FSSAI asks food companies to confirm compliance with new regulations

List of permissible food additives also increased, says regulator

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 2: 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which has expanded the scope of regulations and standards to include a wider range of food products in the past two years, has asked companies to re-validate their product approvals, if their products are not covered under these regulations.

Till August 2015, FSSAI was following a mechanism of granting product approvals/ No Objection Certificates to companies to manufacture or import products, for which standards did not exist. However, this mechanism was suspended on the direction of the Supreme Court in 2015, and FSSAI decided to frame the necessary regulations for such products.

Product approvals

In addition, it has also asked food companies that had been granted product approvals earlier but their products now come under the purview of the additional regulations, to confirm to the Authority that their products comply with these regulations.

Last month, CAG had recommended to FSSAI to ensure that all licences issued to food companies under the “erstwhile system of product approvals” are reviewed and licences cancelled and reissued as warranted under the present procedure.

In its letter, FSSAI said that to facilitate clearance of new food products, it has now enlarged the scope of proprietary food by making amendments in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. “The list of permissible food additives has also increased under these regulations. In addition, several new product standards/regulations have also been developed,” it said.

The regulator also pointed out that it has also notified regulations, which has set standards for categories such as health supplements, nutraceuticals, food for special dietary uses and special medical purposes besides specialty foods containing probiotics, botanicals, and prebiotics as well as novel foods.

“However, food business operators, whose products are still not covered under any of these regulations, are advised to re-validate their products approval/ NOC granted to them by submitting the necessary documents to the Authority as per requirement given under the Food Safety and Standards (Approval for non-specified and Food Ingredients) Regulations, 2017,” FSSAI stated. It has given food companies 30 days to comply with this directive.

FSSAI warns against sale of contaminated food

No standards have been prescribed so far under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 for creatine monohydrate.

Chennai: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has warned businesses and consumers against the sale and consumption of contaminated food after it received an alert from the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) about the alleged contamination of infant milk formula with Salmonella Agona.

As per the country's apex food regulator (FSSAI) notice, there was no report of any import of the contaminated infant formula product to India, yet there could be a possibility of this product reaching the consumers through online sales or by other means. Hence, a notice has been issued to the public and various stakeholders, so that any inadvertent consumption of the infected products is avoided.

Meanwhile, it has come to the notice of the FSSAI that creatine monohydrate (used as a product or an ingredient) is being manufactured, imported and sold illegally by various companies and e-commerce platforms under different brand names with or without a valid FSSAI license number. No standards have been prescribed so far under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 for creatine monohydrate.

The regulator issued a letter mentioning the details of companies and sellers, including e-commerce sites to food safety commissioners of States and Union Territories (UTs) and authorised officers to keep a check on the sale of such products, by inspecting the premises of the firms and verify if any product having creatine monohydrate is being manufactured, stored or sold by firms.

Worried of Food Adulteration? File a Complaint & the Govt Will Pay for the Tests!

Anyone can get suspicious food products tested at FSSAI laboratories, and they will even be reimbursed for the cost of the testing if any adulteration is detected.

We live in a time when food adulteration is widespread, and the belief that there is not much that one can do to tackle the problem is what deters most of us from actually taking action against this illegal practice.

However, this is set to change because the government wants each one of us to come forward and test dubious food products.

Upon finding that there hadn’t been a single complaint registered for food adulteration under Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s Special Act (FSSAI) since its introduction in 2006, the centre has decided to make the provision more visible amongst the public.

Under the Act, an ordinary citizen can get suspicious food products tested at FSSAI laboratories, and they will even be reimbursed for the cost of the testing if any adulteration is detected.

The price ranges between ₹2,000 and ₹5,000, depending on the type of food product.

“In a recent FSSAI audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), it emerged that there has not been a single complaint received under the Act and therefore, we have decided to advertise the provision widely,” an official in the Union health ministry told The New Indian Express.

He also mentioned that while the procedure was open to anyone and everyone, it was the time-consuming procedure that dissuaded most people from filing a complaint. “Public participation is must to enhance food safety standards,” an FSSAI official added.

Centre asks state officials to crackdown on milk adulteration

The Centre has directed state food commissioners to crackdown on milk adulteration by installing testing equipments and taking random sampling every month at village levels. 

Union Ministers of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recently held a meeting to discuss the issue of adulteration of milk and milk products with the state cooperative milk federations, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Food Safety and Standards Authority and state Food Safety Department representatives. 

"MOSs (Minister of States) advised the stakeholders to identify the unscrupulous agents who indulge in adulteration of milk as their business," an official statement said. 

The secretary of Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries issued a direction to all chief secretaries and food commissioners of states to conduct 500 random sampling of milk every month at village level for detecting adulteration particularly of edible oil, sucrose and detergents. 

"This drive will be started immediately and 50,000 samples will be taken countrywide. FSAAI has been advised to follow up on this," the statement said. 

States have been advised to install milk adulteration testing equipments at village level for detection of adulteration by various adulterants, it added. 

"Assistance for this will be provided by DADF under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD). Rs 100 crores have been set apart for this," the statement said. 

The government's research body Indian Council of Agricultural Research was directed to enable quick testing methods for testing chemicals, which are not detected by the existing testing machines. 

Uttar Pradesh is being assisted to install 390 milk adulteration testing equipments in 2017-18 at village/District level. Other states are also being encouraged like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu etc. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been directed to develop standards for honey testing as fructose adulteration malpractice is rampant. 

NDDB is setting up a National Honey Testing Laboratory for the purpose with the central government assistance.