The
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an
amendment draft to include the term ‘multi sourced edible oil’ in the
prohibition and restriction on sales regulations under the FSS Act.
In
the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales)
Regulations, 2011, in regulation 2.3 relating to “Prohibition and
Restriction on sale of certain products”, in sub-regulation 2.3.14,
related to restrictions relating to conditions for sale, in clause (11)
for the words “Multi source edible vegetable oil” wherever they occur,
shall be substituted, with “Multi-source edible oil”.
The regulation is called the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on
Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2021.
After
amendment, the regulation shall read, “The Multi Source Edible Oil shall
not be sold in loose form. It shall be sold in a sealed package
weighing not more than 15 Kilograms. The container having Multi Source
Edible Oil shall be tamper proof. It shall also not be sold under the
common or generic name of the oil used in the blend but shall be sold as
– Multi Source Edible Oil. The sealed package shall be sold or offered
for sale only under Agmark certification mark bearing the label
declarations as provided in the Regulations besides other labelling
requirements under the Regulation.”
Previously, the FSSAI had
issued a direction for revision in the nomenclature of ‘Blended Edible
Oil’, which was renamed as ‘Multi Sourced Edible Vegetable Oil’ and now
called ‘Multi Sourced Edible Oil’.
The term ‘vegetable’ was
removed after the apex food regulator got representation from the
stakeholders, as the food businesses expressed concerns over the
labelling requirement and the alignment of such a ‘large’ nomenclature
(Multi Sourced Edible Vegetable Oil) on the packages.