FSSAI has issued directions dated 23 September 2020 regarding operationalisation of Draft Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2020 with respect to Prohibition of Blending in Mustard Oil.
FSSAI has pointed out that the Standards for Blended Edible Vegetable Oil in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products and Food Additives) Regulations 2011 permit an admixture of any two vegetable oils where the proportion by weight of any edible vegetable oil used in the admixture is not less than 20 percent. Further the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011 also permit such an admixture.
Now the Government of India, after due deliberation has directed the FSSAI to prohibit blending in mustard oil. The Government have asked the FSSAI to facilitate the manufacture and sale of pure mustard oil for domestic consumption in public interest.
The FSSAI has stated that the draft regulations in this regard are in the process of being notified and the process of draft notification, consideration of comments, if any that may be received by the FSSAI and the finalisation of these regulations is likely to take some time. Meanwhile to implement the said direction of the Government of India, the FSSAI has decided to operationalise these regulations with effect from 1st October 2020. No manufacturing of Blended edible vegetable oil with mustard oil as an ingredient shall be allowed with effect from this date.
The operationalised draft regulation will be called the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Amendment Regulation 2020. The amendment has been made in regulation 2.1 relating to “sale of certain admixtures prohibited” here the FSSAI has included the following clause after the existing clauses:
(11) Any blended edible vegetable oil containing Mustard Oil.
FSSAI License Modification for Oil production
Further in view of the above amendment to the regulation the FSSAI has also issued another notification regarding prohibition on the production of Blended Edible Vegetable Oil by manufacturers.
FSSAI has stated in the notification dated 24 September 2020 that all such licensees who have the license for the production of Blended Edible Vegetable Oil with Mustard Oil may have stocks of mustard oil/mustard seeds or any other edible oil hitherto used for blending, which they may need to sell as unblended oil. The FSSAI has said that such FBOs may apply for modification of their FSSAI licenses which will then need to be processed and approved by the concerned Designated Officers expeditiously.
Accordingly, the FSSAI has directed all the licensing authorities that such modification applications should be processed and granted approval within time period of 03 (three) days from the date of submission of the applications.
Source : FSSAI
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