The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country’s apex food regulator, convened its fifteenth authority meeting recently. It adopted the minutes of the 14th meeting after amending the minutes which respect to supplementary agenda number one, which concerns the use of lecithin and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate in biscuits.
Confirming the development, Pradip Chakraborty, director (zone/training), FSSAI, said, “The authority considered and approved the recommendation of the scientific committee and its subsequent draft amendment notification with respect to the use of lecithin in biscuits.”
K Chandramouli, chairman, FSSAI, chaired the meeting. Welcoming those present, he said, “After the last meeting, a number of scientific panel and expert group meetings were held, so that several important scientific matters regarding standard setting could be brought to this meeting.”
He drew the attention of the members of the authority to the various scientific panel, expert group and scientific committee meetings being held on a continuous basis to strengthen the process of standard-setting, and placed on record his appreciation for the work being undertaken by these bodies.
Chandramouli said, “The number of proposals for standardisation going to panels has increased. This would ultimately help in the effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and provide safety to the consumers as laid down in Section 16 of the Act.”
He stated that the proposed amendment to the Act, which was approved by the Cabinet for simplification in the notification process, was introduced in Rajya Sabha in February 2014. “That would help simplify the process, so that standard-setting is faster,” he added. D K Samantaray, FSSAI’s then chief executive officer, conducted the proceedings.
Item I: Disclosure of interest by members
All the members present during the meeting signed the Specific Declaration of Interest in respect of the agenda items to be considered in the meeting, before the proceedings of the meeting.
Item II: Confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on January 31, 2014
FSSAI confirmed the minutes of its 13th meeting, held on January 31, 2014, While adopting the meeting, Vinod Kotwal, director, Codex, FSSAI, informed that the papers related to areca nut, submitted by two members of the authority, have been forwarded for considered to the concerned director.
With regard to the agenda item pertaining to the product approval process, it was informed that the issues raised by the joint secretary, ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), were replied to by FSSAI in a letter dated May 2014.
Regarding agenda item number 12 of the 13th Authority meeting, it was informed Agmark was denotifying their standards, and the Bureau of Indian Standards was in the process of adopting them. Thereafter, the issue would be taken up.
Further, it was informed that the comments regarding degumming would be referred to the concerned expert group for oils and fats.
Item III: Action taken report - 13th authority meeting
As decided and recorded in the minutes of FSSAI’s 13th authority meeting, the action taken report on the agenda items of the meeting was enclosed as information to the authority’s members. The action taken reports of the previous meetings were also circulated.
Item IV: Chief executive officer’s report
Samantaray briefed those present about the activities undertaken by FSSAI after the last authority meeting with respect to:
Enforcement activities, including the number of Central licences and state registration/licences issued by the states;
Surveillance activities;
Training and capacity-building;
Information, education and communication (IEC) activities;
Scientific committees’/scientific panels’ meetings and the progress in the work of standard setting;
Harmonisation of standards with Codex, and
Codex activities and financeIt was informed that around 30 meetings of the scientific panels, expert groups and scientific committees have been held since the last authority meeting. FSSAI’s chief executive officer thanked the chairs and the members of the committees, panels and expert groups.
The details of participation in various Codex Committee meetings was given, and it was also informed that the first meeting of the Codex Committee meeting on spices and culinary herbs was held in Kochi in February 2014.
Samantaray also drew the attention of all the members towards important cases going on in the Supreme Court and Bombay High Court.
In the case of Virender Kumar Yadav versus the Union of India, which is pending before Lucknow High Court and is on the appointment of whole-time designated officers in Uttar Pradesh, FSSAI has initiated the process to amend Rule 2.1.2 (b) of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, wherein it has been proposed that the period for appointment of designated officers has been amended from one year to five years.
Further, as per the High Court order dated April 25, 2013, FSSAI appointed Lucknow’s State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) as the training institute under the provisions of Rule 2.1.3 of FSSR, 2011.
A communication is being addressed to the governments of all the states and Union Territories for the appointment of full-time designated officers.
The expenditure finance committee (EFC) meetings were held on January 3, 2014 and March 24, 2014 to discuss the Central sector and centrally-sponsored schemes.
Agenda items
Approval for revised standards for salted fish or dried salted fish
Approval of revised list of fish species having potential to cause histamine fish poisoning
Approval for revision of limits oof histamine level for fish and fishery products
Approval for revised pharmacologically active substances prohibited for fish and fishery products
Approval for revised heavy metals in fish and fishery products
Approval for limits of biotoxins in fish and fishery products
Approval for limits of contaminants: Polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds in fish and fishery products
Approval of microbiological standards for milk and milk products
Approval of microbial standards for fruit and vegetable products
Approval of microbial standards for meat and meat products
Approval for standards for water used into food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment (water as an ingredient in food)
Approval for standards of lactic acid - food grade
Approval for standards of malt extract
Approval for adoption of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)/Department of Biotechnology (DBT) guidelines for probiotics
Adoption of ICMR guidelines for the safety assessment of foods derived from genetically-engineered plantsDraft amendment to Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 with respect to the fixation of maximum residue limits of 24 pesticides recommended by the scientific panel on pesticides and antibiotic residues of FSSAI and approved by the scientific committee in its eleventh meeting, held on March 25, 2014.
Final approval of the following draft notifications - (a) Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan - Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013) and (b) Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 dated September 10, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan - Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013)
Ingredients approved in the meetings of the scientific panel on functional foods, nutraceuticals and dietetic products and other similar products and the scientific committee
Draft regulation on gluten-free and low gluten-food products
Status note on harmonisation of India’s food standards with Codex standards and other international best practices
Manuals on adjudicating officer, designated officer and food safety officer
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for heavy metals for all food product categories
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for naturally-occurring toxins (NOT) for all food product categories
Agenda arises from authority meeting held on January 31, 2014Supplementary agendas
Use of lecithin and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate in biscuits
Use of synthetic colour in thermally-processed bell pepper, okra and spinach
Approval of sodium alginate as a food additive in ice cream
Finalisation and adoption of draft FSSAI manuals on method of analysis of foodBesides Chandramouli and Samantaray, the following members of the authority participated in it:
Dr Arun Kumar Panda, joint secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Utpal Kumar Singh, joint secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC)
Anuradha Prasad, joint secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Dr Lalitha Ramakrishna Gowda, chief scientist, Department of Protein Chemistry and Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mysore, Karnataka
Salim A Veljee, commissioner, food safety, Goa, and director, Food and Drug Administration, Goa
K S Rana, designated officer, Food Safety Cell, Chandigarh
Dr A R Sharma, chairman and managing director, Ricelaa Health Foods Ltd, Sangrur, Punjab
Vasudev K Thakkar, president, V Care Right and Duty non-government organisation, Vadodara
Shreya Pandey, All India Food Processors’ Association
Meetu Kapur, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
Thanglura, Mizoram Consumers’ Union, Aizawl
Abukalam, Madina Munavara Coffee Estate, Chikmagalur, KarnatakaBesides Chakraborty and Kotwal (who is also FSSAI’s establishment and IEC director and financial advisor), it was attended by the following FSSAI officers:
Sanjay Dave, advisor
Sandhya Kabra, director, quality assurance, product approval and imports
Dr Meenakshi Singh, scientist, standards
Dr Bimal Kumar Dubey, director, enforcement and surveillance
Rakesh Kulshreshtha, joint director, management
Anil Mehta, designated officer, northern region
P K Karthikeyan, assistant director, regulation
Sanjay Gupta, assistant director, enforcement
B G Pandian, assistant director, imports
Dr Rajesh Kumar, scientist IV (1)
Confirming the development, Pradip Chakraborty, director (zone/training), FSSAI, said, “The authority considered and approved the recommendation of the scientific committee and its subsequent draft amendment notification with respect to the use of lecithin in biscuits.”
K Chandramouli, chairman, FSSAI, chaired the meeting. Welcoming those present, he said, “After the last meeting, a number of scientific panel and expert group meetings were held, so that several important scientific matters regarding standard setting could be brought to this meeting.”
He drew the attention of the members of the authority to the various scientific panel, expert group and scientific committee meetings being held on a continuous basis to strengthen the process of standard-setting, and placed on record his appreciation for the work being undertaken by these bodies.
Chandramouli said, “The number of proposals for standardisation going to panels has increased. This would ultimately help in the effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and provide safety to the consumers as laid down in Section 16 of the Act.”
He stated that the proposed amendment to the Act, which was approved by the Cabinet for simplification in the notification process, was introduced in Rajya Sabha in February 2014. “That would help simplify the process, so that standard-setting is faster,” he added. D K Samantaray, FSSAI’s then chief executive officer, conducted the proceedings.
Item I: Disclosure of interest by members
All the members present during the meeting signed the Specific Declaration of Interest in respect of the agenda items to be considered in the meeting, before the proceedings of the meeting.
Item II: Confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on January 31, 2014
FSSAI confirmed the minutes of its 13th meeting, held on January 31, 2014, While adopting the meeting, Vinod Kotwal, director, Codex, FSSAI, informed that the papers related to areca nut, submitted by two members of the authority, have been forwarded for considered to the concerned director.
With regard to the agenda item pertaining to the product approval process, it was informed that the issues raised by the joint secretary, ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), were replied to by FSSAI in a letter dated May 2014.
Regarding agenda item number 12 of the 13th Authority meeting, it was informed Agmark was denotifying their standards, and the Bureau of Indian Standards was in the process of adopting them. Thereafter, the issue would be taken up.
Further, it was informed that the comments regarding degumming would be referred to the concerned expert group for oils and fats.
Item III: Action taken report - 13th authority meeting
As decided and recorded in the minutes of FSSAI’s 13th authority meeting, the action taken report on the agenda items of the meeting was enclosed as information to the authority’s members. The action taken reports of the previous meetings were also circulated.
Item IV: Chief executive officer’s report
Samantaray briefed those present about the activities undertaken by FSSAI after the last authority meeting with respect to:
Enforcement activities, including the number of Central licences and state registration/licences issued by the states;
Surveillance activities;
Training and capacity-building;
Information, education and communication (IEC) activities;
Scientific committees’/scientific panels’ meetings and the progress in the work of standard setting;
Harmonisation of standards with Codex, and
Codex activities and financeIt was informed that around 30 meetings of the scientific panels, expert groups and scientific committees have been held since the last authority meeting. FSSAI’s chief executive officer thanked the chairs and the members of the committees, panels and expert groups.
The details of participation in various Codex Committee meetings was given, and it was also informed that the first meeting of the Codex Committee meeting on spices and culinary herbs was held in Kochi in February 2014.
Samantaray also drew the attention of all the members towards important cases going on in the Supreme Court and Bombay High Court.
In the case of Virender Kumar Yadav versus the Union of India, which is pending before Lucknow High Court and is on the appointment of whole-time designated officers in Uttar Pradesh, FSSAI has initiated the process to amend Rule 2.1.2 (b) of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, wherein it has been proposed that the period for appointment of designated officers has been amended from one year to five years.
Further, as per the High Court order dated April 25, 2013, FSSAI appointed Lucknow’s State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) as the training institute under the provisions of Rule 2.1.3 of FSSR, 2011.
A communication is being addressed to the governments of all the states and Union Territories for the appointment of full-time designated officers.
The expenditure finance committee (EFC) meetings were held on January 3, 2014 and March 24, 2014 to discuss the Central sector and centrally-sponsored schemes.
Agenda items
Approval for revised standards for salted fish or dried salted fish
Approval of revised list of fish species having potential to cause histamine fish poisoning
Approval for revision of limits oof histamine level for fish and fishery products
Approval for revised pharmacologically active substances prohibited for fish and fishery products
Approval for revised heavy metals in fish and fishery products
Approval for limits of biotoxins in fish and fishery products
Approval for limits of contaminants: Polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds in fish and fishery products
Approval of microbiological standards for milk and milk products
Approval of microbial standards for fruit and vegetable products
Approval of microbial standards for meat and meat products
Approval for standards for water used into food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment (water as an ingredient in food)
Approval for standards of lactic acid - food grade
Approval for standards of malt extract
Approval for adoption of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)/Department of Biotechnology (DBT) guidelines for probiotics
Adoption of ICMR guidelines for the safety assessment of foods derived from genetically-engineered plantsDraft amendment to Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 with respect to the fixation of maximum residue limits of 24 pesticides recommended by the scientific panel on pesticides and antibiotic residues of FSSAI and approved by the scientific committee in its eleventh meeting, held on March 25, 2014.
Final approval of the following draft notifications - (a) Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan - Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013) and (b) Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 dated September 10, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan - Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013)
Ingredients approved in the meetings of the scientific panel on functional foods, nutraceuticals and dietetic products and other similar products and the scientific committee
Draft regulation on gluten-free and low gluten-food products
Status note on harmonisation of India’s food standards with Codex standards and other international best practices
Manuals on adjudicating officer, designated officer and food safety officer
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for heavy metals for all food product categories
Harmonisation of horizontal standards for naturally-occurring toxins (NOT) for all food product categories
Agenda arises from authority meeting held on January 31, 2014Supplementary agendas
Use of lecithin and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate in biscuits
Use of synthetic colour in thermally-processed bell pepper, okra and spinach
Approval of sodium alginate as a food additive in ice cream
Finalisation and adoption of draft FSSAI manuals on method of analysis of foodBesides Chandramouli and Samantaray, the following members of the authority participated in it:
Dr Arun Kumar Panda, joint secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Utpal Kumar Singh, joint secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC)
Anuradha Prasad, joint secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Dr Lalitha Ramakrishna Gowda, chief scientist, Department of Protein Chemistry and Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mysore, Karnataka
Salim A Veljee, commissioner, food safety, Goa, and director, Food and Drug Administration, Goa
K S Rana, designated officer, Food Safety Cell, Chandigarh
Dr A R Sharma, chairman and managing director, Ricelaa Health Foods Ltd, Sangrur, Punjab
Vasudev K Thakkar, president, V Care Right and Duty non-government organisation, Vadodara
Shreya Pandey, All India Food Processors’ Association
Meetu Kapur, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
Thanglura, Mizoram Consumers’ Union, Aizawl
Abukalam, Madina Munavara Coffee Estate, Chikmagalur, KarnatakaBesides Chakraborty and Kotwal (who is also FSSAI’s establishment and IEC director and financial advisor), it was attended by the following FSSAI officers:
Sanjay Dave, advisor
Sandhya Kabra, director, quality assurance, product approval and imports
Dr Meenakshi Singh, scientist, standards
Dr Bimal Kumar Dubey, director, enforcement and surveillance
Rakesh Kulshreshtha, joint director, management
Anil Mehta, designated officer, northern region
P K Karthikeyan, assistant director, regulation
Sanjay Gupta, assistant director, enforcement
B G Pandian, assistant director, imports
Dr Rajesh Kumar, scientist IV (1)
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