Through a notification dated 15 November 2016 the FSSAI has made amendments to standards in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 related to packaged drinking water other than mineral water. The draft regulation had been notified in May 2016 and after taking into considerations the suggestions and objections the FSSAI has regularised these amendments which will be called the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Twelfth Amendment Regulations, 2016. These regulations will come into force on or after 1st March, 2017.
The amended standards relate to the regulations under BEVERAGES, (Other than Dairy and Fruits & Vegetables based) in the category “Packaged drinking water (other than Mineral water)”
Packaged Drinking Water (other than Mineral Water) is defined as water that is likely to be used for human consumption and that is offered or sold in packaged form, by whatever name it may be called, offered or sold. FSSAI has specified that the source of the water shall be derived from any of the following
- surface water
- civic water supply
- underground water
- sea water that has been subjected to desalination and related processes
- any other consistent source of water which may be subjected to herein under specified treatments, namely, decantation, filtration, combination of filtration, aerations, filtration with membrane filter depth filter, cartridge filter, activated carbon filtration, demineralization, re-mineralization or reverse osmosis.
The water will be packaged after it has been disinfected to a level where it does not cause any adverse effects in the drinking water. It can be disinfected by means of chemical agents or physical methods that will reduce the number of micro-organisms to a level scientifically accepted for food safety.
- The water may be packaged in sealed containers of various compositions, forms and capacities that are suitable for direct consumption without further treatment.
- In case re-mineralization is a part of the treatment process, the ingredients used shall conform to food grade/ pharmaceutical grade quality.
- Packaged drinking water shall be clear without any sediments, suspended particles and extraneous matter.
Microbiological standards for packaged drinking water
Sr. No | Characteristics | Permissible limit |
1. | Coliform bacteria, cfu/250 ml | Absent |
2. | Faecal Streptococci, and Staphylococcus aureus, cfu /250 ml | Absent |
3. | Sulphite Reducing Anaerobes, cfu/50 ml | Absent |
4. | Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cfu/250 ml | Absent |
5. | Aerobic Microbial Count
at 20-22ºC in 72 h, cfu /ml, max |
100 |
at 37± 1ºC in 24 h, cfu /ml, max | 20 | |
6. | Yeast and mould/ 250 ml | Absent |
7. | Salmonella and Shigella, cfu/250 ml | Absent |
8. | Vibrio cholera, and V. parahaemolyticus cfu/250 ml | Absent |
Standards for Organoleptic and physical parameters
Sr. No | Characteristic | Permissible Limit |
1. | Colour, true colour units, Max | 2 |
2. | Odour | Agreeable as per IS-3025 Part 5 for odour. |
3. | Taste | Agreeable [Action Tendency Scale a) or b) or c)] as per IS-3025 part 8 for taste. |
4. | Turbidity, nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU), Max | 2 |
5. | Total dissolved solids, mg/l, Max | 500 |
6. | pH | 6.0 – 8.5 |
General parameters concerning substances undesirable in excessive amounts
Sr. No | Characteristic | Permissible Limit |
1. | Barium (as Ba), mg/l, Max | 0.7 |
2. | Copper (as Cu), mg/l, Max | 0.05 |
3. | Iron (as Fe), mg/l, Max | 0.1 |
4. | Manganese (as Mn), mg/l, Max | 0.1 |
5. | Nitrate (as NOᴈ) mg/l, Max | 45 |
6. | Nitrite (as NO2), mg/l, Max | 0.02 |
7. | Fluoride (as F), mg/l, Max | 1.0 |
8. | Zinc (as Zn), mg/l, Max | 5 |
9. | Silver (as Ag), mg/l, Max | 0.01 |
10. | Aluminium (as A1), mg/l, Max | 0.03 |
11. | Chloride (as Cl), mg/l, Max | 200 |
12. | Selenium (as Se), mg/l, Max | 0.01 |
13. | Sulphate (as SO4), mg/l, Max | 200 |
14. | Alkaliniity (as HCO3), mg/l, Max | 200 |
15. | Calcium (as Ca), mg/l, Max | 75 |
16. | Magnesium (as Mg), mg/l, Max | 30 |
17. | Sodium (as Na), mg/l, Max | 200 |
18. | Residual free chloride, mg/l, Max | 0.2 |
19. | Phenolic compounds (as C6H5OH), | Absent |
20. | Mineral Oil | Absent |
21. | Anionic surface active agents
(as MBAS), mg/l, Ma |
0.2 |
22. | Sulphide (as H2S), mg/l, Max | 0.05 |
23. | Antimony (as Sb), mg/l, Max | 0.005 |
24. | Borates (as B), mg/l, Max | 5 |
26. | Bromates (as BrO3), mg/l, Max | 0.01 |
Parameters concerning toxic substance
Sr. No. | Characteristic | Permissible Limit. |
1. | Mercury (as Hg), mg/l, Max | 0.001 |
2. | Cadmium (as Cd), mg/l, Max | 0.003 |
3. | Arsenic (as As), mg/l, Max | 0.01 |
4. | Cyanide (as CN) | Absent |
5. | Lead (as Pb), mg/l, Max | 0.01 |
6. | Chromium (as Cr), mg/l, Max | 0.05 |
7. | Nickel (as Ni), mg/l, Max | 0.02 |
8. | Polychlorinated biphenyle (PCB) | Not delectable |
9. | Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons | Not detectable |
Parameters concerning radio-active residues
Sr. No. | Characteristic | Permissible Limit |
Alpha emitters, Becquerel (Bq/l), Max | 0.1 | |
Beta emitters, Becquerel (Bq/l), Max | 1 |
Parameters concerning pesticide residues
Sr. No | Characteristic | Permissible Limit |
1. | Pesticide residues considered individually | Not more than 0.0001 mg/l |
2. | Total pesticide residue | Not more than 0.0005 mg/l |
The labelling requirements of packaged drinking water will be as laid down in the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling), Regulations, 2011.
Savaj says
20 ltr jar is packaged drinking under counting to rules and regulations.
Dr. Saurabh Arora says
Yes you will have to comply to the rules and regulations