The long awaited and sought after labelling and display regulations from the Government of India has taken its final shape with its introduction for the compliance by food service establishment all over the nation. The regulation says that establishments registered centrally or sprawled over 10 or more outlets have to display the calorific value in kcal along with the serving size of the products on the display insignia or stickers, menucards or booklets or so.
Additionally, reference information on calorie requirements shall also be displayed clearly and prominently on as “An average active adult requires 2,000 kcal energy per day, however, calorie needs may vary”,” the labelling and display regulations said.
FSSAI was formulating regulations about labelling and display since a while, which now have been applied. The notification further states that, “E-commerce Food Business Operators shall get the above mentioned information from respective Food Business Operators and provide on their website wherever applicable.
The regulation also proposed indication of red color or color coding mechanism to categorise food high in fats and sugar (HFSS) and display of the same, however this mechanism is held for some reasons. Main concern behind the haul is majority of products will be compelled to be displayed with red color.
Through these regulations the food regulator has for the first time defined children for the packaged food industry.
“Children or child” means a person under the age of 18 years as defined in Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. Explanation- The applicability of the age limit for specific category of food may be indicated in the relevant regulation, under the broad category of children,” the newly notified Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2020 said.