FSSAI urges dairy companies to fortify milk

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) advice private and public dairy companies to begin voluntary milk fortification

 

CEO of FSSAI, Pawan Agarwal said that food fortification is the most cost-effective and globally-recognised strategy to address micro-nutrient deficiencies.

 

“A large majority of stakeholders are in favour of food fortification but a few misinformed elements are creating confusion around the issue. We need to ensure it does not get derailed due to misinformation or lack of awareness,” he said.

 

Last month, FSSAI notified standards for fortifying staples such as edible oil, milk, atta, maida and salt. The food safety authority has been urging industry to undertake voluntary fortification of their products especially edible oil and milk, before it is made mandatory.

 

“Several ministries and government bodies have written to FSSAI to make fortification mandatory. However, we want to first assess whether the industry is ready. Fortification needs to be scaled up step-by-step before being made mandatory,” Agarwal said while speaking at the National Consultation of Milk Fortification on Wednesday.

 

The fortification standards were finalised by its Scientific Panel, which comprises scientists and public health experts, after careful deliberations for over one and half years. He said the panel finalised these standards keeping in mind the balance between health benefits and toxicity levels.

 

 “Let the public health issues be dealt by scientists and experts in FSSAI. If there are some concerns regarding the standards, they need to be looked at by the scientific panel,” Agarwal said.

Talking about costs involved in fortification, he said, “Costs of fortification in the case of milk with Vitamin A and D is minimal, about 2-3 paise per litre, and players such as Mother Dairy who have undertaken large scale milk fortification have absorbed such costs.”

 

He also said as per FSSAI regulations, premixes used for fortification need to be manufactured from vegetarian sources, and not from animal sources.

 

He said the prescribed dosage of the premix used in fortified staples is within safe limits and the focus is on ensuring the safety of the fortified food products rather than whether they are natural or synthetic.

 

Currently 13 state co-operatives and 11 private dairies have begun offering fortified milk to consumers.