The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a directive on Tuesday, instructing all e-commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs) to ensure accurate categorization of food products sold on their platforms.
FSSAI highlighted instances where food items licensed under 'Proprietary Food' were incorrectly categorized as 'Health Drink' or 'Energy Drink' on e-commerce websites, despite belonging to categories such as Dairy-Based Beverage Mix or Cereal-Based Beverage Mix or Malt-Based Beverage.
In a statement, FSSAI clarified that the term ‘Health Drink’ lacks standardized definition under the FSS Act 2006 or its associated regulations.
Consequently, e-commerce FBOs were advised to promptly rectify this misclassification by relocating such products to their appropriate categories as per existing regulations.
'Proprietary Foods' refer to items that do not adhere to standardization outlined in Food Safety and Standards Regulations but utilize standardized ingredients.
Regarding the term ‘Energy Drinks,’ FSSAI specified its permissible usage only for products licensed under Food Category System (FCS) 14.1.4.1 and 14.1.4.2 (Carbonated and Non-carbonated water-based flavoured drinks), standardized under sub-regulation 2.10.6 (2) of Food Product Standards and Food Additives Regulations 2011 (Caffeinated Beverage).
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