The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) is mulling over making fortification in edible oil with Vitamin A and D mandatory, in a bid to combat the malnutrition challenges including micronutrient deficiencies in India.
Addressing a webinar on edible oil fortification, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal said: “FSSAI is considering to make it mandatory to fortify edible oil with vitamin A and D, so that people of India can enjoy better immunity with good health. This will ensure that people belonging to different socio-economic strata will have easy access to fortified edible oil across the country.”
The national webinar on Edible Oil Fortification: From Commitment to Action, was conducted to discuss key operational areas as well as challenges in this direction. It was jointly hosted by the Food Fortification Resource Centre under FSSAI in association with GAIN.
In 2018, the regulator had set standards for fortification for five category of staples which includes wheat flour and rice (with iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid) , milk and edible oil (with Vitamins A and D) and double fortified salt (with iodine and iron). The fortification norms are currently voluntary.
To facilitate the industry, the Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC) within FSSAI will also provide the necessary technical support required to enable fortification of edible oil at the industry level, an official statement added.
At present, 69 per cent (7.94 MMT/annum edible oil) of the packaged edible oil sold across pan-India is fortified. The food safety regulator believes making it mandatory will scale up the edible oil fortification, across the country, to improve nutrition and health status of Indian population.