On 6 September 2021, FSSAI issued draft Food Safety and Standards (Vegan Foods) Regulations, 2021, outlining vegan foods and stating compliance requirements. The draft regulations also include labeling and packaging requirements and a logo meant exclusively for vegan food products.

FSSAI’s draft regulations define ‘Vegan Food’ as “means those foods or food ingredients that have not made use of any ingredients, additives and processing aids of animal origin including milk and milk products, fish, poultry and meat, egg or egg products, honey or honey bee products, materials of insect origin like silk, dyes, chitin or chitosan etc. or ingredients that are clarified using animal-sourced products, for example, bone char used in sugar bleaching, isinglass in clarifying beer etc.”

According to the draft, no person shall manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market, or otherwise distribute or import any food as vegan food unless they comply with the requirements laid down under these regulations.

No animal testing

FSSAI draft regulations state, “The food products or ingredients to be called Vegan, shall not have involved animal testing for evaluating the safety of the final product or ingredient; and, shall not contain any animal-derived GMOs or products prepared using animal-derived gene for manufacturing the ingredients or products.”

It further notifies that the traceability shall be established up to the manufacturer level and shall include any other requirements prescribed by the Food Authority to maintain the vegan integrity of the foods or food ingredients or products thereof from time to time.

Vegan food compliance

The notification clearly states that all vegan foods or ingredients shall comply with the relevant provisions, as applicable under the Act, Rules and regulations.

It adds, “The Food Business Operator (FBO) shall apply with all necessary details related to plant, machinery, premises to the authority. Inspection and verification of the premises shall be done by concerned Food Safety Officer or Designated Officer.”

Analytical tools (molecular, chemical, combination of both) available will be used to ascertain the absence of animal origin for endorsing the vegan logo in the license.

Further, the Food Authority may specify guidelines for endorsement of vegan logo and annual market surveillance for such products. The concerned registration or licensing authority shall conduct surveillance of the registered establishment at least once a year.

Labeling and display requirements

According to draft regulations, all vegan foods shall comply with the packaging and labeling requirements specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, in addition to the labeling requirements.

It adds, “The seller of vegan food either exclusively or as part of retail merchandise shall store and display such food in a manner distinguishable from non-vegan food.”

Exclusive logo for vegan foods

After the endorsement as specified above of these regulations, every package of vegan foods shall carry the logo as specified below.

• The ‘Green’ color and the leaf depicts that the ingredient or product is of plant origin.

• The letter ‘V’ identifies the product to be as ‘Vegan’

Objections or suggestions

The draft of Food Safety and Standards (Vegan Foods) Regulations, 2021, which FSSAI proposes to make, with the previous approval of the Central Government, is published for the information of persons likely to be affected thereby. The said draft regulations shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of 60 days (7 November 2021) from the date on which copies of the Official Gazette in which this notification is published are made available to the public.

According to the notification, objections or suggestions, if any, will be addressed to the chief executive officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FDA Bhavan, Kotla Road, New Delhi–110002 or sent on email at regulation@fssai.gov.in.

The objections or suggestions which may be received from any person with respect to said draft regulations before the expiry of the period specified above shall be considered by the Food Authority.