India Revises Non-Specified Food Regulation

On September 15, 2017, India FSSAI released the updated regulation related to non-specified food, detailing the requirements and procedure of prior approval.

Non-specified food and ingredients is analogous to China’s food with comparable national standards and refer to products that are not covered in any regulation/article of the Food Safety and Standard Act, including:

• New food, new food ingredients, and food processed with novel technology

• New food additive

• New processing aids including enzymes

• Food and its component compounded or extracted from microorganisms, bacteria, yeast, fungi or algae.

It stipulates that any non-specified food or food ingredient cannot be manufactured or imported without the prior approval of the Food Authority. Here is a brief summary of the prior approval procedure.

1. The manufacturer or importer submit an application form, necessary documents and fee to the Food Authority

2. The Food Authority shall scrutinize application and information provided by applicant (additional information needs to be supplemented if required)

3. The Food Authority will conduct safety assessment of the product

4. Results will be announced

The Food Authority maintains the right to suspend or revoke approval. Upon notification of approval withdrawal an operator shall immediately suspend manufacture, import, and sale of products.