The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on November 08, 2023, issued a notification regarding Strengthening the Quality Control Mechanism of Fortified Rice, Fortified Rice Kernels [FRK], and Premix for FRK.
FSSAI has received references from various stakeholders including the Department of Food and Public Distribution, FRK manufacturers Rice Millers, etc. regarding the strengthening of quality control mechanisms for the manufacturing and distribution of FRK and resultant Fortified Rice in the country.
The existing regulatory mechanism for manufacturing FRK and Fortified Rice has been reviewed and the following has been decided in the larger public interest considering the fact that the distribution of Fortified Rice through the Public Distribution System is a program of National Importance.
a) FBOs manufacturing FRK and premix for FRK shall be required to obtain only an FSSAI License [Central/State) and no new registration shall be allowed.
b) Every batch of FRK premix and FRK manufactured by the concerned Manufacturing FBOs including those manufacturing on Registration Certificates, shall be tested for relevant parameters as prescribed under FSSR and the test reports shall be uploaded on the FOSCOS portal by the FBO mandatorily. Further, during the uploading of such reports, manufacturers of FRK and premix for FRK shall also submit self-declaration covering the details such as the Source of Iron used and the blending ratio of FRK with Rice (ie 1:50 or 1:100) for every batch of production of FRK on FOSCOS portal https:/ifoscos.fssal.gov.in).
The testing of FRK premix and FRK shall be carried out only through the FSSAI-notified laboratories. only from FSSAI-licensed vendors with a copy of the lab report of the testing of FRK and Premix, tested only through FSSAI-notified labs.
The above directions shall come into force with immediate effect.
[Notification No. IEC-34011/1/2021-IEC-FSSAI-Part (6)]
