Through a notification dated 16 August 2016, the FSSAI has drafted amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 related to the regulations dealing with FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. Objections and suggestions can be sent to the FSSAI up to 30 days from the above date. After publication in the official gazette, the amendments will be called the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulation 2016 related to regulation “FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS.”
In the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, in regulation relating to FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS in the category Thermally Processed Vegetables (2.3.3) the FSSAI has made standards for some new products. These standards are for canned tomato, tomato juice, jam, jellies marmalades that are offered for direct consumption, catering and repacking or intended for further processing. It does not relate to dried tomatoes or canned tomatoes containing any other vegetables that alter the flavor of the tomato.
The standards for CANNED TOMATO will be applicable to preserved, whole, non-whole, whole unpeeled, non-whole unpeeled tomatoes that have undergone heat treatment and are packed in hermetically sealed containers with or without added water or tomato juice.
Some essential quality factors are that the tomatoes
- Shall be washed, clean, unblemished, fresh and firm
- Must not contain any artificial color or flavoring agents
- May contain natural spices, condiments, spice oils, aromatic herbs, natural aromas, and seasoning
- The style should be specified as diced, sliced, wedges or pulp
- Added common slat must not exceed 3 percent of the net
- Calcium chloride may be added as a firming agent
- pH of the covering liquid (juice, water, tomato puree or paste) must not be higher than 4.5.
- Mould count must not exceed 45 percent of the fields examined.
- Products must be free from extraneous matter and microbiological contamination
TOMATO JUICE is juice derived from sound, fresh and fully ripe tomato containing a minimum of 5 percent by mass of total soluble solids exclusive of salt. The juice shall be strained free from skins and other coarse parts of tomato but may contain finely divided insoluble solids from tomato flesh. They must have the following features
- Characteristic red color;
- Good flavor and properly processed
- be free from the foreign taste, in particular, the taste of burned or caramelized products have an evenly divided texture and consistency
- Free from extraneous plant material including skin, seeds, and other coarse parts of tomato
- Mineral impurities content shall not exceed 0·1 percent of the dry mass content reduced by common salt.
- Limits of Metallic contaminants is the same as for Canned Tomatoes
Requirements for Tomato Juice
Sl.No | Characteristic | Requirement |
1. | The vacuum in the can, in mm, Min | Negative |
2. | Headspace in the can, in mm, Max | 7 |
3. | Total soluble solids (exclusive of salt), percent. by mass, Max | 5 |
4. | Sodium Chloride, percent. by mass, Max | 3 |
5. | Total titrable acidity (expressed as crystallized monohydrate citric acid), percent by mass of the dry mass content, (reduced by added common salty), Max | 10 |
6. | Volatile acidity (expressed as acetic acid), percent. by mass of the dry mass content ( reduced by added common salt), Max | 0.4 |
7. | pH | 4.5 |
8. | Mould Count Max | 45 percent positive fields |
9. | Sugar content (expressed as invert sugar), percent. by mass of the dry common salt), Max | 42 |
Limits for Metallic Contaminants in Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Juice
Arsenic – 1.0ppm
Lead – 1.0ppm
Copper – 30ppm
Zinc – 19ppm
Tin – 250ppm
JAMS JELLIES AND MARMALADES. FSSAI has described each of the products that come under the purview of jams, jellies, and marmalades “Preserve” or “conserve” represent products, required to comply with the requirements for jam.
These standards do not apply to products that are
- to be used in the manufacture of fine bakery wares, pastries or biscuits
- clearly intended or labeled as intended for special dietary uses
- reduced sugar products or those with a very low sugar content;
- foodstuffs with sweetening properties have been replaced wholly or partially by
- food additive sweeteners
Some essential composition and quality factors
- Jams and fruit jellies and marmalades shall be prepared from any fruit ingredient singly or in combination.
- The prepared fruit content shall be not less than 45 percent by mass, except in strawberry, raspberry and ginger jam it shall be not less than 25 percent, for cashew apples shall be 23 percent and 8 percent for passion fruit. When two or more fruits are used in combination, the mass of each fruit shall be not less than 10 percent of the mass of the combined fruit ingredients.
- Ingredients that can be added are cane sugar, sucrose, dextrose, and invert sugar, liquid glucose, sodium, potassium or calcium salts of citric and tartaric acid.
- Pectin derived from any fruit but limited to 1 percent maximum may be used.
- All the products must retain the original flavor and color while the texture must be in keeping with the product, like jams must not crystallize and jellies must be gelatinous and marmalades must have a uniform suspension of the peel.
- Products must be free from extraneous vegetable materials normally associated with the fruits such as peels, skin, pits, pit fragments, etc.
- Total Soluble Solids of jams shall be not less than 68 percent by mass and not less than 65 percent by mass in case of jellies and marmalades.
FROZEN BEANS are products prepared from fresh, clean, sound, succulent pods of the plants conforming to the characteristics of the suitable varieties of the species Phaseolus vulgaris L. or Phaseolus coccineus L. with strings, stems, stem ends removed, and the pods washed and sufficiently blanched to ensure adequate stability of colour and flavour during normal marketing cycles. They can be in different styles as a whole, cut, shortcut and sliced and the minimum length and cut of these styles have been mentioned in the standards.
FROZEN CAULIFLOWER is the product prepared from fresh, clean, sound heads of the cauliflower plant conforming to the characteristics of the species Brassica oleracea L.var. botrytis L. of which the heads may be trimmed and separated into parts, and which are washed and sufficiently blanched to ensure the stability of color and flavor during normal marketing cycles. The product may whole, split or in florets. The product shall be of reasonably uniform white to dark cream color which may be slightly dull and have a tinge of green, yellow or pink over the flower surface of the units. The stem or branch portions may be light green or have a tinge of blue.
FROZEN PEAS are the product prepared from fresh, clean, sound, whole, immature seeds of peas which are washed and sufficiently blanched to ensure adequate stability of colour and flavour and which conform to the characteristics of the species Pisum sativum L. Standards included are for Blond peas, Blemished peas, Seriously Blemished Peas, Peas Fragments. Peas may contain ingredients like frozen beans mentioned above. The product shall not contain insects and more than the following visual defects as a percentage of mass
- Blond Peas – 2 percent
- Blemished Peas – 5 percent
- Seriously Blemished Peas – 1 percent
- Pea Fragments – 12 percent
- Extraneous Vegetable Matter – 0.5 percent. by mass but not more than 12 cm2 in area.
FROZEN SPINACH is the product prepared from fresh, clean, sound edible parts of the spinach plant conforming to the characteristics of the species Spinacia oleracea L., and which have been sorted, washed sufficiently and drained to ensure adequate stability of colour and flavour and pertains to standards for whole spinach, leaf spinach, cut-leaf spinach, chopped spinach and pureed spinach. It must not contain extraneous matter like grass, weeds, straw, seed heads longer than 25mm, flower buds, crown and root material.
Optional ingredients
- In frozen bean and frozen pea products include sucrose, invert sugar, dextrose, fructose, glucose syrup, dried glucose syrup, salt and condiments, spices and herbs.
- In frozen cauliflower and frozen spinach include salt, spices, and herbs.
- All vegetable products must be clean, free from odour, foreign flavor grit and other foreign material and frozen beans and frozen cauliflower shall test negative for peroxidase
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
All products mentioned above may contain the food additives permitted in Appendix A and shall conform to the Microbiological requirements given in Appendix B of these regulations respectively.
PACKAGING AND LABELLING
All the products shall comply with packaging and labeling requirements as specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
In addition, style of the product may be mentioned on the label.
CONTAMINANTS
All products shall comply with the restrictions in regard to residual levels of metal contaminants, insecticides, and pesticides, crop contaminants, naturally occurring toxic substances and other food safety requirements as specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins, and Residues) Regulations, 2011.”
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