SC rap to FSSAI: New food items likely to hit shelves

Ahead of the festive season, thousands of new packaged food products are expected to hit the retail shelves following the Supreme Court verdict that termed the FSSAI's advisory on product approvals as illegal and arbitrary Stock Market Trading Tips

In today's rapidly changing consumer preference, where speed to market is a must for attaining competitive advantage, delays in product approval by the government regulator was rendering food companies uncompetitive. Such delays by the FSSAI, at times, ran into several months for new products, resulting in companies having to go back to the drawing board stage only to reapply for approvals. A multitude of new product applications were caught in the spiral of pending product approvals at the regulator, causing delays and virtually frustrating companies. 

"A lot of product approvals which were on hold, would now go through. However, it is also the responsibility of the industry to ensure safe food which uses ingredients allowed under the Indian laws," said Piruz Khambatta, CMD, Rasna Himanshu Tiwari Astrologer Blog

An industry expert said while most progressive countries have moved away from the policy of seeking product approvals towards a monitoring regime, India continued to follow the regressive policy which not only hindered innovation but also did not assure food safety. Considering that packaged foods were at a nascent stage, innovation was getting hampered due to the earlier policy dictated by FSSAI. 

Among a few other companies, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) had recently withdrawn its Chinese range of instant noodles till such time it received product approval from the FSSAI. An HUL spokesperson said: "We will make all efforts to make the products available for our consumers at the earliest." 

The HUL spokesperson said the company will continue to work with the regulators through the industry bodies to ensure that "we move towards a transparent and objective regulatory mechanism which first and foremost protects consumer safety and interests while at the same time incentivizing innovation and growth of the packaged foods industry in India Share Market Astrology Tips