120 out of 126 bakeries in Pune Division fail to follow FSSAI's safety norms

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a new advisory cautioning food business operators (FBOs) against using unverified “100%” claims in advertising and product labels. Terms such as “100% natural” or “100% pure” are being flagged as potentially misleading under the current food safety regulations.

The regulator stated in its latest advisory that it had “observed a growing trend in the use of the terms '100%' on food product labels and across various promotional platforms.” According to FSSAI, such terminology lacks clarity and is open to misinterpretation, making it inconsistent with the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018.

The advisory further pointed out that absolute claims, if not supported by verifiable evidence, may mislead consumers into believing that a product offers superior quality or purity compared to others. FBOs were reminded that any claims made must be “truthful, not misleading, and substantiated,” as per the 2018 regulations.

“The usage of the terms '100%' in isolation or conjunction with other descriptors is likely to convey a false sense of absolute purity or superiority, potentially leading consumers to believe that competing products in the market do not comply with prescribed standards,” the regulator stated.

FSSAI has directed all food businesses to discontinue the use of the term “100%” in any form of labeling, packaging, or promotional content unless it is backed by scientific and regulatory validation.

The move is intended to prevent misleading marketing practices and ensure transparency for consumers purchasing packaged food products. The regulator has previously raised concerns over the labeling of reconstituted juices as “100% fruit juice,” noting that such representations are not permitted under the current guidelines.

Introduced in 2018, the Advertising and Claims Regulations require all food-related marketing and labeling claims to be backed by scientific evidence. These rules were implemented to protect consumers from exaggerated or inaccurate product benefits.

FBOs have been asked to thoroughly review their labels and advertisements to ensure full compliance. Non-adherence could result in regulatory penalties, including product recalls.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has mandated food business operators (FBO) to submit closure reports upon expiry of their license, according to a notice issued by the national food safety regulator.

"All Food Business Operators (FBOs) whose FSSAI license/registration has expired during FY 2024-25 are hereby directed to mandatory submit a closure report," stated the notice, which was titled "Mandatory submission of Closure Report on expiry of FSSAI license/registration." 

FBOs must attest that no business operations are carried out on the property and give justification for not renewing their license in the comprehensive closure report. The May 16 notice also instructed FBOs to submit applications for license or registration renewals well in advance of the expiration date.

The food business must verify if a new license or registration has been obtained, or else this report must attest that no commercial activity is being carried out at the relevant premises using the expired FSSAI.

A significant punishment will be assessed if an FBO keeps operating after the license has expired. Operating a food business with an expired FSSAI license or registration is considered a breach of section 31 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and can result in a fine of up to ₹10 lakh under section 63, the notice stated.

According to the FSSAI, this action was made to preserve traceability and transparency in the entire licensing structure designed for the nation's food industry. "The FSSAI has required that a closure report be submitted when a license or registration expires. In a statement released on Thursday, the food regulator stated that this is essential to preserving accountability and openness in the licensing framework.

Reports of food businesses operating on expired licenses prompted the food authorities to initiate this action. "There were reports of food businesses continuing to function even on expired licenses until they applied or got their renewed license," said a senior official with knowledge of the situation, who asked to remain anonymous. That must end because it is unacceptable. This action is an effort to guarantee complete transparency in their operations.
 

Food safety and standard authority of India on Monday said its Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) will become operational throughout the country from November 1.

As of now, the system is operational in nine States/UTs including; Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Chandigarh, Goa, Manipur, Puducherry and Ladakh since June.

"FSSAI is now ready to extend FoSCoS to entire country with effect from 1st November 2020," shared FSSAI in a statement.

Also Read: ‘Best Before Date’ on open sweets mandatory from Oct1, FSSAI

It said since 2011, its online FLRS (Food Licensing and Registration System) is the soul of the licensing ecosystem. It is operational in all states and 70 lakh licences/ registrations have been issued till date while over 40 lakh licensees/ registrants are actively transacting on it.

"FSSAI is launching its cloud based, upgraded new food safety compliance online platform called FoSCoS( URL https://foscos.fssai.gov.in). It will replace the existing FLRS (URL https://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in)," added the statement.

May Interest: FSSAI may issue order to reduce trans-fat in food items by 2022

FoSCoS is conceptualized to provide one point stop for all engagement of a food business operator (FBO) with the department for any regulatory compliance transaction.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has made it mandatory from October 1 to write 'Best before date' on sweets plates in shops for the open sale of sweets.

However, there will be no restriction on the date for making sweets.

The FSSAI has stated in the order that it would be optional to write the date of making.

Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufactures (FSNM) director Feroze Naqvi said that this has brought great relief to the confectioners, but will also face difficulties in writing 'Best before date' as it is not practical.

“FSSAI has accepted half of our point that it is no longer mandatory for us to write a manufacturing date. However, the best before date will be effective from October 1. However, we are also in talks on this. We have put our problems in front of the FSSAI,” added Naqvi on a call to IANS.

He mentioned that printing the best before date for sweets is not practical as there is a large range of sweets on which it would be difficult to change the date repeatedly.

He said that the order regarding the open sale of sweets came in February, which was extended twice in the coronavirus period, but now from October 1, it has been made mandatory to write the best before date on sweets packs.

Naqvi also pointed that this order will be applicable for unpacked sweets whereas for food items like packaged sweets, namkeen, it is mandatory to write the period of manufacture and the date till it is best for the consumption.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a gazette draft notification to amend the existing standards of synthetic syrup and sharbat, stating that it would bring more clarity among the two products. 

Under the new standards, sharbat shall contain a minimum of 25% of juice or an extract of fruit, vegetable, nut, herb, flower, spice, alone or in combination. It is 10% under the present standards. These standards also offered an opportunity to formulate the synthetic syrup with low total soluble solids (TSS) up to 30% vis-a-vis the current level of 65%.

FSSAI’s statement stated, “The word sharbat and synthetic syrup mentioned under Regulation 2.3.21 of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, relating to standards for squashes, crushes, fruit syrups/fruit sharbats and barley water would mislead the consumer, and hence, the same has been removed from the said regulation.”

“Several comments were received from the stakeholders on the proposed draft at the pre-draft stage, but at that time, the file had already been referred to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for approval. These comments would be considered at the time of post-draft consultation for the finalisation of the said draft notification,” it added.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified the new regulations for alcoholic beverages. The new regulation states that alcoholic beverage makers will seek approvals from excise commissioners for adopting new labelling norms, including statutory warnings on liquor bottles.

The new set of labelling norms will be fully in place in six months.

Last year, the food regulator had issued a regulation on alcoholic beverages and the same became effective from April 1. According to this regulation, all liquor bottles need to carry a statutory warning that "consumption of alcohol is injurious to health. Be safe-don’t drink and drive".

Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, said, "I think for alcoholic beverages sector, the implementation of these standards is a significant way forward in order to improve the quality and standards of alcoholic beverages available in the country."

"So far, it was primarily regulated by excise commissioners and they were only looking at alcoholic content and the toxic substances in alcohol. Now, there are far more elaborate standards that are benchmarked with the global standards and in certain cases, they have taken the Indian context also in consideration," he further stated.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) may permit craft breweries to make beer with higher yeast content than its newly prescribed norms, which come into effect from April 1.

Earlier this week, the scientific panel of the regulator had a meeting with Craft Brewers Association of India (CBAI). In this meeting, CBAI presented its views on the yeast count, saying it was difficult to operate under the limits ordered by the regulator and the new standards do not improve food safety for the consumer. FSSAI is concerned that the yeast count above the prescribed limit may make the beer unsafe.

In a gazette notification in 2018, FSSAI had said that regular beer or lager should be free of yeast while draught beer should have yeast content of at most 40 CFU (colony-forming units).

The meeting between the panel and CBAI had no outcome immediately, but the panel is expected to present its views soon.

Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of FSSAI, said, "We will wait for the panel to make recommendations and till the time they do, craft brewers can continue producing a beer like they have been doing."

The country’s food regulator asked production units to curb use of antibiotics and veterinary drugs to ensure safety of animal products such as processed meat, meat products, poultry and eggs, sea foods and milk.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon fix “tolerance limits” for presence of antibiotics in such food items. The regulator has amended 2011 Food Safety norms (Contaminants, toxins and Residues) which are likely to be notified by end of this week, official sources said.

The proposed regulations will also require vets and animal owners to ensure that any animal products they produce are drug-free before they can be used as food. The new regulations would also mean enforcement of drug withdrawal period before treated animals, eggs or milk are used for consumption as food. This allows time for the drugs to completely leave the animal’s system, an official said.

FSSAI will do surprise inspections and random sampling after the new regulations are enforced to check the presence of antibiotic residues beyond the permissible limit in various products.

The move comes in the wake of concerns related to presence of antibiotics in such animal foods. While India has been under severe international pressure, overuse of antibiotics in food-producing animals is often blamed for the increase in super bugs.

“Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem and animal products are a major source of it. We want to ensure that no contaminated food products are able to enter the food supply,” FSSAI chief executive Pawan Kumar Agarwal told TOI.

Antibiotics use in the farm animals like cows, pigs and poultry is for the treatment of infections and prevention of illness in animals or their products. Aantibiotics are given in low doses to animals for greater production of meat or milk.

Food safety regulator FSSAI today said there is still confusion among consumers about nutraceuticals because of misinformation, and called for adoption of self-regulation by industry players.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSA) Chairman Ashish Bahuguna said the industry has bigger responsibility to ensure quality and safe products to consumers.

Nuraceuticals are product of food origin with extra health benefits in addition to the basic nutritional value of the food. These can be viewed as non-specific bilogical therapies that promote general health, control symptoms and prevent malignant processes.

Addressing an Assocham event here, Bahuguna said, "Everyone expects the acceptability of nutraceuticals to grow. I feel the first challenge is that consumers have 'bramh' (confusion). There is so much misinformation."

There are also false claims about the products. The consumers want claims on labels to be clear. The industry should clarify the difference between nutraceuticals and pharmceuticals, he said asking the industry to work in this direction.

Consumer interest and safety should be the priority for the industry, for which it should adopt self-regulation, he added.

Bahuguna further said, "FSSAI makes stringent rules that no one violates. Manufacturers have bigger responsibility to make quality and safe products."

Nutraceuticals sector is growing fast and will grow faster in the coming years. FSSAI is open to accepting suggestions to improve the sector, he added.

Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM) Vice Chancellor Chindi Vasudevappa were among other industry players present at the event.

Highlighting the challenges faced in the sector, Sami-Sabinsa Group founder and chairman Muhammed Majeed said the industry should be worried about herbal security as the country cannot depend on other nations like Indonesia for regular supply.

"In Ayurveda, if you don't get one herb, it is adulterated with other. Even in nutraceuticals, it happens. Therefore, herbal security is important," he said.

Majeed also said India should patent new products else other countries will do so, affecting the domestic industry.

Health Foods and Dietary Supplements Association (HADSA) President Ajit Singh said the domestic industry has many problems with regard to packaging and hygiene.

The nutraceuticals industry is forced to make products from equipments and processes designed by pharma industry. "We need to redesign equipments for nutraceuticals," he said.

Another problem is that nutraceuticals are packed scientifically. They are packed in plastics that reduce the quality of dosages each time the bottle is opened, he said and suggested blister packaging.

According to an Assocham Knowledge report, the Indian nutraceuticals market is expected to grow from USD 4 billion in 2017 to USD 18 billion in 2025.

Key global players in this sector include GSK Consumer Healthcare, HUL, Nestle, Danone, Kellogg's and Amway.

Indian companies like ITC, Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali and Baidyanath are trying to reach out to customers by introducing new products in the market.

With emergence of new companies like Sami Labs, Tirupati Group, Deccan Healthcare and Vantage Nutrition, the market for nutraceuticals looks promising, the report said.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered food delivery platforms -Swiggy, UberEats, Zomato - to delist restaurants from their platform which do not have license from the regulator. The authority has also asked ten such firms to submit report on the action taken along with details of the restaurants registered on their platform by the end of this month.

FSSAI’s dictate came after a series of complaints related to the sub-standard food being supplied by eateries listed on the food delivery platforms. “… for online food platforms, it is time to work harder to ensure compliance as soon as possible with this new legal,” the food authority said.

Apart from Swiggy, UberEats, Zomato, FSSAI has sent notices to Box8, Fasoos, FoodCloud, Foodmongo, Foodpanda, JusFood and LimeTray.

In February this year, FSSAI operationalized guidelines for e-commerce firms engaged in food business which made it mandatory for them to display FSSAI license number of listed firms on their platforms. They were also required to have an agreement with their listed partners to comply with the FSS Act, Rules and Regulations.

However, FSSAI noted with serious concern that “the compliance to these guidelines was patchy and there were complaints of restaurants/hotels without FSSAI license being listed and allowed to offer/sell food products on e-commerce food service platforms. There were also several complaints of sub-standard food being delivered to consumers through online market aggregators,” the food regulator said.

India’s food regulator has asked restaurants to voluntarily print calorie counts on their menus to promote healthy eating habits, as is done in the west, but they say it will be a challenge as recipes are not standardized and ingredient quantities keep changing.

The authority has also asked e-commerce and retail companies to promote healthy options such as fortified foods on their landing pages and checkout counters.

“This is a way to nudge food companies to do something which is in the interest of the health of the nation,” said Pawan Agarwal, chief executive of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), adding that it was a part of its Eat Right Movement. This will include commitments from food companies on reformulation of their products with less salt and sugar besides elimination of trans fats in a phased manner.

Restaurants will be required to promote safe and healthy eating practices and help consumers in making informed choices through calorie information labelling.

They will also be required to voluntarily include low fat, salt and sugar variants on the menu. It will be a stiff challenge to assign calories to dishes, said representatives of restaurants and food chains across the country.

“The recipes of dishes on the menu in a restaurant are not standardised, so it will be a huge challenge to mention calorie count of dishes on the menu,” said National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) secretary general Prakul Kumar, adding that the quantity of ingredients in the same dish may vary from day to day.

The authority has also asked packaged food companies to commit to reducing sugar, unhealthy fats and salt in a phased manner.

“Big food companies including Nestle, ITC, Patanjali, big quick service restaurant (QSR) chains (including halwai associations), major organised retailers and ecommerce players including Big-Basket, Amazon Grofers will make a simple commitment and sign a pledge to promote healthy eating,” Agarwal said.

Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder Grofers, said the company will promote FSSAI's eating right initiative through a dedicated collection and store. “we are committed to promoting healthy food on our platforms. We will welcome and support every step taken towards raising public awareness on issues at the grass root level,” he added.

The food regulator has also proposed to limit the maximum trans-fat content in vegetable oils, vegetable fat and hydrogenated vegetable oil to 2% by weight as part of its goal to make India trans-fat-free by 2022.

The regulator has invited the top food companies, QSR chains, oil companies and organised retailers to join the self-regulation exercise.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to introduce GMO labeling for the first time revealing the presence of genetically modified (GM) ingredients clearly state it on their labels.

The country’s food regulator also suggests mandatory declaration by packaged food manufacturers about nutritional information such as calories, total fat, trans fat, sugar and salt per serve on the front of the pack. Since the country has no provision for GM labeling in its regulatory mechanism currently, consumers are clueless whether packaged food items they buy have genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.

The FSSAI had last month released a 42-page draft notice — Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018 — making it mandatory to label such foodstuffs as “contains GMO/Ingredients derived from GMO” if such items contain 5% or more GE ingredients.

Pitching for a colour code, the draft proposes that the high fat, sugar, and salt will be colored ‘red’ in case the value of energy from total sugar is more than 10% of the total energy provided by the 100 gram or 100 ml of the product. It has similar provisions for trans-fat and sodium content.

Draft says that the nutritional information may additionally be provided in the form of a barcode. The color coding will make it easier for consumers to know about the nutritional value of food products.

The issue of labeling of food products having GM ingredients has, however, drawn flak from certain quarters.

Sridhar Radhakrishnan, co-convener of the Coalition for a GM-Free India, who sent the group’s objections on the draft to the FSSAI told TOI that the labelling move will, in fact, allow the GM foods to enter food supply chain when it is anyway illegal to sell GM foods in India currently. “We need preventive action at this juncture rather than regulatory action”, he said.

The FSSAI has revived the Food Safety and Standards (Licencing and Registration of Food Business) Amendment Regulations making it mandatory for restaurants to display listing of dos and don’ts with respect to hygiene, sanitation, good manufacturing practices (GMP), etc. The association will also employ trained food safety supervisor on their premises.

Under the new circular issued for obtaining license and registrations, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has revised the conditions for restaurants to obtain licences.

The new rule prescribed that a food safety display board needs to be displayed at a prominent place in the premises, along with the employment of at least one technical person or food safety supervisor trained by the country’s apex food regulator in case of restaurants. 

However, giving relief to the restaurants, FSSAI has reduced the burden of documentation. Under Section 2 of the regulations regarding documents to be enclosed for new application for licences to the Central or State Licensing Authority for restaurant, the list has been revised.

The new regulations stated, “Accordingly restaurants do not require to submit the blueprint/layout plan, the name and list of equipment and machinery, the list of food category, the copy of certificate obtained under Co-operative Act, the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the manufacturer and the recall plan while applying for a Central or state licence.”

H G Koshia, commissioner, Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) Gujarat, said these revised regulations will allow the simplification of the process involved in licencing and registration

He added, “The food business operators (FBOs) will get licences easier and faster through minimum requirement of papers,” he said, adding that it would also help in pushing the FBOs to understand the requirement under the Food Safety and Standards (Licencing and Registration) Regulations, 2011, and ensure their compliance.”

Meanwhile, under Section 1 for licencing and registration of e-commerce FBOs, FSSAI stated that to regulate the online marketing companies involved in the selling of food items, the e-commerce has been included under the kind of business. The procedure for licencing and registration of e-commerce business operators, along with their responsibilities, has also been prescribed. 

Further, in Part-II of Schedule 4 relating to general requirements on hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by all FBOs applying for licences. The regulator stated, “These requirements under Schedule 4 have been revised and simplified to facilitate the industry to implement GMP and good hygiene practices (GHP) and to meet the regulatory requirements.”

In regards to establishing a small slaughterhouse, wherein currently, specific hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by FBOs engaged in manufacturer, processing, storing and selling of meat and meat products is detailed in Part-IV of Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licencing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations, 2011.

The new rules stated that these requirements were found to be incompatible with the operation of small slaughterhouses, hence, the minimum sanitary and hygienic requirements for establishing small slaughterhouses have been developed. 

Further, FSSAI has also simplified the requirements relating to GHP and GMP to be followed by licenced FBOs engaged in catering or food service operations.

The regulator added that it had been done to facilitate ease of doing business while ensuring food safety of the business operations, while adding that such operationalisation would also enable the regulator to get the feedback regarding difficulties, if any, faced in implementing the amended/new provisions which could be suitably taken into consideration at the time of finalising the single comprehensive amendment to the given regulations. 

FBOs have been advised to follow these revised regulations Immediately.

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI while inaugurating FICCI’s food service retail conclave ‘Foodzania 2017’ said “FSSAI License is mandatory for the sales of food product to ensure the health and safety of the consumers. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, regulates, manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food to promote health and safety of consumers. It governs people involved in any food business, whether manufacturing or selling and food business operators. These include shops, stalls, hotels, restaurants, airline services and food canteens, places or vehicles where any article of food is sold or manufactured or stored for sale.”

In his inaugural address, Mr. Agarwal said “FSSAI is keen to further simplify the compliance processes with active industry support and consultation. He, however, added that it is mandatory for all food businesses – caterers, manufacturers, companies transporting food items and retail outlets with 25 or more people handling food to have at least one trained ‘food safety supervisor’. The supervisor should be trained under the Food Safety Training and Certification Programme (FoSTaC), designed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The supervisors would be responsible for ensuring that food quality is maintained.”

Further, Agarwal highlighted the need for the intended engagements from the industry side to protect and ensure the trust of consumers in the food that they intake. He added that display of the food licences in the hotel/restaurant premises is an ideal way to go forward. FSSAI is keen to rate the food business operators (FBO’s) through ‘Hygiene Varity Factors’ and will allocate start ratings to the restaurants and eating places out of six on the basis of certain factors including hygiene awareness, safety processes etc.

Unnat Varma, Managing Director, Pizza Hut Indian Sub-Continent & Chairperson, FICCI Food Service Retail Taskforce said “in the progressive Indian society, food expenditures hold a lot of prominence, constituting the largest retail consumption category. In fact, the Indian food retail industry is positioned globally as the sixth-largest and has been increasing at a steady pace of over 20 per cent annually. Owing to this reason, the food services industry in the country has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past few years, contributing a significant proportion to India’s economic performance. “

Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda & Chairperson, FICCI Food Service Retail Taskforce, said “Foodzania is the initiative by FICCI Food Service Retail Task Force which was formed to address the issues faced by the stakeholders in the sector. The Indian F&B sector is poised to witness a sea change. The recent times have seen significant discussions in this sector, which has led to a major reform of allowing FDI in multi-brand Retail in India. This is anticipated to bring some game changing impact on the modern retail sector in India and Nation at large. It is not a one stop solution to address the challenges of this huge Industry. Various issues like Infrastructure bottlenecks, multiple laws and regulations, skill gap etc. still remains a key concern and we aim to deliberate on these ground realities. We all know that F&B sector is one of the more matured industry in India. Huge consumer base in India provides numerous opportunities for every player to exist and operate successfully in this sector. The industry being deeply connected with our day to day lives holds the responsibility of serving their consumers most effectively with best quality and prices. FSSAI, has always been at forefront in facilitating the investments in the F&B sector and I trust Industry would provide full support to the Government in achieving this task together.”

Further, Kochchar said “Government has allowed 100% FDI for trading including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India. 100% FDI is already permitted in manufacturing of food products through automatic route. This will provide impetus to the foreign investment in food processing sector, benefit farmers immensely and will create vast employment opportunities. This has enhanced investment opportunities in India globally and have generated interest among the leading world food retailers for making investment in India. I am confident that this conference will come forward with new ideas that will boost the growth of the F & B sector, at the same time, enhance consumers’ welfare. “

On the occasion, Mr. Agarwal with other dignitaries launched the FICCI-Technopak report ‘Indian Food Services Industry: Engine for Economic Growth & Employment- A Roadmap for Unlocking Growth’, which highlights the overall potential of the food service in India and captures the emerging trends in the industry. It also throws light upon the ease of doing business scenario in the industry. The report recommends key alterations required to stimulate the growth in the food service industry, helping the industry realize its true potential. A concerted and collaborative effort is made to suggest the next steps to address various issues faced by the industry.

Imported food items with less than 60 per cent of shelf life left will not be allowed to enter Indian market as per the new regulations issued by regulator FSSAI.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulation 2017, making it mandatory for importers to obtain its license.

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said, "We are happy that FSSAI has been able to finalise the regulations for imports of food items. This will bring an end to all uncertainties regarding food imports into the country."

In the new regulations, which were notified earlier this month, the FSSAI said: "No article of food shall be cleared from the customs unless it has a valid shelf life of not less than 60 per cent at the time of import".

Shelf life means the period between the date of manufacture and the 'Best Before' or 'Date of expiry', whichever is earlier as printed on the label, FSSAI said.

It specified that no person shall import any food article without an import license from the Central Licensing Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011.

FSSAI said it has brought the regulation with an aim to streamline the process of clearance of imported food in an efficient and transparent manner.

These regulations lay down the procedure for clearance of food products imported into India.

It includes provisions related to licensing of food importer; clearance of imported food by the Food Authority; storage, inspection and sampling of imported food.

Besides, the new regulations have provisions for laboratory analysis of samples of imported food, prohibition and restriction on food imports, and amenable food labeling provision for ease of trade.

"The regulation also specifies the scheme for risk based sampling of imported food articles, which facilitates ease of doing business while not compromising the health of Indian public," the regulator said.

Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) is revising food labelling norms and examining global models, its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said at the launch of 'India Spotlight Index 2016' published by the Netherlands-based NGO The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF).

Agarwal said, "Our labelling provisions are currently under revision. We are looking at Codex norms. We are going beyond that to see our labeling norms are robust."

He also added, "FSSAI will also look at best global practices as far as regulations are concerned."

Highlighting the steps taken to tackle malnutrition in India, Agarwal said the regulator has come out with fortification standards and many firms have shown interest.

Agarwal said, "The government is committed to address issues related to malnutrition head on. Fortification is one amongst the initiatives being taken to address malnutrition."

While fortification has been made mandatory in some areas, in many areas, particularly in packaged food, it is not feasible, he noted.

The FSSAI chief said, "Those areas where it cannot be made mandatory and where you cannot directly intervene to ensure more nutritious food, this kind of index can be critical."

The findings of the index, which has assessed 14 companies, is "fairly known and do not throw out any major surprises. But this at least focused attention on desirable expectation from food businesses," he said.

"We will use this report to nudge the rest of the food businesses. In the area of nutrition, the role of the government is primarily to nudge citizens to adopt good nutrition practices. At the same time, the food businesses should manufacture and supply nutrition-rich food in the market. Otherwise, citizens will not have choices," he added.

The key finding of the index, ATNF Executive Director Inge Kauer said, is that the "largest food and beverages manufacturers in India are falling far short of what they need to do in help fight the enduring and mounting double burden of malnutrition."

The 10 companies assessed in the index are Amul, Britannia Industries, Coca-Cola India, Mondelez India, Mother Dairy, Nestle India, Parle Products, PepsiCo India, Ruchi Soya and Hindustan Unilever. Four more firms -- Adani, Cargill, ITC Ltd and Nandini -- were also interviewed.

The index has assessed the nutritional quality of their products and their nutrition related policies.

On product profiling, the FSSAI chief said that "a company may have good corporate profile but if its product file is not having high nutritional values, it is not really helpful."

Most food and beverage products across the globe do not have high nutrition value and this kind of index will help nudge such companies, he said, and asked ATNF to assess more companies in the next 2018 report to get a better picture.