The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday notified new packaging regulations which prohibit use of newspaper or recycled plastics for packing, wrapping, storing, transporting or dispensing articles of food products. The new regulations will come into force from July 1.

The new regulation defines standards for different materials used for packaging of food products. It has also prescribed overall migration and specific migration limits of contaminants for plastic packaging materials. “As per these regulations, the packaging materials used for packing or storing the food products shall conform to the Indian Standards provided in the schedules,” an official statement added.

Taking cognizance of the carcinogenic effect of inks and dyes, these regulations prohibit the use of newspaper and other such materials for packing or wrapping of food articles and includes respective Indian standard for printing inks for use on food packages.

At the same time, addressing concerns regarding the safety of loose packaging material, the regulations state, “Products made of recycled plastics, including carry bags, shall not be used for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing articles of food.”

In a statement, Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said the new packaging regulations will raise the bar of food safety. He pointed out there will be difficulties in implementing these regulations as they relate to the loose packaging materials and to the unorganised sector.

“Thus, sufficient lead time has been given before the regulations come into force. Consultation with stakeholders and mass awareness building amongst consumers and food businesses will precede implementation of the new packaging regulations,” he added. The FSSAI had earlier conducted studies in collaboration with Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Mumbai and the National Test House (NTH), Kolkata. “These two studies had shown that the packaging material used by the organised sector is largely safe but there are concerns about the use of packaging material by the unorganised/informal sector,” the official statement added.

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