The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has increased its vigilance in terms of ensuring that regulatory norms on coffee and coffee-chicory mixture labelling are followed.
FSSAI announced on Friday that it had investigated 42 companies with central licences for coffee-chicory mixture-based products. Only 13 of them, however, were found to be in compliance with these standards.
Every packaged coffee product must state the percentage content of coffee and chicory separately on its label, according to the regulations. In addition, the coffee content in the coffee-chicory combination shall not be less than 51% by mass, and the maximum amount of chicory allowed in such mixes is 49%. Furthermore, coffee-chicory blended products are not permitted to use the term "pure" coffee.
"Of the 42 current Coffee-Chicory centrally licenced producers, 13 were determined to be complying with the existing labelling rules, while 29 Food Business Operators (FBOs) were found to be non-compliant," it continued. It has ordered these companies to comply with the regulatory requirements.
"FSSAI has also directed the State Food Safety Departments to ensure necessary compliance with regulatory provisions related to coffee and coffee-chicory mixtures, and to take timely action against Food Business Operators (FBOs) who are violating the regulatory provisions in this regard," the it continued.
The food safety regulator had also requested state food safety commissioners to increase monitoring of this category of items in November of last year to guarantee compliance with labelling standards.
About FSSAI
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a statutory organisation within the Government of India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, which is a consolidating act pertaining to food safety and regulation in India, formed the FSSAI.
