FSSAI notifies Alcoholic Beverage Standards’ amendment Regulations

FSSAI notifies Alcoholic Beverage Standards’ amendment Regulations The Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) First Amendment Regulations, 2020 MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) vide Gazette ID CG-DL-E-19122020-223813 dated 18th December, 2020 has come up with the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) First Amendment Regulations, 2020 in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 92 (2) (v) of the said Act, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India hereby makes the FSS (Alcoholic Beverages) First Amendment Regulations, 2020 further to amend the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018. Applicability: They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette and Food Business Operator shall comply with all the provisions of these regulations by 1st July, 2021. Key Highlights: 1. These regulation specifying the tolerance limit (alcohol by volume-abv) of ethyl alcohol content, defining the low alcohol beverages, wines, wine based beverages and Indian Brandy. 2. Food Business Operators (FBOs) are required to comply with all the provisions of these regulations by July 1, 2021. 3. Indian brandy shall be made either from neutral spirit or rectified spirit or a mixture of both. 4. On the label, the name 'Indian Brandy' shall be followed by a statement within brackets as 'made from molasses spirit/grain spirit/neutral spirit' with a font size that is easily readable. 5. Tolerance Limit under these regulations the tolerance limit for ethyl alcohol content for up to 20 per cent abv shall be ± 0.3 per cent (-0.5 per cent for up to 90 ml per bottle) and for more than 20 per cent abv it shall be ±1.0 per cent (-1.5 per cent for up to 90 ml per bottle) of the declared strength. In case of wine the tolerance limit shall be ±0.5. 6. Low alcoholic beverage : “Alcoholic beverages containing more than 0.5 per cent abv but not more than 8.0 per cent. abv may be called a low alcoholic beverage. 7. Different types of wines

• Dry Wine, which is a wine that contains upto 0.9 per cent sugar,
• Sparkling wine including Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Semi Dry and Sweet based on sugar content and
• Fortified Wine, which is a wine with high alcohol content achieved by the addition of alcohol (brandy or wine spirits or neutral spirit of agricultural origin) provided a minimum 7 .0 per cent comes from fermentation of grapes, grape must and fruits and used as aperitif or dessert wine.
• Fortified wine may be red or white, dry or sweet.

8. Labelling Requirements: FBOs are required to

• indicate the origin (country or state) of wine and
• declare the range of sugar,
• the generic name of variety of grape or fruit used in descending order of quantity or raw material used,
• geographic origin,
• and vintage year, if such claims are made,
• the name of residues of preservatives or additives present as such, or in their modified forms, in the final product, and declare the name of the place, or region, sub-region or appellation, if 75 per cent the grapes come from that place.

9. Warning on Labels: size of statutory warning shall not be less than 1.5 mm for pack size of upto 200ml and for pack size above 200 ml, size of the warning shall not be less than 3 mm’. Source: https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/notifications/2020/12/5fe0894d618cfGazetteNotificationAlcoholic Beverages21122020.pdf Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to avoid errors or omissions in this material. In spite of this, errors may creep in. Any mistake, error or discrepancy noted may be brought to our notice which shall be taken care of in the next edition. In no event the author shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special or incidental damage resulting from or arising out of or in connection with the use of this information.