The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed quantitative thresholds to classify food products as high in added fat, added sugar or sodium, aiming to tighten norms for foods sold to children in schools.
In a draft notification published in the Gazette of India, the food regulator proposed amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020.
The draft proposes introducing a new regulation setting benchmarks to identify foods high in added fat, sugar or salt, based on the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024.
Under the proposal, solid food items would be classified as high in added fat if they contain more than 4.2 grams of added fat per 100 grams, while the threshold for liquid products would be more than 1.5 grams per 100 millilitres.
For added sugar, the proposed limits are more than 3 grams per 100 grams for solid foods and more than 2 grams per 100 millilitres for liquid products.
Foods would be categorised as high in sodium if they contain more than 0.625 grams of salt per 100 grams in the case of solids and more than 0.175 grams per 100 millilitres for liquids.
The proposed amendment seeks to insert the new provision after the existing regulation dealing with monitoring and surveillance in schools.
According to the notification, the draft regulations have been framed under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with prior approval from the Central government.
FSSAI has invited comments and objections from stakeholders and the public on the proposed amendments. Suggestions can be submitted within 60 days from the date the Gazette notification is made available to the public.
The regulator also stated that all representations received within the stipulated period would be considered before the regulations are finalised.
With Inputs From IANS