The Food safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on November 30, 2021 has issued clarification regarding use of blend of oils intended for use in premixes/admixtures intended to be sold as intermediary ingredients.
FSSAI clarified confusion related to certain sections and sub-section of certain Acts such as:
• Under FSS (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, Sub-regulation 2.2.1( 24) specifies the standards for Multi Source Edible Oil wherein it is stated that 'Multi-Source Edible Oils means an admixture of any two edible vegetable oils where the proportion by weight of any edible vegetable oil used in the admixture shall not be less than 20 per cent. The individual oils in the blend shall conform to the respective standards prescribed by these regulations.
• And, Sub-regulation 2.1.1 of the FSS (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011 states that "Notwithstanding the provision of 2.7 of Labelling and Packaging Regulations, no person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent sell (11) Any Multi Source Edible Vegetable il containing Mustard Oil manufactured on or after 8th June, 2021."
The clarifications are as followed:
FSSAI clarified that the said restrictions are not applicable to a blend of edible oils intended to be used as an intermediate product (ingredient pre-mix) in the manufacture of other products by other food businesses in compliance with the following conditions:
o Such a blend of multiple edible oils shall not be sold in retail market and a clarification by a food business operator to this effect (such as 'Not for retail sale'/'"For use as a pre-mix in formulating a product') should be suitably identifiable with the product.
o Both the manufacturer and the u s e r of such ingredient pre-mix shall maintain all records in respect of their inventory and produce the inventory records as and when sought by the Food Authority.
