Food laws and standards

By Dr. Mita Sinhamahapatra | Indira Gandhi National Open University

Learners enrolled: 2462

The course has been designed to acquaint with the national and international food laws. The course is meant for all the stakeholders of the food chain i.e. producer, procurer, transporter, processor, distributor, retailer, exporter/importer and regulator. The country took a revolution in Food Safety and Quality with the new scientific based food laws and standards designated as Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 followed by its Rules and Regulations, 2011. The continuous improvement in enforcement and their harmonization with Codex standards have laid the foundations and templates for safe and hygienic food.

The course has four major components: Indian Food Regulatory Regime; Global Scenario; Export and Import Laws and Regulations and Other Laws and Standards Related to Foods.

The Indian Food Regulatory Regime covers the salient features of New Act Food safety and Standard Act, 2006 and its Regulations, 2011. The Global Scenario deals with international standards setting bodies like Codex Alimentarius Commission and WTO implications. The salient features related to Export and Import Laws and regulations; BIS and AGMARK are also covered.

The course is delivered through 40 video lessons in a span of about 12-16 weeks. Every week, learners will have to go through the video lessons. The video lessons are supported by the self learning material. In addition, a number of web links will be provided to support the study materials and to get the updated information. Self assessment questions will be provided after each lesson. Learners have to complete the assignments after going through major sections of study material.

The course on Food Laws and Standards will help in enhancing the competences in following areas:

Salient features of Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 and its Rules and Regulations.
Important features of Codex and its scientific principles and relevance to national standards.
Specify the requirements with respect to import/ export of food products.
Importance of AGMARK and BIS.
Ensure the safety and quality of food products as per mandatory legal requirements and voluntary standards including export regulations if required.

The course shall be useful to those who are working in the food processing industry and who wish to have specialization in the area of food safety and quality management.

Credit Course: 4

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	16 weeks
Category :	Agricultural and Food Engineering
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Diploma
Start Date :	01 Feb 2022
End Date :
Enrollment Ends :	15 Mar 2022
Exam Date :

Page Visits

Course layout

Food Laws and Standards: Layout
Introduction	1.	Food Science
	2.	Food Microbiology
	3.	Basics of Food Safety

Indian Food Regulatory Regime	4.	Repealed Acts and Orders: Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and Rules (PFA) and Orders under Essential Commodities Act
	5.	Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006:
	6.	Food Safety Regulation and Rules Regulations: Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses ;Food Products Standards and Food Additives ; Prohibition and Restriction of Sales; Packaging and Labelling;, Contaminants, Toxins and Residues; Laboratory and Sampling Analysis; Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Use, Food for Special Medical Purpose, Functional Food and Novel Food; Food Recall Procedure; Import; Approval for Non-Specific Food and Food Ingredients; Organic Food; Alcoholic Beverages; Fortification of Food, Food Safety Auditing; Recognition and Notification of Laboratories; Advertising and Claims; Packaging; Recovery and Distribution of Surplus food; Recruitment and Appointment; Food Safety and Standards Rules.
	7	Sanitary and Hygienic requirements: Part I - Petty Food Business Operators; Part –II General Requirements for Food Business Operators, Part –III Milk and Milk products; Part- IV Meat and meat Products, Part- V : Catering Food Safety Guidelines during COVID 19:
	8.	Food Safety and Management System: Guidance Documents of FSSAI
	9.	Food Testing: Methods of Analysis of various Products
	10.	Other Initiatives of FSSAI : Training-FoSTaC, Safe and Nutritious Food ( SNF), Testing, online platforms, and other activities related to awareness and training

Global Scenario	11.	Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC): Structure of Codex, Scientific Basis, Harmonization of National Standard with Codex
	12.	WTO Implications: SPS and TBT agreement
	13.	Other International Standard Setting Bodies: ISO, OIE, IPPC, AOAC, ASTM, EU and USFDA Food Safety and Quality Requirements: HACCP, ISO 22000, GFSI and BRC National Agencies for Implementation of International Food Laws and Standards

Export and Import Laws and Regulations	14.	Foreign Trade Policy
	15.	Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963, Export Inspection Council
	16.	Export Promotional Bodies: APEDA, MPEDA,CEPC
	17.	Plant and Animal Quarantine
	18.	Customs Act and Import Control Regulations

Other Laws and Standards Related to Foods	19.	Legal Metrology Act, 2019
	20.	Voluntary National Standards: BIS and AGMARK
	21	Other Laws Related to Food Products: Consumer Protection Act, Environment Protection Act,

Books and references

Course MVP-002: Food Laws and Standards of “PG Diploma in Food Safety and Quality Management” programme being offered by School of Agriculture, IGNOU.
Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Regulations 2011.
https://www.fssai.gov.in/home
Codex e-Learning Centre (http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/capacity_elearning_codex_ en.asp)
Custom Act

Instructor bio

Dr. Mita Sinhamahapatra

Indira Gandhi National Open University

Dr. Mita Sinhamahapatra obtained her Masters in Veterinary Sciences Degree and Ph. D in Animal Products Technology and Marketing from West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences. She received University Merit Scholarship at Bachelor, Masters and Ph. D level. She had worked as Senior Research Associate in WBUAFS for 2 years in the AICRP project. She has been working in IGNOU as Assistant Professor for last 13 years and teaching courses in Undergraduate and Post graduate level. She is coordinating the following academic programmes: i. Diploma in Meat Technology (DMT) ii. PG Diploma in Food Science and Technology (PGDFT) iii. Diploma in Animal Husbandry (DAH) iv. PG Certificate in Gender, Agriculture and Sustainability Development (PGCGASD) (jointly with Dr. G. Uma, SOGDS, IGNOU). Her areas of interest include Livestock Products Technology, Meat Science, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing and Food Safety. She is associated with the project on “Creation of infrastructural facilities for running PG Diploma in Food Science and Technology” under the Scheme for Human Resource Development of Ministry of Food Processing Industries, GoI. She has also been associated with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for harmonization of Food Standards and conducting FOSTAC training programmes. She has conducted training programmes for meat and poultry processing sectors, food safety officers and supervisors and poultry farmers.

Course certificate

The passing criteria for this course is as follows:
(a) Final Examination: 70% in the Final Examination
(b) Internal Assessment: 30% :The weightage to Internal Assessment is 30% and shall be calculated from the Assignment Quizzes. The highest 10 assignment quizzes marks will be considered.
Passing Criteria: 50% in Final Examination, Internal assessment and Overall .

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