The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on 11th November 2021 has observed that the coffee products available in the market are in violation of the FSSR provisions and are either depicting Coffee-Chicory mixtures as Pure Coffee or are not declaring percentage content of coffee and chicory separately in the mixtures.
The extant FSS(Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 specify standards for Coffee and Coffee-Chicory mixtures distinctly. The coffee content in the Coffee-Chicory mixture shall not be less than 51 percent by mass and every package containing a mixture of coffee and chicory shall declare on its label the percentage content of Coffee and Chicory.
As per FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, ‘Prepackaged food shall not be described or presented on any label or in any labelling manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character in any respect. Further, the FSS(Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 stipulates that the term “pure” shall only be used to describe a single ingredient food to which nothing has been added.
Therefore FSSAI has directed the Commissioner of Food Safety of all States and UTs to ensure necessary compliance of the above FSSR provisions for all such products and take appropriate regulatory action against the FBOs for violating the FSS regulations w.r.t. standards of coffee and coffee-chicory mixture.
