Food products to face stricter checks as FSSAI asks producers to provide scientific evidence to back claims

Regulator mandates standard scientific format for food safety reviews; new rule comes into effect from today

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for stakeholders seeking food safety reviews and changes in food standards to follow a single, standardised format supported by scientific evidence.

The new rule comes into effect from January 1, 2026.

The move comes after the food regulator found that many representations submitted so far lacked requisite data or a standard structure, making proper risk assessment difficult.

The FSSAI is responsible for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and regulating their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import, to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

The new standardised format will enable the scientific panel and committee to conduct risk assessments in alignment with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (Transaction of Business and Procedure for the Scientific Committee and Scientific Panel) Regulations, 2016, an order of the FSSAI stated.

Under the revised format, representations must include documents providing details of domestic dietary consumption of the proposed product/ingredient/additive; nutritional information associated with it; acceptable intake or safe limit of consumption; allergy risks; and toxicological analysis. The submissions should also include details of the testing methodology employed and laboratories where samples were analysed.

The representations seeking risk assessment of a new or existing product or food article will be reviewed by the FSSAI’s Science and Standards Division.

The FSSAI has assured stakeholders that information submitted for risk assessment will be treated as confidential and used only for scientific evaluation, standard-setting and policy decisions.