Through a notification dated 23 May 2016 the FSSAI has drafted some amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. Objections or suggestions on the drafted regulation may be sent to the FSSAI for considering within 30 days from the date of publication of this notification. Once notified in the Official Gazette these regulations will come into force and will be called the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2016.
In the Food safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, in regulation dealing with Meat and Meat products the word Leporids will be added to the list after the four names already present there. The amended regulation will now contain five names.
(i) Ovines
(ii) Caprines
(iii) Suillines
(iv) Bovines
(v) Leporids
Ovine meat is from the sheep family while caprine is from the goat family. Suilline is the meat from the pig family, bovine from the cattle family and includes buffalo and bison. The new name Leporids stands for the meat from the leporidae species which includes hares and rabbits both wild and domesticated.
About rabbit farming in India
Changes in diets and increased consumption of animal based products are driving the world’s economy into new directions. In fact meat consumption habits of Indians are changing too and rabbit farms have sprouted up in a number of states in India like Kerala. In India the FSSAI had restricted the slaughtering of rabbits and this had come as a set-back for those who owned rabbit farms. The new draft regulation on inclusion of leporids in meat and meat products has therefore been welcomed by rabbit farmers.
Rabbit meat is whitish to rose-coloured and has a slightly sweetish taste and aroma. Compared to some other meats rabbit meat contains high quality proteins and the fat content though low contains good levels of polyunsaturated linolenic and linoleic fatty acids. Besides this animal farming is an affordable low cost occupation. Rabbits also have the advantage of being of small body size but have high growth rates. They can be fed on forage and agricultural by-products, and can adapt to a wide range of ecological environments including desserts of Rajasthan or climates in Goa and Kerala.
Rabbit is relatively a new introduction as farm animal in our country though a number of countries worldwide successfully farm and export rabbit meat. In India rabbit farming was introduced by Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan. Rabbit rearing has been gaining popularity for its meat, fur skin and wool production besides as pet animals in our country.
One of the advantages is that rabbits can be raised on roughage diet alone and this does not affect productive and reproductive performance. Rabbit fodder does not compete with food grains meant for human consumption unlike for pigs and chicken. The high reproduction rate where a single female rabbit can produce a litter of at least 20 in a year makes it a profitable farming venture. Besides rabbit meat can be marketed at 90 days of age. Rabbit farming fits very well into the integrated farming system.
migdad says
Respected Sir,
I am a Rabbit Farmer since 2005 at Malappuram Dist, Kerala having 12 Branches in North India ( Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Uttarkhand, Utterpredesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa. Rabbit rearing was done by most house hold women, self help groups, Ngos and kudumbasree units because they get an extra income for their family. But the recent order regarding the broiler rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has stopped them from rearing rabbits. There are more than 42,000 farmers living under our organization all over the country.
Compared with pork and beef, rabbit meat is much richer in high quality proteins and certain vitamins and minerals and has less fat. Fat in rabbit meat contains high proportions of polyunsaturated linolenic and linoleic fatty acids, and hence the demand for rabbit meat is always high and most sought after in Kerala.
I kindly request your Highness with all due respect to approve the food safety and standard act regulation 2.5.1(a) relating meat products by the FSSAI .This will benefit many new farmers across the country
Thanking you in anticipation
Dr. Migdad
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