Food Safety Authority comes out with new regulations for beer and bread

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon come out with fresh regulations for two important everyday consumption items - bread and beer.

Beer brands will have to disclose the calorie count per bottle or can while bread makers will be allowed to label products as 'multigrain', 'whole wheat', and 'brown' bread only if the items have specified amount of multigrain or whole wheat in them, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal said.

"With disclosure of calorie count on bottles, consumers can opt for lower calorie beer," he told ET.


At present beer containers mention the alcoholic content by weight.

A bread can be labelled whole wheat if it contains at least 75% whole wheat, brown bread if it contains 50% whole wheat, multigrain if it has 20% multigrain, and garlic bread if it has at least 2% garlic in it, Singhal said.

Both regulations to be notified in the next two to three months.

Last year, the regulator came out with a directive that all liquor bottles will carry cautionary messages of "Drinking is injurious to health" and "Don't drink and drive" on their labels, similar to the one on tobacco or cigarette packets.

The food authority had in 2018 notified a separate regulation for alcoholic drinks called the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulation, 2018 that applies on all distilled alcoholic beverages (brandy, country liquor, gin, rum, vodka and whisky, liqueur or alcoholic cordial), wines and beer.

FSSAI has signed memorandums of understandings (MoUs) with several states to strengthen the food safety and security systems.