The FSSAI notified the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 on November 17, 20201. The Regulations have notified a change in the display of nutritional information and calculation of nutrients for the pre-packaged products.
The Packaged Food companies have approached the Food Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) and requested that food items like cookies, confectionaries, juices to be kept out of the front of pack labeling regulations2 as requested by the companies. The food companies have alleged that packaged food items based on their fat sugar and salt content as proposed in the Traffic Labelling Regulations, 2019 should be delinked from the new FSSAI Labelling Regulations, 2020.
BACKGROUND
Currently, most of the packaged food companies print nutrition details of the contents, including their recommended daily values, at the back of the package.
CHANGES INTRODUCED
The legislation has mandated the packaged food companies to label high fat, sugar and salt contents in the front of the package itself. The food labels will also declare, per serve percentage contribution to RDA (recommended dietary allowance) on the front of the pack.
This can be explained through a comparison drawn considering the various products:
AIM OF THE NEW LEGISLATION:
- To manage the Recommendatory Dietary Allowance of the products for the consumers. The RDA is ceiling on the amount of fat, sugar, sodium component in the product to maintain the healthy life.
- The new regulation has under Regulation 3(b)3 has prescribed the limits of the nutrients, whereby the definite limits act a restraint on the companies to maintain the product as healthy.
- The display of all types of salt, sugar and fat is the new component given by Regulation 3 (a).
- The display of sodium and cholesterol which was only claimed in the old regulation of 2011 has been mandatory for the companies.
- The display of dietary fiber has been made compulsor
THE REGULATION HAS BEEN DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
According to Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 20204:-
S.No. | Regulation | Provision |
1. | Regulation 3(a) |
The new regulations have emphasized the division of information into:
|
2. | Regulation 3(b) |
Every product shall display the nutritional information for 100 g or 100 ml or per single consumption pack of the product and per serve percentage contribution to recommended dietary allowance which is calculated on the basis of 200Kcal energy as:
|
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Footnotes
1. https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/notifications/2020/12/5fd87c6a0f6adGazette_Notification_Labelling_Display_14_12_2020.pdf
2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/packaged-food-companies-request-fssai-to-keep-some-products-out-of-front-of-pack-labelling-regulations/articleshow/81311411.cms?
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3. https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/notifications/2020/12/5fd87c6a0f6adGazette_Notification_Labelling_Display_14_12_2020.pdf
4.https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/notifications/2020/12/5fd87c6a0f6adGazette_Notification_Labelling_Display_14_12_2020.pdf
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