regulation 2.3.5 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011, use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits is prohibited. FSSAI has sent letters to all State/UT Governments/State Food Safety Commissioners emphasizing the need to keep a strict vigil for checking use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits and apprising them of the methodology for detection of Acetylene in godowns and storage chambers. They have also been apprised of the approved concentration of ethylene for ripening of fruits. State /UT Govt authorities/State Food Safety Commissioners have also been impressed upon to conduct periodic inspections and monitoring, inter alia, of fruits and vegetables markets. A document has also been uploaded on the FSSAI’s Official website i.e. fssai.gov.in to make the public aware about ill effects of consuming fruits ripened artificially by calcium carbide. FSSAI and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs regularly issue advertisements in print media to acquaint consumers about the harmful effects of use of carbide gas for ripening of fruits.
FSSAI IS responsible for making regulations and setting standards, import of food, notifying labs and coordination to ensure cooperation between FSSAI and States. The implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 falls within the remit of the State/UT Governments and it is discharged through the Commissioner of Food Safety, Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers. The drawing of samples, getting them tested and launching prosecution, etc. is the mandate of the State/UT Governments. Regular surveillance, monitoring and inspection is undertaken by State/UT Governments to check compliance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and regulations therunder. However, separate information in respect of inspection of food packaging industries carried out by State/UT authorities is not maintained centrally by FSSAI.
The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.