FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the vertex regulatory authority of India has recently reviewed acidity of Citric Acid and fixes it at 3.5% Minimum.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in this regard, has issued a direction regarding minimum % acidity expressed as citric acid for ‘lemon juice’, which says that the value ‘minimum 3.5%’ was approved by the food authority in its 28th Meeting.
According to a senior official with the FSSAI, the food authority has been in receipt of several representations of stakeholders asking for review in the standards for lemon juice prescribed in the FSS (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011.
As earlier specified by FSSAI, the limit of acidity in fruit juices containing Citric Acid is fixed at 3.5% Minimum.
The food businesses asked FSSAI to review the acidity limit in accordance with the approval given by the food authority in its meeting. And the FSSAI agreed to the demand to fix the acidity to 3.5% mini in place of 5% mini.
“After due consideration, it has been decided to correct the said value to address the concerns and hence, the minimum % acidity expressed in citric acid for lemon under the Regulation 2.3.4 (4) shall read as ‘3.5% mini’ instead of ‘5.0 min’, reads the direction.
Lemon juice and lime juice are rich sources of citric acid, containing 1.44 and 1.38 g/oz, respectively. Lemon and lime juice concentrates contain 1.10 and 1.06 g/oz, respectively. The citric acid content of commercially available lemonade and other juice products varies widely, ranging from 0.03 to 0.22 g/oz.
Citric acid plays a huge role in enhancing flavours, particularly in the drinks industry, as it provides a sour, and refreshing flavor which offsets the sweetness of many drinks making it popular drink in its segment.