FSSAI Issues Draft to Include Term Multi Sourced Edible Oil in Norms

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an amendment draft to include the term ‘multi sourced edible oil’ in the prohibition and restriction on sales regulations under the FSS Act. In the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, in regulation 2.3 relating to “Prohibition and Restriction on sale of certain products”, in sub-regulation 2.3.14, related to restrictions relating to conditions for sale, in clause (11) for the words “Multi source edible vegetable oil” wherever they occur, shall be substituted, with “Multi-source edible oil”. The regulation is called the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2021. After amendment, the regulation shall read, “The Multi Source Edible Oil shall not be sold in loose form. It shall be sold in a sealed package weighing not more than 15 Kilograms. The container having Multi Source Edible Oil shall be tamper proof. It shall also not be sold under the common or generic name of the oil used in the blend but shall be sold as – Multi Source Edible Oil. The sealed package shall be sold or offered for sale only under Agmark certification mark bearing the label declarations as provided in the Regulations besides other labelling requirements under the Regulation.” Previously, the FSSAI had issued a direction for revision in the nomenclature of ‘Blended Edible Oil’, which was renamed as ‘Multi Sourced Edible Vegetable Oil’ and now called ‘Multi Sourced Edible Oil’. The term ‘vegetable’ was removed after the apex food regulator got representation from the stakeholders, as the food businesses expressed concerns over the labelling requirement and the alignment of such a ‘large’ nomenclature (Multi Sourced Edible Vegetable Oil) on the packages.