A few months ago, FSSAI (The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India) felt that there is no
safety or quality concern fo
r the bottled liquid supplied by various packaged drinking water like BISLERI and KINLEY. As these units are operating under only BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification, so FSSAI asked state authorities to crack down on mineral water packaging units without its license. Packaged drinks are one of the fastest growing industries in India. The increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists is one of the major drivers for bottled drink sales. As a result of unhealthy water supplied by municipalities, a rise in health awareness and an increase in tourist inflow are also increasing the per capita consumption of bottled water. It currently stands at around 20 liters per annum, against four-five liters in the late 1990s, so it becomes a major task that all these packaged drinking water must have a certified license by FSSAI.
As Packaged drinks are covered under the definition of food under the FSSAI Act 2006. Therefore as provisioned in section 31 of the FSSAI Act all Food Business Operators (FBOs) require the license or FSSAI registration before opening any food business; this includes packaged liquids.
The FSSAI has also laid down in the draft amendment that the following can be used to obtain water for packaging:
“All the packaged drink items should be examined and then evaluated across the country", said an FSSAI official. Therefore, FSSAI has asked the packaged drinking water companies to submit all the details of various manufacturing and processing units including the third party manufacturers and processors so that the procedure for food approval should be started. It is the process by which a product gets approved by FSSAI.
FSSAI product approval is required for products which contain ingredients or additives which are not as per prescribed standards in the Food Safety and Standards Act and Regulations. FSSAI product approval is granted at the Central Government level.
And also it was announced that any packaged drinking water unit has to obtain two licenses - one from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and another from the FSSAI — which confirms the safety of the water content and quality standard of the packaging material. The company, which obtains both licenses, has to undergo two courses of testing, with surprise visits and regular audits. Also, these licenses require companies to sell products after conducting exhaustive scientific tests to check the quality, quantity of minerals and safety of the product.
After the verification of every ingredient in the different units of packaged drinking water and checking that it is the appropriate unit for getting supplied in the market with its health-related conditions, FSSAI gives a valid FSSAI license to these packaged drinking water companies. So the products serviced by these organizations can be consumed without any single thought of doubt and they are free from every toxic element.
safety or quality concern fo
r the bottled liquid supplied by various packaged drinking water like BISLERI and KINLEY. As these units are operating under only BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification, so FSSAI asked state authorities to crack down on mineral water packaging units without its license. Packaged drinks are one of the fastest growing industries in India. The increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists is one of the major drivers for bottled drink sales. As a result of unhealthy water supplied by municipalities, a rise in health awareness and an increase in tourist inflow are also increasing the per capita consumption of bottled water. It currently stands at around 20 liters per annum, against four-five liters in the late 1990s, so it becomes a major task that all these packaged drinking water must have a certified license by FSSAI.As Packaged drinks are covered under the definition of food under the FSSAI Act 2006. Therefore as provisioned in section 31 of the FSSAI Act all Food Business Operators (FBOs) require the license or FSSAI registration before opening any food business; this includes packaged liquids.
The FSSAI has also laid down in the draft amendment that the following can be used to obtain water for packaging:
- surface water
- civil water supply
- underground water
- sea water
- any other consistent source of water
“All the packaged drink items should be examined and then evaluated across the country", said an FSSAI official. Therefore, FSSAI has asked the packaged drinking water companies to submit all the details of various manufacturing and processing units including the third party manufacturers and processors so that the procedure for food approval should be started. It is the process by which a product gets approved by FSSAI.
FSSAI product approval is required for products which contain ingredients or additives which are not as per prescribed standards in the Food Safety and Standards Act and Regulations. FSSAI product approval is granted at the Central Government level.
And also it was announced that any packaged drinking water unit has to obtain two licenses - one from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and another from the FSSAI — which confirms the safety of the water content and quality standard of the packaging material. The company, which obtains both licenses, has to undergo two courses of testing, with surprise visits and regular audits. Also, these licenses require companies to sell products after conducting exhaustive scientific tests to check the quality, quantity of minerals and safety of the product.
After the verification of every ingredient in the different units of packaged drinking water and checking that it is the appropriate unit for getting supplied in the market with its health-related conditions, FSSAI gives a valid FSSAI license to these packaged drinking water companies. So the products serviced by these organizations can be consumed without any single thought of doubt and they are free from every toxic element.
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