FSSAI Again Extends Timeline for Compliance of Amended Standards for Packaged Drinking Water (other than Mineral Water)

Through a notification dated 22 June 2021, the FSSAI has extended the timeline for the compliance of Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Fourth Amendment Regulations, 2019 dated 30th October 2019 related to the standards of Packaged Drinking Water (other than Mineral Water).

The FSSAI has drawn reference to its previous direction dated 30 December 2020, wherein the timeline for compliance of Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Fourth Amendment Regulations, 2019 with regard to compliance of provision related to limits of Calcium and Magnesium in Packaged Drinking Water (other than Mineral Water) had been extended to 1 July 2021.

FSSAI has received several representations from stakeholders with requests to further extend the timeline for compliance of standards for Calcium and Magnesium in Packaged Drinking water (other than Mineral Water). The requests have been made as food business operators are not yet prepared to comply with the said provisions due to the lockdown implemented to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

After due consideration of the representations, the FSSAI has decided to further extend the timeline for the compliance related to limits of Calcium and Magnesium for the standards of Packaged Drinking Water (other than Mineral Water up to 1 January 2022.

About Calcium and Magnesium in Packaged Drinking Water

According to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Fourth Amendment Regulations, 2019 the standards had been amended under “General parameters concerning substances undesirable in excessive amounts” wherein the permissible limits for Calcium (as Ca) was amended to 20mg (earlier the limit was 75mg) per litre of packaged drinking water and for Magnesium (as Mg) it was amended to 10mg (earlier the limit was 30mg) per litre of packaged drinking water. Generally, packaged drinking water manufacturers add calcium and magnesium to bottled water as Ca and Mg tend to get removed in the purification process.  However, the amount of calcium and magnesium added to the bottled drinking water must be in compliance with the standards as prescribed by FSSAI.