NEW DELHI: With regard to the recent controversy on excessive added sugar found in Nestle’s flagship baby food ‘Cerelac’, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) said that it has launched an enforcement drive to investigate the samples of all the infant food products across the country to verify their compliance with the law. “Appropriate actions/punitive measures will be taken against the FBO who will be found guilty and contravenes the provisions as specified under the FSS Act and rules/regulations made there under,” FSSAI said in response to the media query via mail.
“The regulations inter alia stipulate the various sources of carbohydrates including sucrose/fructose that may be used in these products with a conditional prescribed threshold limit. As per sub-regulation 3(6) of the aforesaid regulation, ‘Lactose and glucose polymers shall be the preferred carbohydrates for food for infant nutrition.
Sucrose and/or fructose shall not be added, unless needed as a carbohydrate source, and provided the sum of these does not exceed 20% of total carbohydrate,” the regulator said. According to FSSAI, food business operators must comply with standards outlined in the FSS Act, 2006, at all stages of food production and distribution. The FSSAI conducts inspections, surveillance, and enforcement measures, including testing products. Non-compliant operators face penalties as per the Act and regulations. The ban on Indian spice brands ‘MDH’ and ‘Everest’ in Singapore and Hong Kong has cast a spotlight on India’s food regulator.