The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an order which stated that Food Testing Laboratories across the country must mandatorily run FSSAI-approved tests for fortificants in food products such as fortified rice (FR), fortified rice kernel (FRK) as well as vitamin-mineral pre-mix for rice kernels. Further affirming the order, the regulatory body mentioned in its statement that these fortificants such as iron, vitamin B12 and B9 in the products must resort to the regulators pre-approved test methods for detection.
These test methods, which were published through orders issued on the dates of 8th September, 2022, 7th November, 2023 and 9th November, 2023 must be put into motion by approved labs with SOP test methods, in tandem with what was already given approval. “The laboratories which will fail to comply with the above mentioned directions will be delisted/ removed from the approved list of laboratories for testing of fortificants (Iron, Vitamin B9 and Vitamin B12) in FR, FRK and Premix for FRK,” the order read.
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The test, which is meant to assess the prospect of micronutrient deficiency in the grains, is a cost-effective method used in countries with high per capita rice consumption. As the second-largest rice producing country in 2016-17, rice fortification is extremely important as a process to restore nutrients which might have been lost from the grains during the harvesting and milling process. For the latest updates on food safety and industry news, visit our website.