NEW DELHI: In a fresh crackdown on food safety violations, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has acted against two food products, penalising the manufacturer of a fortified sunflower oil after it was found to be substandard and stopping the sale of a Monk Fruit Sweetener over alleged licensing and labelling violations.The regulator imposed a penalty on AWL Agri Business Ltd, Mangaluru, after a laboratory analysis of a retail sample of Fortune “Fryola” Refined Sunflower Seed Oil found that its vitamin D content was below the prescribed standard, making the fortified edible oil substandard under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.FSSAI said the company was given an opportunity to present its case, but the adjudicating authority concluded that it had manufactured and marketed a substandard fortified edible oil before imposing a monetary penalty.In a separate action, the regulator prohibited the sale of PIE Foods’ Monk Fruit Sweetener, a natural zero-calorie sugar substitute, after inspections found cartons of the product stored at the company’s premises without the required manufacturing licence.
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FSSAI also alleged that the product carried claims such as “100% Monk Fruit Extract” and “Natural Ingredients”, while its online listing did not carry the mandatory endorsement required under food safety regulations. It further said the company failed to produce records showing that the monk fruit extract used in the product had been procured in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards Act.The prohibition order will remain in force until the product complies with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act and related regulations.The regulator said the actions are part of its ongoing drive to tighten enforcement against food business operators and ensure that products sold to consumers meet prescribed safety and quality standards.
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