FSSAI Releases Amended Regulations For Maida, Semolina, Jowar and Bajra Flour

The FSSAI has issued the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) First Amendment Regulations, 2021, related to cereal and cereal products including maida, semolina, jowar, and bajra flour.

For maida, the amended norms added two additional parameters including ‘Granularity % and uric acid. The regulations states that maida should abide by 98% Granularity and should pass through 212micron IS sieve (70mesh) while the uric acid content should not be exceeding 100 mg/kg.

The regulations, however, make it clear that the parameter ‘Granularity’ will not be applicable for intermediate products that are not meant for direct consumption.

As per the definition, maida (refined wheat flour) refers to the product obtained from the clean grains of wheat by grinding or milling processes in which the bran and germ are necessarily removed and the remainder is pulverized to a suitable degree of fineness.

In the same manner, for semolina (suji or rawa), the new guidelines added two more parameters in the standards including alcoholic acidity and uric acid.

Alcoholic acidity (with 90% alcohol) expressed as H2SO4, % on dry mass basis, should not be exceeding 0.15% while uric acid should not be more than 100mg/kg.

For jowar (sorghum grains) too, the notified norms by FSSAI laid standards that include a new parameter of immature and shrivelled grains, % by mass, which shouldn’t exceed 8.0 %.

In accordance to the standards notified, sorghum grains are whole or decorticated grains obtained from species of Sorghum Vulgare Pers. These shall be sweet, hard, clean and wholesome and can be of two varieties:- (a) Whole sorghum grains.- These are sorghum grains obtained as such after a complete threshing with no further treatment, and (b) Decorticated (pearled) sorghum grains.- These are sorghum grains from which the external casings and whole or parts of the germ have been removed in a pertinent manner via mechanical treatment.

For jowar flour, the standards notified by these regulations added parameter -particle size- and minimum 80% should pass through a 1 mm sieve (18 mesh) whereas for bajra flour (pearl millet) the particle size should be such that the flour must pass through 1mm sieve (18 mesh).