|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Industry hails recent FSSAI amendments
|
|
Monday, 27 July, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Our Bureau, Mumbai
|
Industry experts have widely welcomed the recent Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Amendment Regulations, 2026, as well as the licensing and registration regulations
Commenting on the revision of contaminants standards Yatish Talvadia, Founder and Chief Experience Officer at Anmasa, said the amendments represent an important step towards strengthening food safety standards and consumer confidence. He said extending contaminant limits to pulse flours and introducing enhanced testing protocols for edible oils reflect the need for food safety regulations to evolve with changing consumption patterns. According to him, the transition period until December 1, 2026, gives businesses sufficient time to strengthen testing infrastructure, improve supply chain processes and enhance quality assurance and traceability systems.
Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates, said the amendments indicate a shift towards a more preventive and science-based food safety framework. She noted that by extending contaminant limits to processed products and tightening standards for arsenic in edible fats and oils, FSSAI has addressed food safety risks across the processing and distribution chain.
Chandwani added that food businesses would need to strengthen supplier due diligence, laboratory testing, traceability and internal quality control systems to ensure compliance with the revised standards. She said companies should use the transition period to review supplier agreements, reassess testing protocols and address operational gaps ahead of the regulations coming into force.
Commenting on amendments to its licensing and registration regulations, Sonam described the amendments as a pragmatic reform that appropriately differentiates between traders and manufacturers.
She said imposing identical record-keeping requirements on businesses with fundamentally different operational roles created avoidable compliance costs without necessarily improving food safety outcomes.
At the same time, Chandwani stressed that the exemption should not be viewed as a relaxation of legal responsibility.
"The legal responsibility to ensure that food sold is compliant with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the regulations framed by FSSAI continues to rest with every food business operator. If a trader knowingly deals in unsafe, misbranded or non-compliant products, the absence of a daily inventory requirement will not shield them from prosecution or regulatory action," she said.
According to Chandwani, the effectiveness of the reforms will ultimately depend on whether they successfully reduce regulatory red tape while preserving adequate traceability during food safety investigations.
"If implemented correctly, it strikes a better balance between ease of doing business and consumer protection, which is ultimately what modern regulation should achieve," she added.
Amit Anand, Managing Director of Apis India Limited, said the reforms acknowledge the critical role played by India's extensive network of traders, distributors and retailers.
"The Indian food business is powered by millions of small traders, distributors, wholesalers and retailers who connect manufacturers with consumers every day. FSSAI's decision to exempt these businesses from daily inventory requirements is a practical and timely reform. Reducing the regulatory burden on businesses that are not engaged in manufacturing does not mean less oversight; it means more targeted regulation focused where it matters most—at the point of production. We hope this marks the beginning of broader compliance rationalisation across the food and beverage value chain," Anand said.
Legal experts Rashi Saraf and Vinit Patwari, Partners at JSA Advocates & Solicitors, said the amendment removes a compliance requirement that was never appropriate for non-manufacturing businesses.
They observed that traders and distributors neither produce nor process food, making the requirement to maintain production-style registers impractical. Exempting them from daily paperwork and FIFO/FEFO record-keeping reduces recurring documentation, minimises inspection-related disputes and allows retailers and distributors to focus on their core operations.
According to them, the reforms concentrate compliance obligations where food safety risks are greatest—at the manufacturing stage—while reducing unnecessary burdens at the retail and distribution levels. They added that the amendments provide greater regulatory clarity, lower compliance costs for thousands of businesses across the food supply chain and reflect a more risk-based approach to food regulation without compromising traceability where it is most critical.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|