“The new packaging regulations would raise the bar of food safety in India to the next level,” Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Agarwal said in a statement.
Food businesses need to comply with new packaging regulations that bar use of recycled plastics and newspapers to wrap food articles by July 1, regulator FSSAI said Thursday.
The new regulations prohibit packaging material made of recycled plastics including carry bags for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing articles of food.
Taking cognizance of the carcinogenic effect of inks and dyes, the norms also prohibit the use of newspaper and such other materials for packing or wrapping of food articles and includes respective Indian standard for printing inks for use on food packages.
“The new packaging regulations would raise the bar of food safety in India to the next level,” Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Agarwal said in a statement.
He also said that there would be “difficulties” in implementation of these regulations by the unorganised sector and therefore sufficient time has been given before the regulations come into force.
“The food businesses shall have to comply with these regulations by 1st July, 2019,” he said.
Agarwal also mentioned that stakeholder’s consultation and mass awareness building amongst consumers and food businesses would precede implementation of the new packaging regulations.
Besides general and specific requirement with respect to packaging materials, the FSSAI said new regulations also prescribe overall migration and specific migration limits of contaminants for plastic packaging materials.
The regulations specify the suggestive list of packaging materials for different food product categories.
