The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is considering introducing new regulation for packaged vegan foods. Labeling and traceability standards, among other provisions, were recommended for the vegan food business in the draft guidelines. Once the regulations are in place, the items will need to have a mark on the label to distinguish them from non-vegan food products.
Vegan food is described as any food or ingredient that does not contain any animal-derived components, additives, or processing aids, such as milk, fish, poultry, meat, egg, or honey-related items. It should not contain insect-derived components such as silk, colors, chitin/chitosan, or substances clarified with animal-derived goods.
According to the proposed standards, vegan food products should not be subjected to animal testing in order to determine the safety of the final product or ingredient. It should also not contain any GMOs (genetically modified organisms) originated from animals, nor should it use animal-derived genes to manufacture these items. Vegan food producers will also be required to follow strict compliance guidelines, which include submitting information about their manufacturing facilities and equipment as part of their application. Furthermore, verification of the final product will be required using analytical instruments to ensure that there is no animal origin material in the product in order to receive approval to use the vegan food label.
TO READ THE OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION CLICK HERE