According to a recently-released report by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), there were around 25 consignments that were rejected as they did not meet the packaging and labelling criteria and were of a sub-standard quality along with the presence of insecticide residue.
The rejected consignments originated from China, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Chile, Vietnam, Tanzania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Egypt, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. The products rejected included cloves, arecanuts, cocoa powder, broken and split cassia, fresh apples, kiwis, coriander seeds, oranges, barnsberry, lacto coated gem biscuit, frozen tuna, instant tea bags etc.
As per the report, few of the consignments had discrepancies in non-rectifiable labelling like an additional sticker label were pasted on the product which did not provide clear details like date of manufacturing and expiry, added flavours information on the product label were missing, wrong logo for veg was printed which had the presences of non-veg ingredients.
As per the FSS regulations, in case of imported packaged food consignments, the following special dispensation on labeling shall be allowed for the rectification at the custom bound warehouse by affixing a single non detachable sticker or by any other nondetachable method next to the principle display panel namely Name and address of the importer; Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s Logo and license number, Non-Veg or Veg Logo Category or sub category along with generic name, nature and composition for proprietary food.
Other rejected items were not stored in optimal storage conditions, sealed in plastic cover, had rotten fruits with fugal and mold insect in each cartons, missing nutritional information on the product label, non specified ingredients are mentioned on the label which does comply with Food Safety and Standards (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Use, Food for Special Medical Purpose, Functional Food and Novel Food) Regulations, 2016.
An official representing FSSAI said, “In a month, less than 0.5 per cent of the consignments are usually rejected in testing. Rejections also happen on basis of visual inspection, if they do not comply with labelling and packaging standards.”
He added, “The sub-standard and bad-quality products are identified through visual inspection of the label and testing of the content through laboratory testing methods, and the rejected products are either re-exported or destroyed in the Customs’ hold area.”
