Food safety

FSSAI clarifies the use of blends of edible oils intended to be sold as intermediary ingredients

agronfoodSeptember 28, 2022

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now issued clarification regarding the blends of oils that are used as intermediary ingredients and as customized emulsions, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and blends of oils are needed for specific technological applications in other products and are typically traded between businesses (B2B).

Customized emulsions, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and blends are required for specific technological uses in other products and are usually transacted between B2B. 

According to the FSSAI, the blends of oils/emulsions/hydrogenated vegetable oils intended to be used as an intermediate product in the manufacture of products by food businesses may be allowed subject to compliance with conditions.

The following conditions must be complied with by the food businesses:

  • Such licences may be granted for the purpose of B2B sales only. The retail sale of such products is strictly prohibited. The manufacturer of such products must ensure that they do not enter markets for consumer sale, either by themselves or by the end-user FBO to whom they are supplied. The responsibility for misuse/diversion of these products for sale to consumers should lie with the manufacturer.
  • Such licenced products shall only be sold for B2B purposes in unit packs of not less than 500 ml or 500 g and shall have proper labelling declarations for non-retail containers specified under the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020. In addition, each such individual pack shall clearly specify ‘Not for sale to consumers’ or ‘Intermediate product for use in formulating another product’ on the label.
  • Both the manufacturer and the user of such intermediate products shall maintain all records in respect of their inventory and supplier/manufacturer details and produce the inventory records as and when sought by the Food Authority or any other officer authorized by it.

An undertaking for compliance with the above-cited conditions must be submitted by the manufacturer to the respective licencing authority before the issuance of the license.