FSSAI gets alive and kicking!

Weird things to note currently on the Chinese bourses – though half of the Chinese stocks are suspended, the investors are happy as they feel it is a harbinger of reforms coming in. Strangely enough, Govt owned bank stocks, even in this routed market are hitting new highs – indicating that the Govt is buying and propping it up. Like us, the people in China are blaming the current sell off on FIIs but that is so far from the truth - they currently have limited access to Chinese markets, and own less than 2% of the market cap.

Well, there is always something new and positive which comes out of an adversity…everything happens for the good. This often repeated cliché is indeed 100% true. Even in the corporate world

See the advantage of the Nesle crisis. The almost non-existent Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come alive and working like never before. Following the Nestle lead discovery, the FSSAI is finally taking its job seriously. It has prepared a draft wherein every canned or tinned food item will now face tougher scrutiny.

The proposed draft has recommended stringent regulations for permissible levels of metal contaminants in amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations 2011. It has also expanded the ‘specified’ categories of items to 70-80 from the existing 30-40 by shifting products from ‘non-specified’ to it.  This draft is made on the lines of the European Union’s food safety regulations, proposing new permissible lead limits ranging from 0.05 to 0.1 ppm. The existing permissible limit for ‘non-specified’ items is at 2.5 ppm. Sadly though, instant noodles still remain out of purview.

It has sought public comments on its draft by August 24.