Overview of Clause 5(14)Food Safety and Standards (Labeling and Display) Regulation 2020:
The regulation mandates the declaration of food allergens on pre-packaged food labels, ensuring consumers are adequately informed about potential allergens that may pose health risks.
It specifically obligates food business operators to declare certain allergenic ingredients separately on the label using the term “Contains…”, followed by the name of the allergen.
This requirement applies to the following categories of known allergens:
1. Gluten-containing cereals such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, and their hybridized strains and products (e.g., wheat flour, barley malt).
Exceptions:
These ingredients are exempted if they have been assessed as safe and the gluten content does not exceed 20 mg/kg
2. Crustaceans and their products (to be labelled as “Crustacean”).
3. Milk and milk products (to be labelled as “Milk”).
4. Eggs and egg products (to be labelled as “Egg”).
5. Fish and fish products (to be labelled as “Fish”).
6. Peanuts and tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews) and their products (to be labelled as “Nut”).
7. Soybeans and their products (to be labelled as “Soy”).
8. Sulphites at concentrations of 10 mg/kg or more (to be labelled as “Sulphite”).
Cross- Contamination and Precautionary Labeling
In cases where allergens may be unintentionally present due to cross-contamination during processing or handling, manufacturers must include a using the phrase: “May contain…”
This ensures that consumers with severe allergies are made aware of the potential risks, even if the allergen is not intentionally added as an ingredient.
Exemptions:
Certain categories of food products are exempt from allergen labelling requirements:
Penalty for non-compliance:
Any person who whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf manufactures for sale or stores or sells or distributes or imports any article of food for human consumption which is mis-branded, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to three lakh rupees.
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