FSSAI notifies prohibition regulations with clarity on industrial trans fats
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has added provisions for restriction of sales with respect to limit of trans fatty acids in food products in the Food Safety and Standards Regulations. The apex food regulator has notified regulations called the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Second Amendment Regulations, 2021, in this regard.
Through the amendment, the FSSAI has included a separate clause in the definition for industrial trans fatty acids.
The notified regulations say that “Industrial trans fatty acids” means all the geometrical isomers of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids having non-conjugated, interrupted by at least one methylene group, carbon=carbon double bonds in the trans configuration.
However, “It excludes trans-fatty acids from dairy, meat, fish and their products,” reads the regulation.
Further, the notified regulations add that in Section 2.3, Sub-Section 2.3.14 related to restrictions relating to conditions for sale, another clause is added specifying the condition for trans fatty acids.
It says, “Food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient shall not contain industrial trans fatty acids more than 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the product, on and from 01st January, 2022.”
Food Business Operators (FBOs) were asked to comply with all the provisions of these regulations for all the products manufactured on or after January 1, 2022.
Prior to this norm, FSSAI had notified the regulations for limit of trans fatty acids in oils sometime back.
