Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has finally drafted regulations for the organic food products. The regulations will keep a strict scanner on these food items hence, making sure that these pieces are actually organic.
Organic foods will have to comply with the provisions under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) administered by the government or the Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India) run by the Agriculture Ministry or any other standards notified by the food authority.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought public comments of the draft regulations, which has been prepared in view of rising demand for organic food products, being considered as healthy, in the country.
In its official statement, the food regulatory body has stated, “Organic food products are either those grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides or made from organically produced raw materials .Currently, a number of food products are being marketed as organic.”
However, this puts the consumer in a dilemma as they don’t have any way to check the claims made by the food processors. “The draft regulation on organic food is aimed at overcoming this problem and ensuring that what is sold as organic food is really organic,” FSSAI said.
The draft regulation mandates that labelling of organic foods should convey full and accurate information on the organic status of the product.
Organic food products should also carry a certification mark or a quality assurance mark given by any of the notified certification bodies. The draft exempts organic food that is marketed through direct sale by the original producer or producer organisation to the end consumer from verification compliance. However, this exemption does not apply to processed organic products.