Packaged Drinking Water among 'Highest Risk Food Category': FSSAI

[ABS News Service/03.12.2024]

Packaged drinking water is often considered to be the safest option to beat the thirst in case of unavailability of safe drinking water. But, what if you are told that it is one of the most unsafe items and is of highest risk to cause a problem? Yes, you read it right. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently decided to treat the packaged drinking and mineral water segment as a “High Risk Food Category” and subject it to mandatory inspection and third-party audit norms.

As per latest reports, FSSAI has said, "As a consequence of the omission of the mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for certain products, it has been decided that ‘Packaged Drinking Water and Mineral Water’ will be treated under ‘High Risk Food Categories.’”

In its order, the regulator noted that it has made amendments in its Risk-Based Inspection Policy to include the packaged drinking water and mineral water categories. With this, manufacturers of packaged drinking water and mineral water will undergo risk-based inspection once every year. They will also undergo inspection before the grant of a license or registration.

In its order dated November 29, the regulator noted that the inspection of manufacturers or processors of food categories, for which the mandatory BIS certification requirement has been removed, will now be required before the grant of a license or registration.

“It is reiterated that all centrally licensed manufacturers under high-risk food categories shall get their businesses audited annually by an FSSAI-recognised third-party food safety auditing agency. The list of high-risk food categories now also includes packaged drinking water and mineral water,” the food safety authority’s order added.

As per reports, earlier, the packaged drinking water industry had urged the government for simplified compliance norms. They had requested the government to remove the condition of obtaining mandatory dual certification from both the Bureau of Indian Standards and FSSAI.