Removes potassium bromate, cyclamates from the list
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which was in the process of harmonising Indian food standards with the international CODEX standards, has now finalised a list of 11,000 permissible food additives.
Industry players believe this will ease the way for new product launches in the country, which is a longstanding grievance of the industry. In a statement, the food regulator said, “With this, the FSSAI has achieved a major land mark in setting of the standards for various foods in the country.” Industry players believe this will help strengthen the position of India as a global hub for food processing industry and help move the industry to ingredient based regime.
In addition, the FSSAI said that it removed potassium bromate, which is used in bread and bakery products and cyclamates, which is used in jams, jellies, marmalades, dairy based drinks and confectionary, from the list of permissible additives.The bread manufacturers association had earlier voluntarily decided to with-draw the use of potassium bromate.
The draft of these standards was released for public consultation in October last year. About 8,000 food additives were operationalised in December, and now it has been updated to standards for 11,000 food additives.
“The FSSAI has convened a meeting of the Scientific Committee…to discuss other issues which have been received with respect to additives after these were finalised. The committee will also discuss the issue of use of potassium iodate in the food in the country,” the statement added.
