FSSAI stands for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. In 2006 the Ministry of Health &Family Welfare, Government of India introduced, The Food Safety & Standards Act, to improve the hygiene and quality of food which has brought tremendous amount of changes in the food industry. As per the Act, no person shall commence or carry on any food business except under a FSSAI license or FSSAI registration.
Types of FSSAI License
Based on the turnover, scale of business and the type of activity the food business can obtain FSSAI registration or FSSAI license for themselves. Following are the criteria specified in rules in this regard-
FSSAI Registration
FSSAI registration is required for all petty food business operator. Petty food business operator is any person or entity who:
• Manufacturers or sells any article of food himself or a petty retailer, hawker, itinerant vendor, juice stall, sweets shops or temporary stall holder; or
• Hawker selling packaged or freshly prepared food by travelling on movable cart or foot from one location to other.
• Small scale or cottage or such other industries relating to food business or tiny food businesses with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs 12 lakhs and whose:
- Production capacity of food (other than milk and milk products and meat and meat products) does not exceed 100 kg/ltr per day or
- Procurement or handling and collection of milk is up to 500 litres of milk per day or
- Slaughtering capacity is 2 large animals or 10 small animals or 50 poultry birds per day or less.
FSSAI State License
Any person or entity that does not classify as a petty food business operator is required to obtain a FSSAI license for operating a food business in India. Some of the types of entities that require FSSAI state license are:
- All grains, cereals, pulses milling units without any limit on production capacity
- Club/Canteen
- Caterers having turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product marketers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
- Food retailers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
- Food suppliers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product distributors with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product wholesales with a turnover of upto Rs.30 crores per year
FSSAI Central License
Large food manufacturers / processors / transporters and importers of food products require central FSSAI license. Some of the types of entities that require FSSAI central license are:
- Five star hotels
- Restaurants with a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Caterers with a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Selling food products through e-commerce
- Registered office of food business operators having operations in two or more state
- Food business activity in premises belonging to Central Government Agencies
- Departmental Canteens at the premises belonging to Central Government Institutions
- Food business activity in Airport or Seaport
- Food business activity in Railway Stations
- Food product marketers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product retailers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product suppliers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product distributors with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
- Food product wholesalers with turnover of more than Rs.30 crores per year
- Proprietary or novel food manufacturers
Benefit Of FSSAI
- Consumer Awareness:
Today consumers are a lot more aware of the standard of food that they eat. People not only want to know whether what they are consuming is safe but also if the food is of the specific quality. FSSAI license provides you with an extra advantage as it increases consumer’s confidence in your product - FSSAI Logo:
Once you have the license, you can use the FSSAI logo in your menu cards, pamphlets, social media, etc in order to publicize your food’s superior quality over others. This, gives you an edge over the many food operators who are not having the food license. All the packaged food are required to have an FSSAI number. The logo is seen as a mark of validity and assurance by the consumers. It helps you in developing a brand name. - Food Quality:
According to a report there are more than 5 crore food businesses in the country while only 33 lakhs of them are registered with FSSAI. The importance of the quality standard is ever growing and it is beneficial in the short as well as in the long run for your business in order to have an FSSAI license.
- Business Expansion: FSSAI License can help you in expanding the business, establishing your reputation and also it gives you the to grow your business in a new direction with ease.
- Legal Benefit:
Generally,people identify getting an FSSAI license as an expensive and time-consuming process, thus they try to avoid getting the license. But, in reality, the process is not so cumbersome and ValueTax can help you get the license with ease. The actual cost which is required in order to achieve the license is less than what you will have to pay for it as the penalties if you are caught. It is thus advisable for any businessman to firstly get the license before you even officially open your business.
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