FSSAI has issued an order dated 27 August, 2021 regarding the appeal procedure related to approval of claims that have been rejected.
The FSSAI has drawn reference to its earlier notice dated 4 September, 2019 (given below) concerning the Claims Approval procedure under the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulation 2018. In continuation, Competent Authority of the FSSAI has further approved the following appeal mechanisms:
- With regard to claims approval application and its review process, CEO, FSSAI shall be the Appellate Authority and Chairperson, FSSAI shall be the reviewing Authority.
- In case of rejection of claims approval application, the Food Business Operator may appeal to the Appellate Authority within 30 days of issue of rejection letter.
- In case of rejection by Appellate Authority, Food Business Operator may file review petition before Chairperson, FSSAI within 30 days of rejection by the Appellate Authority. In such an event, the decision of the Chairperson shall be treated as final.
Previous FSSAI Notice on Claims dated 4 September 2019
FSSAI notified the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations 2018 on 19 November, 2018 and in this regulation, sub-regulation 12 stipulates the procedure for approval of claims on food products along with applicable fees specified by FSSAI from time to time.
FSSAI had constituted an Expert Committee on Claims for the purpose of scrutiny and assessment of health claims, specifically disease risk reduction claims and other claims in advertisements.
All Food Business Operators, who wish to seek prior approval of claims on their food products as per the provisions of the Advertising and Claims Regulations shall submit a duly filled application as specified in Annexure-A along with a fee of Rs.50,000 (Fifty thousand only) in the form of demand draft payable to Senior Accounts Officer, FSSAI. Such claim applications shall be for a product or ingredient in a product and a maximum of 3 claim statements shall be assessed against a single application.
Claims approved by the FSSAI shall not be construed for the purpose of promotion of sale, supply, use and consumption of article of foods, specifically ascribing it to the FSSAI logo or license number in any way. Further the Authority may also withdraw such approvals as and when found appropriate, on availability of new scientific data / evidence.
Source: FSSAI
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