The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), on August 02, 2018 has made the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018 which have been notified in the Gazette of India.
Food Fortification is a scientifically proven, cost-effective, scalable and sustainable global intervention that addresses the issue of micronutrient deficiencies. In October 2016, FSSAI operationalized the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016 for fortifying staples namely Wheat Flour and Rice (with Iron, Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid), Milk and Edible Oil (with Vitamins A and D) and Double Fortified Salt (with Iodine and Iron) to reduce the high burden of micronutrient malnutrition in India.
The ‘+F’ logo has been notified to identify fortified foods. Scientific Health Claims for label declaration of fortified foods approved by the Scientific Panel on Nutrition and Fortification were also released. With the regulations being notified in the Gazette of India, FSSAI has firmly placed food fortification on the national agenda. This has created an enabling environment and encouraged food businesses to adopt food fortification.
New standards now provide a minimum and a maximum range for fortification of staples like wheat flour (atta), maida, rice, salt, vegetable oil and milk. In the gazette standards, the dosage of the micro nutrients has been adjusted so that they provide 30 to 50 percent of the daily requirements. In milk and oil, the unit of dosage has been changed to micrograms Retinol Equivalent for Vitamin A and micrograms for Vitamin D from IU. In Wheat Flour and Rice fortification, other sources of Iron have been added, Vanaspati fortification has been excluded.
