The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed the top 200 food companies in the country to submit their food recall plans, as part of its efforts to implement food recall guidelines.
In their food recall plans, companies will need to give details of the procedures and mechanisms that they have put in place internally to retrieve their food or food products from the food chain in case a product is found to be unsafe for consumption.
They will also need to give details of their recall management teams tasked with the food recall plan.
Some of the companies that the FSSAI has written to include Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Cargill India, Nestle India, Patanjali Ayurved, PepsiCo India, Coca-Cola India, Mondelez India, Tata Global Beverages, Marico, Kellogg’s India, Bisleri International, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Dabur India.
The letter has also been sent to other key domestic players who will need to submit their plans within the next two months.
It outlined a 10-step process that companies will have to follow for a recall.
The regulator has also asked companies to submit details of the food recall team within 30 days and the fresh recall plan within 60 days from 20 March, 2018.
The directive comes almost three years after FSSAI ordered Nestle India to recall Maggi instant noodles for alleged presence of monosodium glutamate and excess lead on 5 June 2015, which turned out to be the largest food recall in India ever.
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said that all companies need to submit these plans at the time of licensing, the regulator has now asked them to submit a fresh plan.
According to the food recall norms, all food companies and food retailers are required to have an uptodate food recall plan.