FSSAI issues new rules for the vegan products

Veganism is a concept that’s gaining rapid movement in India as more people are getting away from meat-based products. India is a country where vegetarianism is not new, but veganism is something that people are increasingly opting for as a new lifestyle trend. It’s a concept that prohibits the consumption of all the byproducts obtained from animals and thus one cannot consume dairy, eggs, meat, and even honey when on a vegan diet. (Images courtesy: iStock)

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With its popularity gaining momentum in India, many companies are coming up in the market with their so-called ‘vegan’ products but the practice seems to overlook the rules of veganism. Thus, in order to control the selling of counterfeit vegan products, the Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) has recently come out with new rules & regulations. These new rules will help people to easily identify vegan products to avoid any confusion. FSSAI has said that no person can manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market or otherwise distribute or import any food as vegan food unless they comply with the requirements laid down under the regulations. Read more…

As per the new rules laid out by the FSSAI on June 10, it has been made compulsory for manufacturers of vegan products to display the logo specified by the authority for easier recognition as well as ensure traceability of the products up to the level of manufacturers. Also, the food products to be called vegan, should not have involved animal testing for any purpose, including safety evaluation, unless provided by any regulatory authority. The FSSAI notification also lists that the sellers of vegan foods should either exclusively or as part of retail merchandise store and display the products in a manner distinguishable from non-vegan foods. The regulator has also mandated that no vegan food products should be imported except with a certificate issued by the recognized authorities of the exporting countries concerned.

Technically, vegan food means the food or food ingredient, including additives, flavourings, enzymes and carriers, or processing aids that are not products of animal origin and in which, at no stage of production and processing, ingredients that are of animal origin have been used.

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