Comments
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is looking at tightening the labelling norms for pan masala. It proposes to bring in amendments in the labelling and display regulations to make health warning more visible on pan masala packs.
According to the draft amendments, the FSSAI has proposed that the health warning must cover 50 per cent of the front of the pack of products. It is mandatory for pan masala packs to carry the health warning ‘chewing of pan masala is injurious to health’.
Unlike cigarette packs, so far there was no labelling regulation regarding the size and display of the health warning on pan masala products. Pan masala companies usually write the health warnings in smaller fonts, experts pointed out.
Amendments
Meanwhile, the FSSAI is also looking to bring in amendments in the labelling norms for other products, too.
The draft is proposing changes in the nomenclature of breads with the proliferation of various kinds of breads on retail shelves.
The food safety authority is looking to set standards for the minimum amount of speciality ingredients, such as whole wheat, multi-grains or milk, that need to be added to the flour used for making bread.
According to the draft, bread makers will be allowed to label their product as whole wheat bread only if it is made of flour comprising at least 75 per cent of whole wheat flour. Similarly, to be able to label a product as wheat bread or brown bread, it needs to be made with at least 50 per cent whole grain flour. In the flour used to make multi-grain bread, at least 20 per cent of the grains used should be those other than wheat.
The draft amendments also propose to bring in changes in the labelling norms for other kind of speciality breads such as milk bread, oatmeal bread, bran bread, raisin bread, garlic bread, oregano bread, and fruit bread, among others.
For instance, the draft proposes that breads labelled as milk breads should be made with a flour that consists at least 6 per cent milk solids. At least 5 per cent honey should be put in flour used to make honey breads. Fruit bread label can only be used on breads that are made of a flour comprising 20 per cent candied fruits.
The food safety authority has sought stakeholders comments on these amendments.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.