FSSAI, the supreme food regulator has published a Draft Notification on Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Amendment Regulations, 2020, associated to MRL (Maximum Residue Level) of pesticides and limit of tolerance of antibiotics and toxins.
Through these norms, the FSSAI has planned to consider the subject of crop contamination and natural toxic substances and banned antibiotics and veterinary drugs in meat, milk, poultry and seafood production.
The draft advises a limit of contaminants and natural toxic substances for cottonseeds, tea, coffee, food grains, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, spices, meat & meat products and milk. The draft prescribed specific limits for contaminants for specific crops like mango, rye, wheat and rice.
In addition to these, the draft has come across 14 antibiotics and veterinary drugs, that are not allowed to be utilized in production of milk and milk products, meat and meat products, poultry and eggs, seafood such as prawns, shrimps or fish and fishery products at any of the stage.
Following is the list of 14 such identified antibiotics:-
Carbadox
Chlorpromazine
Chlorpromphenicol
Clenbuterol
Colistin
Crystal Violet (Sum of Crystal Violet and Leucocrystal Violet)
Glycopeptides
Malachite Green (Sum of Malachite green and Leucomalachite green)
Nitrofurans including (a) Furaltadone (b) Furazolidone (c) Nitrofurantoin (d) Nitrofurazone
Nitroimidazoles including (A) Dimetridazole (DMZ) (B) Ipronidazole (IPZ) and its metabolite Hydroxyipronidazole (C) Metronidazole (MNZ) and its metabolite 3 hydroxymetronidazole (D) Ronidazole (RNZ) and its metabolite 2-hydroxymethyl-1-methyl-3 nitroimidazole (HMMNI)
Steroids
Stilbenes
Streptomycin and its metabolite dihydrostreptomycin
Sulphamethoxazole.
The draft informs that the EMRL of 0.001 mg/kg will be applicable for all these 14 antibiotics except Chloramphenicol for which it has been set as 0.0003 mg/kg (0.3 ug/kg).
The draft also declares that the use of any antibiotic during honey production is not acceptable. To test the misuse of antibiotics, the antibiotics specified shall not cross the upper limit of the Maximum Residue Performance Level (MRPL) suggested by the FSSAI.
The shareholders were requested to submit their comments on the issue by 3rd week of October.