The Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 (Regulation) deals with regulations relating to food packaging.
The Regulation provides a detailed list of packaging materials that may be used for the packaging of specific categories of food products and also prescribe specific requirements/ restrictions in their regard.
Along with the general packaging guidelines, other health concerns arising out of food packaging has also been dealt with in the regulations, for example, in relation to the concerns with carcinogenic inks and dyes, and prescribe adherence to the applicable Indian standard for printing inks for use on food packages.
The Regulation states that, “Printing inks for use on food packages shall conform to IS: 15495”. The IS standards are revised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in line with the technological development and global standards.
With respect to revisions made by the BIS, difficulties are being faced by Food Business Operators (FBOs) to meet the mandatory compliances.
In light of the difficulties in immediate implementation, the compliance date for revised IS standards for FBOs has been moved to either 1st January or 1st July, as the case may be, subject to a minimum of 180 days’ transaction period from the date of publication.
You may access the notification here.
