The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 — back to Table of Contents
Section 22. Genetically modified foods, organic foods, functional foods, proprietary foods, etc.
Except as otherwise provided under this Act, no person may manufacture, distribute, sell or import novel food, genetically modified food, irradiated food, organic food, foods for special dietary uses, functional foods, nutraceuticals, health supplements, proprietary foods or other notified categories.
Foods for special dietary uses/functional foods/nutraceuticals/health supplements are specially formulated products addressing a particular physiological condition or disease, differing significantly in composition from ordinary food, and may contain botanicals, vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, animal-derived substances, or supplementary dietary substances. Such products must be labelled as such, not represented as conventional food, offered only in oral dosage forms, must not be a drug or Ayurvedic/Siddha/Unani medicine, must not claim to cure or mitigate disease except as permitted, and must not contain narcotic or psychotropic substances.
“Genetically engineered or modified food” covers food and ingredients composed of, containing, or produced from genetically modified organisms; “organic food” means food produced under specified organic-production standards; and “proprietary and novel food” means food for which standards have not been specified but which is not unsafe and contains no prohibited ingredients.
