NEW DELHI: India has categorised packaged drinking water and mineral water as “high-risk food.”The step taken by India’s food regulator indicates that these products will now undergo more stringent safety checks through regular inspections and audits.The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) announced the reclassification following the government’s October decision to remove the requirement for Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification from these products.Under the updated guidelines, manufacturers and processors of packaged drinking and mineral water must now pass mandatory inspections before obtaining a licence or registration.The move is effective immediately following an order dated on November 29.As per the order, manufacturers need to undergo mandatory third-party food safety audits and comply with enhanced quality standards. Central licence holders in this category must now submit to annual inspections aimed at mitigating potential health risks associated with packaged water production.These inspections will take place before they are granted a licence or registration.The reclassification by the FSSAI follows recent amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, which previously removed mandatory BIS certification requirements for certain food products.The order said that “other food products for which BIS certification was mandatory are already identified as high-risk categories under FSSAI’s risk-based Inspection Scheduling policy..”The reclassification is designed to strengthen consumer protection and maintain rigorous quality control in the packaged water industry.”It is reiterated that all centrally licenced manufacturers under the High-Risk Food Categories shall get its business audited by FSSAI recognised third party food safety auditing agency every year,” the order signed by Rakesh Kumar, Director (Regulatory Compliance Division), said.”The list of High-Risk Food Categories now also includes Packaged Drinking Water and Mineral Water,” said the order marked to all the state Commissioners of Food Safety, FSSAI regional directors and central licensing authorities among others.This has come after the food safety regulator declassified dairy-based beverage mixes, cereal-based beverage mixes and malt-based beverages from being categorised as health drinks.
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