The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) handed over to food safety commissioners attending the authority’s central scientific advisory committee meeting in New Delhi last Thursday a blacklist of food products and brands, including Starbucks and Kellogg’s.
As reported by The Indian Express, the list revealed about 500 products that were rejected by FSSAI on account of containing high levels of sugar, caramel, salt or heavy metals, caffeine and iron fillings.
The list was obtained by The Indian Express and a copy of the same can be seen below:
A state level official told the national daily, “We were told that during the interim period when FSSAI sought additional queries from companies or when processing of applications took time, many companies were launching their products despite the pending approvals. We were asked to specially check for products from these companies.” Another official further added, “When companies realised that their products could not pass drug control norms, they were passing them off as food products. FSSAI came up only in 2011, and has been receiving hundreds of applications from the beginning… many products have been rejected only now.”
The FSSAI list, that has reportedly been updated till April 30, includes items whose approval applications were “rejected on assessment of risk/ safety of the proposed products by the Product Approval & Screening Committee, and/or the Scientific Panel” of the authority, as told by officials.
After banning Maggi, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently also set its eyes on other products like macaroni and pasta. The FSSAI stated that it was not just Nestle which was under scrutiny but other brands would be checked soon to ensure food safety.