Tag: India

Bureau of Indian Standards commemorates 75 years of existence

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INDIA – The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) which came into existence as Indian Standards Institution (ISI) in 1947, has proudly marked 75 glorious years of its existence. Through its core activities of Standardization and Certification, BIS has been contributing to national economy from past 75 years. The bureaus Director General, Pramod Kumar Tiwari, on the special occasion extended his gratitude and best wishes to all the stakeholders of BIS. “It is due to the constant efforts and strive for excellence of employees and other stakeholders of BIS that we…

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India’s civil society groups voice concern over FSSAI’s draft GM foods regulations

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INDIA – Citizens and civil society groups have raised concern on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI’s) draft Genetically Modified (GM) foods regulations claiming it will give a leeway for entry of the goods into the country. Following years of hesitation on the issue, the FSSAI had released the draft regulations on GM foods on November 15, 2021 and sought public opinion over a period of 60 days.  With January 15 as the deadline for receiving feedback from the stakeholders, the groups have also demanded an extension…

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India’s Delhi Municipal Corporation to introduce health trade licenses for street-food vendors

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INDIA – The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) is set to introduce a policy of granting health trade licenses to street-food vendors to enhance food safety, becoming the “first local body” to introduce such a policy. The Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, said he has ”given anticipatory approval” to this policy and it will be brought in the Standing Committee later and subsequently in the EDMC House. For the vendors to be issued with the license, they have to first meet the minimum requirements laid down by the corporation.  Aggrawal said…

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FSSAI finalizes guidelines on advertisement of food products

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INDIA – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has finalized guidelines to regulate claims and advertisements by food business operators in relation to consumable food items. These regulations are aimed at establishing fairness in claims and advertisements of food products and make food businesses accountable for such claims/advertisements to protect consumer interests. With the COVID-19 pandemic and increased focus of consumers towards health and wellbeing, the focus of consumers has been towards food that provide health benefits. Therefore, during this phase many companies have launched products that…

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Food business operators undergo FoSTaC training on food safety

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INDIA – The Department of Food Safety in India has organized a Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) training program for food business operators (FBOs) on basic hygiene, sanitation, storage and other important parameters related to food safety. The training program was organized on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Rajesh K Shavan, and inaugurated by the Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Rajouri, Pawan Kumar. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made FoSTaC training mandatory for all Central and State Licensed FBOs in pursuance of the…

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FSSAI seeks public input on GMOs draft regulation

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INDIA – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has solicited views of the public on its draft regulation on manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of any food or food ingredient derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). FSSAI has given 60 days from the date of issue of the draft notification for any objections or suggestions from the public. The draft states that all food products having individual genetically engineered ingredients one per cent or more should be labelled as “Contains GMO/ingredients derived from GMO.” The regulation…

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Hotel & Restaurant Associations conduct food safety workshop for food business operators

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INDIA –  Jammu and Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (JKHARA), an organization representing the hotel and restaurant industry of the Eastern states, has held a training-cum-interactive workshop on the implementation of food safety measures among food business operators (FBOs). This was in collaboration with the department of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Restaurant Owners Association of Kashmir (RAK). As per a statement, issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), scores of food business operators and manufacturers participated in the workshop who were later given certificates. The Assistant…

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FSSAI introduces new regulatory framework for foreign import facilities

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INDIA – The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has announced a new more stringent regulatory framework for foreign facilities that transport food to India in order to ensure the safe import of food products. The Food Safety and Standards (Import) First Amendment Regulations, 2021 have been published consequent to a year of consultations with industry stakeholders, amending the 2017 regulations. According to the regulations, foreign food manufacturing facilities that produce certain kinds of products for export to India will be required to register with the FSSAI and…

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Penang Health Department orders closure of two factories for lack of hygiene

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INDIA – The Penang Health Department has ordered two premises, a soy sauce factory and a bakery to close for two weeks due to non-hygienic conditions and non-compliance with food safety and quality standards. Also involved in the operation was a 26-strong enforcement team from the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP). The department’s Food Safety and Quality Division environmental health officer Mohd Wazir Khalid said that the two premises were issued with nine compound notices worth almost RM9,000. “Through an inspection carried out on the two premises, we found that…

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Experts suggest FSSAI to speed up ‘Front of Pack Labelling’ regulations

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INDIA – Experts from the consumer welfare as well as health industry have implored the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to speed up the Front of Pack Labelling (FoPL) regulations as the issue is of an extremely serious nature. This was at a webinar organized by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group in association with Women’s Christian College, Chennai. Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) is a non-profit, non-political, professional organization working towards protecting citizens’ rights in consumer issues. The experts expressed that the intake of…

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