The Indian Food Regulator, FSSAI, has issued a direction asking food businesses to declare on the label ‘correctly’ whether the food product is ‘Veg’ or ‘Non-Veg’, irrespective of the percentage of any ingredient in the food.
This came after the Delhi High Court pulled up the food regulator on a petition saying that food business operators hide info about ingredients source (plant or animal).
The Court observed that it should be fairly disclosed as to what is the plant source or animal source.
Meanwhile, the FSSAI has stated that the term "ingredient” was defined under Section 3(y) of FSS Act 2006 which inter-alia includes food additives.
“It is clarified that the declaration regarding Non-Veg or Veg food is mandatory irrespective of the percentage of any ingredient in the food,” read the direction by the FSSAI while adding, “In view of the above regulatory provisions read with FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2020, every package of "Non- Vegetarian" food having ingredients including additives, from animal sources but excluding milk or milk products, honey or beeswax or carnauba wax or shellac, shall bear a symbol and colour code to indicate that the product is Non-Vegetarian Food."
The state food safety departments were also asked to carry out enforcement drives regarding this direction.
In the FSS packaging and labelling regulation, it was mentioned that the compound ingredient that itself is the product of two or more ingredients, shall be declared in the list of ingredients, and shall be accompanied by a list, in brackets, of its ingredients in descending order of weight or volume' as the case may be.
‘Provided where a compound ingredient constitutes less than five per cent of the food, the list of ingredients of the compound ingredient, ‘other than food additive' need not be declared'.
The High Court was told that there were many Vegetarian food products which use such ingredients which have animal source and the food businesses use above regulation to hide info about the ingredient and its source.
The High Court also observed that the food authority failed in checking such lapses that were leading to non- compliance of regulations.