Letter Regarding Licensing of Infant Food Other Than Those Specified In Food Safety And Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 And Their Compliance.

FSSAI: Letter Regarding Licensing of Infant Food Other than those Specified in Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 and their compliance

The manufacturing and sale of infant formula is a big business. Infant Formula marketing is widespread and uses powerful emotional advertising to sell parents, sometimes a vastly inferior product in quality. The regulations of infant food in India are updates and strengthened from time to time. In the light of all concerns related to infant food, FSSAI, on 17 th September 2020, released a letter on Licensing of Infant Foods other than those specified under sub regulations 2.1.19 of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. The standards for Foods for Sub-regulation 2.1.19 has standards for the products like Infant Milk Substitutes/Infant Milk Food, Infant formula, Premature/Low birth weight infant milk substitutes, Lactose and sucrose-free infant milk substitute Sucrose free infant milk substitute, Hypoallergenic infant milk substitutes, Infant foods, Milk-cereal based complementary food, Processed cereal-based complementary food, Follow-Up Formula-Complementary Food.

The Notification on Foods for Infant Nutrition

According to this notification the FSSAI has clearly mentioned that the infant milk substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 1992) stipulates that any such infant food products which do not have standards under FSS Act, 2006 are need to seek prior approval of the Central Government of India.

The regulation has specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, which defines that ‘An article of infant milk substitutes /infant foods, whose standards are not prescribed under Food Safety and Standards (Food Products standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 shall be manufactured for sale, exhibited for sale or stored for sale only after obtaining the approval of such articles of food and its label from the Authority.

‘Moreover, the FSS (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011 also clarifies that ’No person shall manufacture, sell, store or exhibit for sale, an infant milk food, infant formula and milk cereal-based weaning food, processed cereal-based weaning food and follow up formula except under Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark.’

Based on the above, the FSSAI has ordered the licensing authorities to ensure strict compliance of infant foods provisions under the IMS Act, 1992, and FSS Act, 2006. The infant foods that do not comply with the standards under FSS (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, are required to seek approval under FSS (Approval for Non-Specified Foods and Food Ingredients) Regulations, 2017 before seeking an FSSAI license.

References:

1. pdf Available at: https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/advisories/2020/09/5f644d90ca87eLetter_License_Infant_Food_18_09_2020.pdf .Accessed on 30 ^th October, 2020.