Now Ayurvedic Food Products Will Come Under Regulation

Do you love to sip herbal teas or pop a fruit candy? Or start your day with an immunity-building Ayurvedic product? If yes, then this news is important for you. The market shelves are brimming with Ayurvedic products. They claim to bring a lot of health benefits. Particularly during the pandemic times, these products have never been so much in demand, especially those that claim to strengthen immunity.  

Now, all these products are going to come under the scanner so that you get only the most genuine Ayurvedic products.  

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to set new standards for labelling and claims for Ayurveda Aahar, which is a new category of food products.  

What is the new FSSAI standard? 

As per the draft regulations, no Ayurveda Aahar product, through its labelling, advertising, or presentation can claim that the product possesses the property to prevent, treat, or cure a disease.  

Well, the new set of standards has not come all of a sudden. The FSSAI has been in talk with the Ayush Ministry for the last three years. Now, it has created draft regulations for packaged food items made from ingredients as per the recipes prescribed in authoritative Ayurveda texts.  

Foods that will come under the preview of regulations 

Herbal teas, sherbets, natural-based candies, immunity-building Ayurvedic products, badaam pak are a few examples of the products that will be regulated.  

Foods that will not come under the preview of regulations 

Ayurvedic drugs/proprietary medicines, herbs, medicinal products, and foods that do not contain any Ayurveda ingredient will not come under the Draft Food Safety and Standards (Ayurveda Aahar) Regulations, 2021.  

A key provision of the draft regulation  

The draft regulation also comprises standards for additives. According to the draft, only natural food additives are allowed in Ayurveda Aahar products. Also, the regulation does not allow the addition of minerals, vitamins, and amino acids to the products.  

In addition, the regulation gives a maximum limit upto which manufacturers of Ayurveda Aahar products can use natural additives like honey, acacia gum, rose oil, jiggery, rosemary oil, keora oil, molasses, and date syrup.  

The following is included in the regulation: 

“Food business operators shall make claims as per description or indications specified for the recipe or ingredient in the authoritative books. Such claim statements should be factual, not misleading or exaggerated and be of a documented history of usage. Disease risk reduction and/or health benefits claims shall be pre-approved by the Food Authority.” 

Meanwhile, the Ayush Ministry intends to set up an expert committee that will make recommendations to the FSSAI on approving claims and non-specified products.  

In addition, FSSAI has proposed a logo for Ayurveda Aahar products. Manufacturers of these products must display the logo on product labels, along with the advisory statement “Only for dietary use.”  

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