Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has permitted to extend the timeline for compliance to the provision concerning the labelling up to July 1, 2022. The FBOs are recommended to use old names or new names of the probiotic on the label till any further notice is issued. This allows the food businesses to use the old labels without breaching any action from the food industry.
The stakeholders have represented the use of new or old names of probiotic strains doesn’t make much difference. Using the labels doesn’t compromise the safety of the food products or violates the regulations.
The representation of stakeholder FBOs has given clear insights that the use of old names and new names might not affect product safety. Also, under Schedule VII of FSS, first Amendment Regulation 2021, certain probiotic microorganisms are revised. The revisions are considered globally concerning their names.
Also, the amendment allows the FBO to declare it on the label regarding the use of organisms either singly or in combination with the complete information and the product should not contain any GMO ingredient. The regulation was notified in September 2021 and further directions were made in October. Also, it is concluded to extend the time lime to July 1, 2022.
Ashwin Bhadri, CEO, Equinox Labs, says, “The probiotics are the microorganism available in the product for the good health of the consumers. Certain products do use a single probiotic, while some continue using a combination. Those organisms affect the health and any use of them should be mentioned in the labels.”
Equinox Labs is a leading FSSAI Approved and NABL Accredited Food, Water, and Air Testing Lab with 16+ years of experience. With a PAN-India presence, they are also Industry Leaders in Food Safety Auditing and FoSTaC Training.
He added, “Recently the update concerning the labels has been issued. As it states that every product or ingredient used in a product is to be mentioned, the up-gradation requires some time. FBO can’t get the labels updated in a hurry. Until then the FBOs are permitted to use the same old label as this is not likely to affect the original composition of the product. Also, as mentioned, the use of GMO ingredients should be refrained.
