The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently taken action against food business operators (FBOs) who are selling misleading products in the name of ghee and butter or by using other dairy terminologies to lure consumers.
FSSAI’s deputy director Rakesh Kumar, on Jan 23, 2023, issued a directive to all the commissioners of food safety and all the regional directors to immediately check the labels of such products being manufactured and/ or sold under their jurisdiction including on online platforms or websites and take enforcement actions against such FBOs who are selling such plant-based products as ghee, butter etc or making claims for vegan foods/ logo without prior approval.
This action is taken as it has come to FSSAI’s notice that certain FBOs are using dairy terms for their non-dairy products like ‘plant-based ghee/ butter, vegan ghee/ butter etc’ which are available in the market and on e-commerce platforms/ websites.
The FSSAI’s action comes two days after Dr RS Sodhi, President of the Indian Dairy Association, claimed that marketing plant-based products such as butter and ghee, is the highest form of consumer fraud.
According to Dr Sodhi, no individual or business will be allowed to refer to plant-based products using names like ghee, milk, yoghurt, or cheese. This action would protect the interests of dairy farmers while also making the right product available to consumers.
The directive issued by FSSAI titled “on misleading products in the market in name of ghee/ butter” states that such products are of non-animal origin and are usually the blend/ mixtures of two or more edible oil/ hydrogenated fats and naturally identical flavours etc.
Such products are being sold deceptively as “vegan-ghee” whereas as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Vegan Foods) Regulations, 2022, ghee, butter etc cannot be claimed to be vegan foods and the use of vegan food claim and vegan logo are permitted only after the prior approval of the food authority.