The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has rejected applications by Tata Starbucks, Ferrero, FieldFresh Foods, Kellog, Del Monte and McCain, who requested for product approvals.
The national food regulator, FSSAI, pulled up these companies for trying to seek passage of their items using 'Make in India' platform and rejected their applications on account of assessment of risk or safety.
The Economic Times reported the applications by Tata Starbucks that were disallowed include over 30 variants of puddings, sauces, mixes, syrups, tea and coffee. This was probably the single biggest set of product approvals request that was rejected by the FSSAI in one go.
The regulatory also rejected McCain's battered pepper and cheese bites, Venky's chicken Arabic-style kofta and crispy chicken burger patty, including Kellogg's Special K-red berries, Del Monte's egg mayonnaise/salad dressing variants, natural vinegar and a proprietary hot sauce, and Ferrero Rocher's proprietary milky and cocoa spreads with cereals and milk chocolate.
"Starbucks is committed to complying with the regulations in every market we operate in. In India, all of the products and ingredients that we serve are safe. FSSAI has not raised any questions on the safety of our products," a Tata Starbucks spokesperson told ET in an email response.
However, this is not the first time that Tata Starbucks had a problem with FSSAI. In April last year, the body blocked a consignment of syrups, which was released after the cafe chain moved the Bombay High Court for relief.
The regulator said the companies were also trying to take advantage of 'Make in India' initiative.
"Most food business operators, especially the aggrieved ones, appear to be swearing by the hon'ble PM's 'Make in India' initiative, conveniently forgetting that it is also accompanied by the words 'zero defect and zero effect'," FSSAI Chief Executive Officer YS Malik said in a an open letter to food & beverage firms on May 11, which was posted on the website.
It further read that the extent of unilateral condemnation of a sector regulator by the people whom it is meant to regulate has been unprecedented for some time in the past.
A company official said that the decision could be challenged in the court but it is a long-drawn process. "We would not want to get into those issues. Product approval, as it is, is so slow that we end up losing the competitive edge despite thoroughly researching these products," the official told ET.
The FSSAI conducts tests of random samples and in the case of imported products and checks them at ports. ET reported the FSSAI official said in his letter that companies often find it convenient to draw parallels with the US Food & Drug Administration or the EU regulatory system, "little realising that self-regulation is rather compelling in those economies, thanks to a very conscious and aware consumer base, coupled with an effective and responsive legal system"
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