FSSAI exempts raw agri products from vegan norms
List includes rice, cereals and pulses, oilseeds, dry fruits, edible oils and wheat flour
image for illustrative purpose
Food Safety Norms
- Vegan logo endorsement given for a particular mfg site
- Hence, multiple production sites for a single product need separate approval
- If an FBO has any risk to health, then production or export will be suspended
- Such FBOs should recall the products immediately
New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has exempted raw agricultural and horticultural commodities and unprocessed plant-sourced, single-ingredient products from the need to apply for vegan logo endorsement.
Also exempted are the products which are vegan by default like raw agricultural commodities-namely, rice, cereals and pulses, oilseeds, dry fruits, etc. Further, agriculture commodities which are minimally processed without any addition of other ingredients are exempted, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
Thus edible oils and wheat flour also need not apply for vegan logo endorsement.
The food business operator (FBO), however, should apply for multiple applications in the case of the same product containing different flavors. Therefore, a flavored plant-based drink in four different flavors should apply separately for each of them. FBOs seeking approval for the endorsement of a vegan logo are required to submit the application fee as applicable online.
If a product is packed in multiple stock keeping units or SKUs -1-kg glass bottle, 500-g pouch, 250-g plastic jar, etc. -the FBO need not submit all labels for all SKUs. For the endorsement is for the product and not for size or type of packaging material used, the sources said.
In the case of just quantitative change of ingredients like increase in added sugar or reduction of salt or acid, the FBO need not re-submit the revised documents, labels, etc. But the FSSAI has stipulated that there should be no change in the product ingredients, additives and processing aids.
The vegan logo endorsement is given for the applied product for a particular manufacturing site. Hence, in the case of multiple manufacturing facilities for a single product, the retailer or marketer must apply separate applications for each manufacturing site.
