Lok Sabha Question No. 2858 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-03
Subject: Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR)
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL, DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH, NALIN KUMAR KATEEL, B.N. CHANDRAPPA, RAGHAV LAKHANPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2858 TO BE ANSWERED ON  3 RD AUGUST, 2018

## FOOD SAFETY AND STAN DARDS REGULATIONS (F SSR)

## 2858. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL:

SHRI D.K. SURESH:

SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  several  sweets  and  snacks  products  sold  in  the  country  follow  neither  do st andards under Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR) nor Codex Standards created UN's  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  and  World  Health  Organization  (WHO),  if  so,  the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the Government h as issued draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018, if so, details thereof along the objective and the salient features draft;
- (c)  whether the  Food  Safety  and  Standards  Authority  of  India  (FSSAI)  proposes  to  bring stricter  quality  standards  for  the  preparation  of  sweets  and  snacks  products,  if  so, thereof; and
- (d)  the  measures  proposed  to  enforce  such  standards  along  with  th e  times  by  which  said standards will be implemented?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a):          Standards  of  Sweets  and  Snacks  products  are  not  specified  under  Food  Safet Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011. However, all the products whose standards even thoug are not specified under FSSR are required to comply with the Food Safety and Standards ( Product  Standards  and  Food  Additives)  Regulations,  2011;  Food  Safety  and  Standard (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011; Food Safety and Standards (Packagi and  Labelling)  Regulations,  2011  and  provisions  regarding  sanitary  and  hygiene  prac prescribed under Schedule IV of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Re gistration of Food Businesses), Regulations, 2011 for providing safe and wholesome food to consumers.

Contd………

Further,  the  sweets  and  snacks  products  are  also  covered  under  proprietary  foo defined under regulation 2.12 of Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and F Additives)  Regulations,  2011  provided    that  these  are  manufactured  using  the  stan dardised ingredients permitted under the said regulations.

(b): Food  Safety  and  Standards  Authority  of  India  (FSSAI)  has  issued  notice  of  dr notification  related  to  Food  Safety  and  Standards  (Labelling  and  Display)  Regulations, prior  to  draft  n otificationfor  calling  comments.  The  draft  regulations  aim  at  establis requirements  for  labelling  of  pre - packaged  foods  to  provide  simple,  easy  to  understand information to consumers and to facilitate them in making healthier food choices.Salient res of the said draft regulations are:

a) defines  general  and  specific  labelling  requirements  such  as  name,  ingredient nutritional  information,  declaration  for  veg/non - veg  foods,  food  additives,  name  and complete  address  of  manufacturers,  FSSAI  logo  an d  license  number,  Date  marking,  lot number, declaration of Country of Origin etc.;

b) prescribes  requirements  for  Front  of  Pack  (FOP)  labelling  including  mentioning energy, total fat, trans fat, total sugar and salt on FOP along with their per serve tage (%) contribution to RDA on the label.

c) prescribes labelling provisions for High Fat, Sugar, Salt (HFSS) foods;

d) mandatory marking of 'Expiry/Use by Date' instead of 'Best Before date'.

e) mandatory declarations including statutory warnings, specific labelling for infant foods, milk & milk products, edible oil and fat products, irradiated foods, fortified foods foods,  low  gluten  and  gluten  free  foods,  genetically  engineered  or  modified  foods Alcoholic Beverages, labelling of non -retail con tainers etc.

(c  ): Various  regulations  and  provisions  applicable  in  respect  of  sweets  and  snacks constantly  reviewed    taking  into  account  the  latest  developments  in  food  science, consumption pattern, new products and additives, advancement in t h  processing technology and food analytical methods, and identification of new risks.

(d): The implementation and enforcement of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations made thereunder primarily lies with the State/UT Gove rnments. A Food Business Operator (FBO)  is required to obtain licence under Section 31 of the FSS Act before commencing any food business.  It is also the responsibility and liability of FB Sections 26 and 27 of the said Act  to comply with all relevant provisions  of the Act and Rules and Regulations made thereunder.

FSSAI has been issuing advisories to all States/UTs from time to time for effectiv rigorous enforcement activities in the States and UTs to ensure the quality and safety f food including sweets and other snack items. To ensure the availability of safe and wholesome regular  surveillance,  monitoring,  inspection  and  random  sampling  of  food  products  are carried out by the officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/UTs to check compliance  of  the  prescribed  standards.  In  cases  where  the  food  samples  are  found  t non- conforming, recourse is taken to penal provisions specified in Chapter IX of the FS 2006.

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