FSSAI urges states & UTs to discourage practice of packing toys & gifts with food products for infants & small children

New Delhi, July 31 (KNN) Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a notification to all states and Union Territories to discourage the practice of packing of toys/gifts  with food products for infants and small children as they can be ingested accidently.

In a notification FSSAI said, “Considering the safety of public at large, there is a need to discourage food businesses from providing any toy or gift item inside the food packages especially in case of food which is likely to be ingested directly by an infant or a small child. Such promotional free toys or gift items may be provided separately or packed separately.”

Also, it is desirable that the colour, texture and nature of toy or gift item should not at all resemble the food product inside food package, FSSAI added.

It said, “As per section 3(1) zz(xi) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006  ‘Unsafe Food’ means an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health ‘by virtue of its being mis-branded or sub-standard or food containing extraneous matter’.

Commissioner of Food Safety of all States/UT’s are requested to make efforts for generating awareness amongst all stakeholders to discourage the practice of packing of such toys/gifts with food products for infants and small children, said FSSAI.