5 Common Mistakes in Food Label by Indian Food Importers

Huge consignments of imported meats, cheeses, sauces, edible oil , whisky chocolates  mayonnaise and some other popular items, are held up at port due to insufficient information on the package labels. The 5 common mistakes in Food label faced by Indian Food importers are

• Label content should be clearly visible in English or Hindi.
• FSSAI logo & license number
• Ingredient list
• Manufacturer address& Marketed by
• Packing date and expiry date

# the importer should display FSSAI logo and license number along with name and address of the importer. These may be Pre-printed on the label or affixed through stickers before customs clearance. They should follow section 2.3.3 of FSSAI (Packaging and labelling) Regulations 2011 for the height of letters & numerals and section 2.6.1 for displaying FSSAI logo and license number.

In case of multiple units (manufacturer/packer/re-labeller/marketer) the FSSAI logo and license number of brand owner should be displayed on the individual package.

Some of the top brands of Food and Beverage sector like GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Ferrero Group, Tata Starbucks, Lindt chocolates, Cadbury, Mars, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, William Grant & Sons  Brown Forman have been caught by the FSSAI due to minor errors in label and most of their consignments were sent back or stuck in port.

# As per FSSAI  consultant manufacturers are required to list the ingredients of a product on its label unless it is a single ingredient product.

While scotch makers argue that all alcoholic beverages are made of one ingredient, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) say scotch whisky consignments were held at the port because sampling found they contain ingredients such as added caramel, colour or some flavour, whereas the same were not listed in their labels. Even Codex, which is in line with international standards, does not deem scotch to be a single ingredient product, said "FSSAI's Chief Executive Officer Dillip Kumar Samantaray.

Kindly ensure before importing the Food products to Indian market the Food label meets the Indian FSSR guidelines for easy clearance at Customs.