Use of safe ingredients likely to eliminate requirement of product approvals in India

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is likely to eliminate the requirement for approval of food products if ingredients used have already received the regulator’s approval.

The Economic Times quoted a FSSAI senior official as saying: "We are in the process of formulating regulations for product approval process.

"We thought we could take this opportunity to review the procedure rather than just convert the advisory into regulation."

The FSSAI began drafting the new rules in response to opposition to its previous advisory from the food industry, which were subsequently quashed by Supreme Court, who stated that it had no legal standing.

The product approval process, according to the food industry, led to unnecessary delays, causing criticism from food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

The regulatory authority issued a list of safe additives that can be used in food items, and also detailed at what levels they can be used.

Yudhvir Singh Malik was also recently replaced as the FSSAI CEO by IAS officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal. The FSSAI previously issued a ban on Maggi noodles under the leadership of Malik, which were given safety clearance to begin retail sales again in November.

In June, the FSSAI banned the sale of Maggi noodles after it detected higher-than-permissible levels of lead, and high quantities of mono-sodium glutamade in tests carried out on a batch of products.

Following this, Nestle destroyed close to 27,420t of Maggi noodles, valued at around $50m.

The company later challenged the Indian food safety regulator’s ban, and approached the Bombay High Court, which ordered the regulator to complete re-tests within six weeks, in court-appointed laboratories. The court also lifted the ban on Maggi noodles.

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Image: Maggi noodles were banned nationwide due to high content of lead in it. Photo: courtesy of Sixth6sense.