FSSAI Draft Regulations: New Standards for Milk Fat, Fermented Milk Products & Haleem Labeling

On October 3, 2024, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a notification regarding proposed amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. The draft regulations, which require prior approval from the Central Government, introduce several changes including new specifications for milk fat, standards for fermented milk products, and guidelines for the preparation and labeling of “Haleem.” The amendments clarify that the name “Fermented Milk” can be substituted with regional terms like “Dahi” and allow the inclusion of additional regional names on product labels. Furthermore, the amendments address various food additives, processing aids, and their applications in food products. The FSSAI invites objections or suggestions on these draft regulations from the public, which will be considered within 60 days of publication. Interested parties can submit their views to the Chief Executive Officer of FSSAI or via email.

FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 3rd October, 2024

SS-T0FA(NOTI)/1/2024-Standard-FSSAI.—The following draft of certain regulations further to amend the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India proposes to make with previous approval of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 92 read with section 16 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006) is hereby published as required under sub-section (1) of section 92 of the said Act for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby and notice is hereby given that the said draft regulations shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of the period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette containing this notification are made available to the public.

Objections or suggestions, if any, may be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FDA Bhawan, Kotla Road, New Delhi- 110002 or sent on email at [email protected]

Objections or suggestions, which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft regulations before the expiry of period so specified, shall be considered by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Draft Regulations

1 These regulations may be called the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2024.

2. In the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, (hereinafter referred to as the said regulations), –

(1) in regulation 2.1,

(a) in sub-regulation 2.1.1, after clause 7 relating to ‘Use of enzymes’, the following shall be inserted, namely: –

8. Milk fat Composition- Fatty acid composition specified in Table 1 of sub regulation 2.1.8 is applicable on milk fat extracted from milk and milk products excluding composite milk products standardized under these regulations.

(b) in sub-regulation 2.1.8, clause 2, in composition table under sub clause (b), in row no. 13 relating to Fatty acid composition, for the entries under column (2) and (3), following shall be substituted, namely: –

‘The product shall meet the requirement of Table 1’

(c) in sub-regulation 2.1.13 relating to ‘Standard for Fermented milk products’, in clause 6, sub-clause (a), in item (i), for the proviso therein, following shall be substituted, namely: –

“Provided that the name “Fermented Milk” may be replaced with designations Dahi, and Yoghurt if the product complies with the relevant provisions of this Standard. Provided further that in case of fermented products complying with the relevant provisions of Dahi, the name “Dahi” may be replaced with any other region specific popular name (such as ‘Mosaru’ ‘Thayir’ ‘Perugu’ ‘Tair’ ‘Zaamut daud’, ‘doi’ or ‘curd’ etc.) on the label of the product.

(2) in regulation 2.2,

(a) in sub-regulation 2.2.2, the item (xii) shall be omitted.

(b) in sub-regulation 2.2.5, in clause 3 relating to Fat Spread, the line below the Table starting with the words “It shall be compulsorily sold” and ending with the words “500 g under Agmark certificate mark” shall be omitted.

(3) in regulation 2.5, sub-regulation 2.5.2, after clause 5 relating to Cooked or Semi-Cooked Meat Products, the following clause shall be inserted, namely-

5A. Haleem

(1) The standard specified in this clause shall apply to cooked products designated as “Haleem” which is primarily composed of meat Chicken or mutton/chevon/Buffalo Meat, ghee/ vegetable oil, wheat and lentils.

(2) Haleem is a semi-solid/thick viscous like cooked product (stew) composed of meat, ghee/vegetable oil and pounded wheat/lentils.

(3) Haleem is prepared by boiling meat, lentils, and pounded wheat, ghee/vegetable oil along with salt, spices and herbs. After boiling, the mixture is cooked over low heat for a prolonged time with continuous stirring till meat becomes tender and completely mashed. The final product is garnished with fried onion, ghee, lemon juice, mint leaves etc.

(4) Essential Ingredients

The product shall contain-

i. Meat: Chicken or Mutton (sheep meat) or Chevon (goat meat) or Buffalo Meat: Major portion of all ingredients (minimum 25 % by weight)

ii. Wheat

iii. Lentils

iv. Ghee/edible vegetable oil

(5) Optional Ingredients

The product may contain Salt, herbs, spices, dry fruits, dried rose petals, green chillies, lemon, milk, semolina, grams, seeds, and special natural flavouring agents.

(6) The finished product shall conform to the following requirements:

(a) Chicken Haleem shall have not more than 75% moisture, not less than 6% proteins and not more than 12% fat.

(b) Mutton/Chevon/Buffalo Haleem shall have not more than 70% moisture, not less than 8% proteins and not more than 12% fat.

(7) The product shall conform to the microbiological requirement given in Appendix B.

(8) The label should clearly indicate whether it is “Chicken Haleem” or “Mutton Haleem” or “Chevon Haleem” or “Buffalo Meat Haleem”.”

(4) in regulation 2.9,

(a) in sub-regulation 2.9.20, for clause (2) relating to Mixed Masala Powder, in sub clause (6), after the words ‘sambhar masala’, the words ‘garam masala, etc’ shall be inserted.

(b) in regulation 2.9, after sub-regulation 2.9.43 relating to Dried Sweet Marjoram, the following shall be inserted, namely :-

2.9.44 Dried Peppermint

Dried Peppermint means dried leaves obtained from cultivated perennial plant Mentha piperita Linnaeus var. piperita, collected prior to, or at the commencement of flowering. The leaves shall be slightly glossy in appearance. The colour shall be from light green to dark green. It shall have characteristic aroma and flavour and be free from off-flavours. It shall be free from mould, living and dead insects, insect fragments, rodent contamination or of any other animal or human origin visible with naked eye. It shall not contain any other plant species other than those specified.

It shall conform to the following requirements:

Explanation– (i) Extraneous Matter means the proportion of leaves of species of mint other than peppermint or part of other plants.

(ii) Foreign matter means any visible objectionable foreign detectable matter or material not usually associated with the natural components of the spice plant; such as sticks, stones, and any other material.

(iii) Carvone means a strong off-odour from the leaves of Mentha rubra Hudson (M. arvensis Linnaeus x M. aquatica Linnaeus x M. viridis Linnaeus).

(5) in Appendix A, under the heading “IV. Use of Food Additives in Food Products”, – In Table 14, against the entries relating to Food Category System 14.2.6: Distilled Spirituous beverages containing more than 15 % alcohol, in column (3), after the food additive “Allura Red” and the entries relating thereto, the following shall be inserted, namely: –

(6) in Chapter 3 relating to SUBSTANCES ADDED TO FOOD, in the Appendix C, under the heading “II. USE OF PROCESSING AIDS IN FOOD PRODUCTS”-

(a) in Table 3 relating to ‘CLARIFYING AGENTS AND FILTRATION AIDS’ ,

i. at Serial number 6 relating to “Diatomaceous earth”; in the column (3) for the words “Fruit or vegetable juices, Alcoholic beverages including low alcoholic and alcohol-free counterparts (as filter powder) non­alcoholic beverages, sharbat, sugar syrups, synthetic syrups and fruit syrups and honey”, the words “All foods in general” shall be substituted.

ii. at Serial number 10 relating to “Perlite”, in the entry under column (3) after the words ‘starch hydrolysis’, the words ‘edible oil’ shall be inserted.

(b) in Table 4 relating to ‘LUBRICANTS, RELEASE AND ANTISTICK AGENTS’

i. at Serial No. 6 relating to “coconut oil” and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the words ‘Confectionery, bakery wares, salts, spices, soups, cereal products’, the words ‘Nuts and Nut Products’ shall be inserted.

ii. at Serial No. 16 relating to “Palm oil/Palmolein” and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the words ‘Confectionery, bakery wares, Salts, spices, soups and cereal products’, the words ‘Nuts and Nut Products’ shall be inserted.

iii. After the entry at Serial No. 27 relating to “Tricalcium phosphate” and the entries relating thereto, in the columns (1) to (4), the following shall be inserted:

(c) in Table 8 relating to ‘FLOCCULATING AGENTS’ after the entry at Serial No. 6 relating to ‘Vinegar’ and the entries relating thereto in the columns (1) to (4), the following shall be inserted:

(d) in the Table 11 relating to ‘ENZYMES (for treatment or processing of raw materials, foods, or ingredients)

i. at Serial No. 5 relating to ‘Lipase triacylglycerol’ and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the row with the words ‘Mucorjavanicus (Mucorcircinelloides f. circinelloides)’ a row with the words ‘Aspergillus oryzae’ shall be inserted.

ii. at Serial No. 8 relating to ‘Phospholipase A1’ and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the row with the words ‘Aspergillus niger’, a row with the words ‘Aspergillus oryzae’ shall be inserted.

iii. at Serial No. 26 relating to ‘Beta-galactosidase (lactase)’ and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the row with the words ‘Aspergillus oryzae’ a row with the words ‘Bacillus licheniformis’ shall be inserted.

iv. At Serial No. 35 relating to “Protease (Fungi)” and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the row with the words ‘Aspergillus oryzae’, a row with the words ‘Rhizomucor miehei’ shall be inserted.

v. At Serial No. 42 relating to “Chymosin” and the entries relating thereto, in the column (3) after the row with the words ‘Kluyveromyceslactis’, a row with the words Aspergillus niger variety- Awamori’ shall be inserted.

(e) in Table 11 A relating to Enzymes derived from Genetically Modified Microorganisms (GMM),

(i) at Serial No. 8 relating to “Triacylglycerol Lipase (EC No. 3.1.1.3)” and the entries relating thereto in the columns (3) to (7), after the row relating to ‘Trichoderma reesei’, the following row shall be inserted:

(ii) at Serial no. 31 relating to “Glucan 1,4-alphamaltohydrolase (Maltogenic alpha amylase) (EC No 3.2.1.133)” and the entries relating thereto in the columns (3) to (7), after the row relating to ‘Bacillus licheniformis’ the following row shall be inserted:

(f) in the Table 12 relating to ‘GENERALLY PERMITTED PROCESSING AIDS’ after Serial No. 75 relating to “Calcium hypochlorite” and the entries relating thereto, in the columns (1) to (5), the following shall be inserted:

G. KAMALA VARDHANA RAO, Chief Executive Officer

[ADVT.-III/4/Exty./542/2024-25]

Note: The Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, section 4 vide notification number F. No. 2-15015/30/2010, dated the 1st August, 2011 and last amended vide notification number F. No. STD/FA/A-1.30/No.1/2020-FSSAI, dated 21st February, 2023.