FSSAI, Ayurveda Min to develop new category of ayurvedic aahar

Food safety regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday said it is working on a new category ayurvedic aahar with the Ayurveda Ministry that will be part of its food supplement regulation. "We had a discussion with Ministry of Ayurveda and a separate category called ayurvedic aahar is being created which is part of our food supplement regulation. Our team is working with Ayurveda Ministry so that we can bring that ayurveda aahar ecosystem in place including a separate identification mark for it," FSSAI Executive Officer Pawan Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event.

He rued that India has not been able to build a food supplement market based on botanicals using ayurveda. Asked if it refers to ayurveda products like triphala, he replied in the affirmative and said under the medicine category when the product is sent abroad they ask for clinical trials but under food category the requirements would be relaxed.

Agarwal said Ayurveda Ministry was treating it as medicine and lot of it in ayurveda is food and does not need any prescription. "This category will grow when there is a regulatory clarity on this. Currently there is a lot of ambiguity around it. They go by ayurveda pharmacopia...We are working on it.

It is already delayed a bit but it is going to be soon in the next few months," he said. He added that the companies manufacturing these products would go through the process of approval.

"They may be already having approval for products and we would allow them to use the symbol and create a brand. we want to create a brand for Ayurveda Aahar in India and internationally," he said. In December 2016, FSSAI notified the Food Safety and Standards (health supplements, nutraceuticals, food for special dietary use, food for special medical purpose, functional food and novel food) Regulations, 2016. These regulations cover eight categories of foods and carry detailed requirements about their composition, claims and labels, among others.

These foods are health supplements, nutraceuticals, foods for special dietary use, food for special medical purpose, specialty food containing plants or botanicals, foods containing probiotics, foods containing prebiotics and novel foods..