FSSAI – Proposed New Labelling Requirements
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to make new revisions in the labelling and display requirements as mentioned under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020.
Food brands and packaged food entities are required by these new requirements to bring the below-mentioned changes in there packaging.
- Font Style: Use bold letters and larger fonts for critical nutritional information including sugar, salt, and saturated fat.
- Front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) – FSSAI is also of the opinion to introduce front-of-the-pack nutrition labelling in place of the current practice of stating nutrition content on the back of the packaging. The Packaged food companies will need to give clear warnings about the high salt, sugar, and fat content of the food products in the front of the packaging.
- Star Rating: The Food pack should contain a star rating given basis the nutritional value that the food product has. Such a star rating should be displayed on the front of the packaging.
- Removal of Work ‘Health Drink ‘– E-commerce Websites are advised to remove the word Healthy Drink since the same is not defined anywhere by FSSAI under it’s as and regulations.
- Removal of Claim ‘100 % Fruit Juice’ – All Beverage Companies are advised to remove the claim of 100 % fruit juices from the labels and advertisements of their products that are Reconstituted juices.
- Information to RDA – The information regarding the per-serve percentage to Recommended dietary allowances is advised to be given in bold letters in context with the total sugar content of a particular product. “Recommended dietary allowances (RDA)” means the average daily dietary nutrient intake level sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98 per cent) healthy individuals in a particular life stage and gender group.
FSSAI will issue a draft notification for the above-mentioned changes which will be discussed to seek suggestions with the relevant stakeholders.
This change is made with the intent to give better clarity on the nutritional value of the food and to help customers make better informed and health-conscious decisions. Further, FSSAI is also of the opinion that this will also help in reducing the probability of people getting prone to non-communicable diseases.
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