The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a fresh set of thresholds to define food items "high in added fat, added sugar or sodium" for the purpose of regulating what is sold to school children.
According to a draft notification published in the Gazette of India on Sunday, titled the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Amendment Regulations, 2026, seeks to amend the existing 2020 regulations governing food sold in and around schools.
It proposes inserting a new regulation, numbered 7, immediately after the existing provision on monitoring and surveillance, laying down quantitative benchmarks aligned with the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024.
Under the proposed norms, a solid food item would be classified as "high fat" if it contains more than 4.2 grams of added fat per 100 grams, while a liquid item would cross the threshold at more than 1.5 grams per 100 millilitres.
For sugar, the limits are set at more than 3 grams of added sugar per 100 grams for solids and more than 2 grams per 100 millilitres for liquids.
On salt, the draft pegs the "high" category at more than 0.625 grams per 100 grams for solid foods and more than 0.175 grams per 100 millilitres for liquids.
ALSO READ: Diageo Liquor Faces FSSAI Action: 18,000 Boxes Seized Over Recycled Plastic Norms
The notification, issued by FSSAI Chief Executive Officer Rajit Punhani, states that the draft has been framed in exercise of powers under clause (v) of sub-section (2) of Section 92 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with the prior approval of the Central government.
As mandated under Section 92(1) of the Act, the authority has invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders, who have sixty days from the date the gazette copies are made public to submit their responses to the CEO, FSSAI, at FDA Bhawan, Kotla Road, New Delhi, or via email at regulation@fssai.gov.in.
The regulator said all objections received within this window would be duly considered before the rules are finalised.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.