FSSAI extends deadline for trans fat reduction in edible oils

New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has extended the deadline for the enforcement of its recent gazette notification which caps the amount of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and fats to 3% from the current permissible limit of 5% from January 2021 to April this year.
The deadline to reduce trans fatty acid to 2%, however, remains the same - January 1, 2022.

"In view of representations received from the industry and to facilitate smooth transition from the industry to the new norms for the trans fatty acids (TFAs), it is directed that the enforcement for the limit of 3% by weight shall commence w.e.f. 1st April, 2021, and for such products manufactured on or after 1st April 2021," the authority said in its recent notification.

The edible oil industry has cited the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns as a reason for it it's inability to prepare for the reduction of trans fat.

The country’s food regulatory body notified the amendment to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations on December 29, more than a year after it issued a draft on the subject for consultation with stakeholders.

The revised regulation applies to edible refined oils, vanaspati (partially hydrogenated oils), margarine, bakery shortenings, and other mediums of cooking such as vegetable fat spreads and mixed fat spreads.

The step to reduce trans fat came after the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for global elimination of trans fats by 2023.

Even though the regulation came into effect immediately, industry players were made to take a pledge back in 2018 that they would comply with WHO’s call for action to reduce TFA by 3% by 2021 allowing them three years to comply with the latest regulation.