The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed the top 200 food companies in the country to submit their food recall plans, as part of its efforts to implement food recall guidelines.
In their food recall plans, companies will need to give details of the procedures and mechanisms that they have put in place internally to retrieve their food or food products from the food chain in case a product is found to be unsafe for consumption.
They will also need to give details of their recall management teams tasked with the food recall plan.
Some of the companies that the FSSAI has written to include Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Cargill India, Nestle India, Patanjali Ayurved, PepsiCo India, Coca-Cola India, Mondelez India, Tata Global Beverages, Marico, Kellogg’s India, Bisleri International, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Dabur India.
The letter has also been sent to other key domestic players such as Kohinoor Foods, Parag Milk Foods, Mother Dairy, Mawana Sugars, Harvest Gold and Havmor Ice creams. They will need to submit their plans within the next two months.
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, told BusinessLine , “While we have initially asked the top 200 companies to submit their fresh food recall plans, we will also ask other food companies to do the same. This plan will need to give details on the procedures and mechanisms these companies have put in place in case of an emergency event where they would need to recall a food product.”
He added that while all companies need to submit these plans at the time of licensing, the regulator has now asked them to submit a fresh plan.
While in developed countries, food companies are known to frequently recall their products as per the established protocol, the last time a massive food recall plan was kicked-off in India was when Nestle India faced the Maggi Noodles crisis in 2015.
According to the food recall norms, all food companies and food retailers are required to have an uptodate food recall plan.
“Food Business Operators carry the prime responsibility of implementing the recall, and for ensuring compliance with the recall procedure at its various stages including follow-up checks to ensure that recalls are successful and that subsequent batches of the food products are safe for human consumption,” according to the guidelines issued by FSSAI.