Food Product Approval-FSSAI

How to get FSSAI Product Approval

FSSAI product approval is the process by which a product gets approved by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India. FSSAI product approval is granted at the Central Government level and in this article we look at the procedure for obtaining FSSAI product approval.

Which Food products require Product Approval

FSSAI product approval is required for products which contain ingredients and/or additives which are not as per prescribed standards in the Food Safety and Standards Act and Regulations.

Documents required for Product Approval

A food business operator license is required for businesses that are involved in the manufacturing or handling or selling of food products. While applying for food product approval, a copy of the FSSAI food business operator license certificate must be submitted. Hence, it is recommended that a food business operator license be obtained in the name of the business if required.

The application for food product approval must be submitted along with certain test reports from NABL accredited labs. The NABL lab reports are used to validate the claims, label claims, ingredients and other parameters of the food product. The type of tests for the food product will vary based on the nature of the product.

The FSSAI food product approval application must contain a label of the product. Its not necessary to print the label as it can The label can be a prototype and need not be printed. It is important to ensure that the food product label conforms to the FSSAI Food Product Labeling Standards in India.

Product Approval Application Procedure

The FSSAI product approval process used to manual wherein the FSSAI product approval application and a Demand Draft for the prescribed fee had to be submitted to the FSSAI office in New Delhi. However, to cope up with the increase in FSSAI product approval applications and bring in transparency into the system, FSSAI has recently introduced the Food Product Approval System (FPAS). FSSAI product approval application can now be submitted and tracked online through the FSSAI FPAS Online system.

FSSAI product approval is an intangible asset for any business, as it provides the business with authority to manufacture or market a certain type of food product in India. Further, each FSSAI product approval is granted only after a considerable amount of processing time and involves payment of high processing fees to FSSAI. Therefore, it is recommended that the FSSAI product approval application be made from a corporate entity like Private Limited Company or LLP so that business can be easily transferred at a later time along with the food product licenses if required.

After complying the above information and documents, make the application for FSSAI product approval through the Food Product Approval System (FPAS). It is important to have professional help while preparing and submitting the FSSAI product approval application.

Under the initiative of Ease of Doing Business, Food Product Identity Verification System (FPIVS) is devised integrating Food Safety Standards and Regulations on Food Products Standards and Food Additives including Proprietary Foods, Nutraceuticals and all other special foods, and Non-specified Food and Food Ingredients wherein any product which is intended to get in market and sell may fall along with other relevant regulations for safety requirements. The objective of this system is to enable any food businesses to get an understanding of whether their product falls in Standard Products Category or is it their own Proprietary Product and at the same time be able to apply for approval/endorsement of the desired Food Product along with its constituent ingredients and food additives. The system gives necessary hints towards reaching the appropriate category and submitting the application for Standard Food Product/Proprietary/Nutraceuticals and special foods.

Once approved, an auto generated Product Identifier would be issued by the Authority which would enable the Food Business Operators in obtaining the license from appropriate licensing authority. This system would also guide the food businesses for taking approval of product(s) not covered in any of the categories specified above by submitting an online application along with requisite documents as specified in Food Safety and Standards (Approval of Non-specified Food and Food Ingredients) Regulations, 2017. After carrying out risk analysis, the Authority would be issuing a Product Identifier to such product to enable the FBO in obtaining license from appropriate licensing authority. Food businesses manufacturing products for export only and not for sale within India, will also get Product Identifier by submitting the requisite product details in the Food Product Identity Verification System after paying the requisite fee along with the details of the standards of the importing country, that will enable them in obtaining the license from appropriate licensing authority.

Non-Specified Food

For the FBOs whose product which have not been standardized in any of the Regulations, FSSAI has recently Notified Food Safety and Standards (Approval for Non-Specified Food & Food Ingredients) Regulation, 2017. These regulations lay down the procedure for grant of prior approval of non-specified food and food ingredients whereby FBOs are required to submit application as prescribed along with necessary documents as specified by Authority. Approval for these products is granted by the Authority after the risk analysis is carried out by the Scientific Panels.

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