Amid growing health consciousness, there is an increased acceptance of soy products among general people. On this, the government agency Bureau of Indian Standards has asked manufacturers of soya products to use the “ISI mark” on their products by taking BIS quality certification.
The ISI mark has been a standards-compliance mark for industrial products in India since 1955. The mark certifies that a product conforms to an Indian standard (IS) developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards body of India.
According to BIS, the use of soybeans is gaining acceptance in the form of textured vegetable protein (popularly known as soy badi or soy nuggets), soy milk, tofu, soy dahi, etc. To maintain the quality and safety of these soy products, physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters and their test methods are standardized.
Implementation and certification of the Indian standards on soy products will aid in integrating soy products into the Indian diet. Thus, enhanced quality and safety of soy products will benefit the producer by commanding better prices, and the end consumers will receive safe products, enhancing the overall public health.
BIS has published seven Indian standards for soy products like fat soy flour, soy milk, soy nuts, soy butter, and soy amrakhand. The agency is in the process of developing standards for new soy products.