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FSSAI orders FBOs to discontinue use of stapled tea bags by Jan 1, ’18
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Friday, 28 July, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Shraddha Joshi, Mumbai
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Addressing the risk of consumer safety associated with use of staple pins in tea bags, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered all food business operators (FBOs) across the country to discontinue the use of staple pins in tea bags by January 1, 2018.
The order stated, “The food authority, in exercise of the power conferred under Section 16 (5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, directs the concerned FBOs to discontinue the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of stapled tea bags by January 1, 2018.”
There are two types of tea bags available in the market currently, namely stapled tea bags and knotted tea bags.
“The use of staple pins in tea bags poses a potential hazard to consumers, since any loose staple pin consumed inadvertently with tea may cause a serious health hazard,” the order stated.
In India, the tea bag industry is estimated to be about three per cent by value, and growing at about 50-60 per cent.
Appreciating the move, Kaushal Dugar, founder and chief executive officer, Teabox, said, “Staple pins have been in use in tea bags for a long time. The use of any metallic thing in a product, be it in the solid or liquid form, is not only unhygienic, but also a bad consumer experience.”
“Even consumers should be aware and conscious about what they are consuming. Teabox has never used staple pins in its product. The move to stop the use of the same is very apt,” he added.
Concurring with Dugar, Rohit Sharma, partner, Femous Green Tea, Rajasthan, stated, “The use of staple pins should be banned. In the past, there were a few cases where the pins used in the packaging were found to be rusted. Contact with these and consumption of tea with these can be harmful to human health.”
The Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003 defines tea bags as packets containing tea in bags made of filter-paper, nylon net and/or any other acceptable material, conforming to international norms and standards, for brewing of tea liquor by direct immersion of such bags in hot or cold water, and commercially known as tea bags.”
The country’s apex food regulator has directed the food safety commissioners of all the states and Union Territories to take the necessary action to prevent the usage of unsafe packaging material by FBOs and enforce it on the same.
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