Food has been packed for many centuries in various ways, traditionally in glass and metal containers. Packaging of food started to protect it from damage, protect it from direct exposure to sunlight, for preservation, convenience of transportation, to increase the shelf life and also for giving information related to food and branding.
With the urbanization and change in life style the Food Packaging Industry has become very dynamic and is changing as per the requirements of the consumer. The fast growing fast food industry and ‘take-aways’ are becoming part of a familiar lifestyle.
On January 3, 2019, The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) announced new regulations with respect to food packaging. The Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 replace the packaging provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011. New labelling regulations have been published separately. Food businesses had until July 1, 2019 to comply with the new regulations and these are now already in effect.
TUV India brought some of the top names in the food & packaging industry along with key officials of FSSAI together for a technical seminar on “Unwrapping the new Food Packaging Regulations mandated by FSSAI” on 4th October 2019 at TUV India Food Testing Laboratory, TUV India House, Pune.
The Seminar commenced with a warm welcome note from team TUV India along with brief address by Mr Tarang Koppal, Vice President, Food Testing Services, TUV India. Ms Sonia Nandre, General Manager, TUV India Food Testing Laboratory, Pune gave a run through on Food Testing Laboratory Infrastructure and Capabilities.
Dr Yogesh Kamat, Director FSSAI, Western Region and Dr. K U Methekar, Deputy Director FSSAI graced the occasion with their presence. Both of them addressed the audience and appraised them on new FSSAI regulations for Food Packaging.
Our expert speaker Mr.Atin Chaudhari (Member of BIS Expert Committee & DGM- Corporate Technical Services at Huhtamaki PPL Ltd.) conducted a very interesting session on packaging standards and regulations. Participants were keen to go into the details of this topic and they actively raised several queries which Mr Atin addressed with his remarkable responses.
Amit Bahadur Singh, Product Head, Material Testing, TUV India took the session ahead with details on Laboratory Analysis & Capability of Food Contact Material with regards to prevailing regulations and Global Scenario.
Compliances, Audits and Certifications related to food packaging are an integral part of food safety assessment. Ms Asha Sridhar, Deputy General Manager, Food Safety Services presented some key aspects about food certification for packaging industry.
The technical sessions were followed by a laboratory visit where the participants were shown actual testing and analytical processes. Participants were quite enchanted with TUV India’s technical strength and state of art infrastructure.
Key personnel of many food packaging companies from Pune, Mumbai, Baramati and surrounding areas spared the time to attend this seminar. All the participants expressed their satisfaction with the quality and content of this seminar and also conveyed their willingness to be part of such forums even in future.
TUV India looks forward to organizing more such knowledge sharing seminars not only on Food Testing technology but also on various other diverse aspects of quality and safety in coming future.
