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ADMA objects to FSSAI draft for listing all ASU ingredients in food category
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Swati Rana, Mumbai
May 28 , 2016
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The Ayurvedic Drugs Manufacturers Association (ADMA) has objected to the
draft notification of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) for listing Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) ingredients in
various schedule of FSSAI notification as all the ASU ingredients
mentioned in Schedules V, VI and VII of the draft cannot be likened to a
food category.
The association has informed the FSSAI that most
of the ingredients mentioned in the schedule V, VI and VII of the draft
are basically the active ingredients of all ASU products licensed in
India either as ASU drugs or ASU Patent & Proprietary Medicines as
per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 & Rules 1945.
A
representative from ADMA says, “Ayurvedic texts clearly differentiate
between food and drug. Somehow this differentiation between a food and a
drug has been missed out in the FSSAI draft. Out of the 313 ingredients
of Schedule V- for Plant or Botanical Source ingredients only 71 belong
to the food category. In case with Schedule VI (Animal Origin
ingredients) there are 7 ingredients out of total 9 which belong to the
food category. Lastly in Schedule VII (mineral or Metal source) only 1
ingredient out of total 19 ingredients belongs to food category.”
Further
he says, “Remaining ingredients which do not belong to food category
cannot be used by the food industry as its usage is against the
principle of ayurvedic. The draft of FSSAI is mixing the ayurvedic
medicinal herbs with food.”
In the recent meeting with FSSAI and
Ministry of Ayush, the ASU industry expressed the problem of export to
be faced by them in future and excise duty to be paid by the industry
will also be high as the new FSSAI food category will enable excise
officials to harass manufacturers of ASU ingredients to pay excise of
12.5 per cent versus present 6 per cent for ASU medicines.
The
association has urged the Ayush ministry to remove word ASU from lists
V, VI and VII and instead replace them with ingredients mentioned in
Schedule I books of the D&C Act-1940 & Rules and to specify
parts of plants which can be considered under food category as one part
of plant may come under drug category and another under food category,
so it is important that the parts are specified.
The association
has also requested that medicinal herbs or drugs not to be considered
as foods category. The significance of listed ingredients in FSSAI List
is that the food industry can manufacture the products without product
approval, if the ingredients are listed in FSSAI. Only, if a company
wants to use any unlisted product then it has to go through the entire
process of product approval.
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