The decision to extend the current deadline of 31 August was taken following consultations with stakeholders.
Food regulator FSSAI has given four more months, till the end of December, to food business operators to exhaust all pre-printed packaging materials claiming “100 per cent fruit juices” on their packaged juice products.
The decision to extend the current deadline of 31 August was taken following consultations with stakeholders.
In June, the FSSAI had asked food business operators (FBOs) to immediately remove 100 per cent fruit juice claims in advertisements as well as on labels of packaged products amid growing concerns over misleading claims.
“Based on various representations received from stakeholders, it has been decided to extend the cut-off date for use of pre-printed packaging materials. The new cut-off date for use of these materials is now 31st December 2024,” the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said in a notice to FBOs.
Additionally, the regulator said products manufactured by FBOs before Dec. 31, 2024, can be “sold on the market through all channels until the end of their useful life.”
FBOs were initially instructed to deplete all existing pre-printed packaging materials by September 1, 2024.
In June, the FSSAI issued a directive requiring all FBOs to “remove any ‘100 percent fruit juice’ claims from labels and advertisements of reconstituted fruit juices with immediate effect.”
“FSSAI has come to the notice that several FBOs have been mismarketing various types of reconstituted fruit juices by claiming that they are 100 per cent fruit juices,” the regulator said.
After a thorough review, the FSSAI concluded that as per the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, there is no provision for making a “100%” claim.
“These claims are misleading, particularly in conditions where the main ingredient of the fruit juice is water and the primary ingredient, for which the claim is made, is present only in limited concentrations, or where the fruit juice is reconstituted using water and fruit concentrates or pulp,” FSSAI had said.
FBOs were directed to comply with the standards for fruit juices as specified in sub-regulation 2.3.6 of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.
“These regulations provide that products covered by this standard shall be labelled in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020,” FSSAI had said.
Specifically, the ingredient list must include the word “reconstituted” next to the name of the juice that is reconstituted from concentrate.
“In addition, if added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 g/kg, the product must be labelled as ‘sweetened juice’,” the regulator had said.
First published: August 20, 2024 | 10:13 PM IS
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.