As per relevant provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006), the Draft of the Amendments to Regulations in respect of Food Products Standards and Food Additives were published on 26th November 2018 for purposes of inviting objections and suggestions from persons likely to be affected by these Amendments. Copies of the publication in the Gazette Extraordinary were available for public circulation on 12th December 2018 for comments and suggestions within a period of 30 days from that date.
After considering the objections and suggestions, the FSSAI has made the following Regulations to Amend the relevant of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.
These Regulations to be named the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Fifth Amendment Regulations, 2019.
Entry into Force: These Regulations shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
Compliance Date: Food Business Operators are to comply with all the provisions of these Regulations w.e.f. 1st July, 2020.
Details: (A) The current FSS (Food Products Standards and Additives) Regulations, 2011, under Regulation 2.1.2 “Standards for Milk”, sub-Regulation 2(b), Item 3, “Goat or Sheep Milk”, the per cent composition of minimum Milk Fat and and minimum Milk Solids-non-fat are Indicated different for the Milk and Milk Products procured in different parts of the Country.
As per the amended Regulation,
(I) in the Composition Table, row 3 related to “Goat or Sheep Milk” shall be substituted by the following :
Sl.No.
|
Class of Milk |
Locality or State or Area |
Minimum Milk Fat (per cent, m/m) |
Minimum Milk Solids-non Fat (SNF)(per cent, m/m) |
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
“3. |
Goat or Sheep Milk |
All India |
3.0 |
8.0” |
(II) in the “Note(s)” below the composition table, after entry (ii), the following shall be inserted, namely,
“(iii) Total sodium content in the milk shall not be more than 650 mg/ 100 gms SNF”
(B) In sub-regulation 2.1.10 relating to Standards for Milk Powder and Cream Powder, in item 2, under sub-item (b), after the Composition Table, the following shall be inserted, namely :
“Note : Total Sodium content in the milk powder shall not be more than 650 mg/100 gms SNF. The maximum level does not apply to sodium that could be present due to the use of sodium containing additives in milk powders”
(C) The existing sub-regulation 2.1.16 relates to Standards for Chhana and Paneer.
- Under Item 2, sub-item (c), only two categories of chhana are mentioned. A third category has now been introduced as shown in Table below :
“Parameter |
Chhana or Panner |
Medium fat Chhana or Paneer |
Low fat Chhana or Paneer |
Moisture, maximum %, (m/m) |
65.0 (for Chhana) 60.0 (for Paneer) |
65.0 (for Chhana) 60.0 (for Paneer) |
70.0 (for Chhana) 70.0 (for Paneer) |
Milk fat, %, (m/m), Dry matter basis |
50.0 (minimum) |
More than 20.0 And less than 50.0 |
20.0 (maximum)” |
- Under Item 6 related to “Labelling”,
- Sub-item (a) shall be substituted by the following, namely :
“(a) The name of the product shall be ‘Chhana’, ‘Paneer’, ‘Low fat Chhana’ or Low Fat Paneer’, ‘Medium Fat Chhana’ or ‘Medium Fat Paneer’ depending upon the composition as per the sub-item (c) of Item 2 ;
- Sub-item (b) shall be substituted by the following, namely:
“(b) ‘Low Fat Chhana’ / ‘Medium Fat Chhana’ and ‘Low Fat Paneer’ / ‘Medium Fat Paneer’ shall be sold in sealed package only and shall bear the following label declarations depending upon the respective product composition :
“LOW FAT PANEER’ or LOW FAT CHHANA”
Or
“MEDIUM FAT PANEER or MEDIUM FAT CHHANA”;
- Existing sub-item “(c)” shall be renumbered as “(d)” and the following sub-item shall be inserted after sub-item (b) so amended, namely:
“(c) Every package of Medium Fat Chhana and Medium Fat Paneer shall bear the following label, namely:
“Contains …………….% Milk Fat”’
(D) Sub-regulation 2.1.17 relates to Standards for Cheese and Cheese Products, where-in, inter alia, the various processes and the various types of cheese have been mentioned. By this amendment, a third category of cheese, namely “whey cheese” has been introduced under types of cheese. Accordingly:
- In Item 1, after sub-item (b), the following sub-item shall be inserted, namely:
“(c) Whey Cheese are solid, semi-solid, or soft products which are principally obtained through either other following processes :
- The concentration of whey and the moulding of the concentrated product;
- The coagulation of whey by heat with or without the addition of acid.
In each case, the whey may be pre-concentrated prior to the further concentration of whey or coagulation of whey proteins. The process may also include the addition of milk, cream. Or other raw materials of milk origin before or after concentration or coagulation. The ratio of whey protein to casein in the product obtained through coagulation of whey shall be distinctly higher than that of milk.
The product obtained through the coagulation of whey may either be ripened or unripened.
(d) “Cheeses in Brine” are semi-hard to soft ripened cheeses. The body has a white to yellowish colour and a compact texture suitable for slicing, with none to few mechanical openings. The cheeses have no actual rind and have been ripened and preserved in brine until delivered to, or prepacked for, the consumer. Certain individual cheeses in brine contain specific herbs and spices as part of their identity”.;
- In Item 2, under sub-item (c), –
- In the table after entry (iv) relating to Cheese products, the following shall be inserted, namely:
Product |
Moisture Maximum, % m/m |
Milk Fat Minimum, % (dry basis) |
Lactose, Maximum, % (m/m) |
|
“v |
Whey cheeses |
|
|
|
a. |
Creamed whey cheese |
– |
33 |
– |
b. |
Whey cheese |
– |
** |
– |
c. |
Skimmed whey cheese |
– |
*** |
– |
vi) |
Cheese in brine |
|
|
|
a. |
Soft cheese in brine |
– |
40 |
– |
b. |
Semi-hard cheese in brine |
– |
40 |
-“; |
- In the table, after existing entry (*), following shall be inserted, namely:
“ ** Milk fat in whey cheese shall be minimum 10% and less than 33% on dry basis.
*** Milk fat in skimmed whey cheese shall be less than 10% on dry”;
- Under Item 6, the sub-item (a) shall be substituted by the following, namely:
“(a) The name of the food product shall be ‘cheese’, ‘whey cheese’ or ‘cheese in brine’, as applicable.
However, the word ‘cheese’, ‘whey cheese’ or ‘cheese in brine’ may be omitted in the designation of an individual cheese variety as per sub-item (a) of item 1”.
Source: FSSAI
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