The Indian Food Safety and Standards Bill 2005, introduced to the Indian Parliament by the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, was recently passed by the parliament's upper and lower houses. According to GCI-Nutrients, which has a division in India, the president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam is expected to sign it into law soon.
Although foreign companies can already export products to India, there will be greater opportunities for marketing tie-ups with Indian companies, said the trade association INHADSA, and a greater array of products available for Indian consumers.
What is more, the new rule is expected to boost the level of science behind products, as it will define the scope of acceptable health and nutrition claims. Such claims will need to be based on clinical trials, protocols, or scientific studies conducted as part of their R&D and product development.
Dr Bhushan Karnik, president of GCI Nutritients-India, said that he expects the new bill to have as much of an impact on the industry landscape in India as did the 1994 Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act in the US.
The bill is intended to identify deficiencies in current monitoring of different food and food-related products. It gives clear definitions of foods for special dietary uses, functional foods, nutraceuticals and health supplements.
Once signed, it will progress to the regulator - either the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Food Processing Industry.
The inclusion of nutraceuticals, supplements and functional foods under the Food Safety and Standards Bill is seen as preferable to a previous proposal, which would have kept them separate from other food forms under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. This proposal however, made in 1994, was defeated.
According to Frost and Sullivan, the Indian food processing sector was worth US$65.5bn (c €51.2bn) in 2005, $20.6bn (€16bn) of which was value-added products. It is expected to grow by around 9 per cent per annum over the next five years.
Aparna Singh, program manager of Frost's Indian chemical, material and food practice, said in a recent paper giving an overview of the country's food industry that nutritional supplements have yet to be embraced by consumers, partly because the lack of a regulatory framework means they are perceived as a "grey area", sitting somewhere between foods and pharmaceuticals.
The new law may therefore have an impact on consumer perception, and have a knock-on effect for the supplements sector at large.
"Disease prevention is… a segment that is poised to grow in the Indian market, given the changes in lifestyle and the increasing occurrence of heart disease, diabetes, stress and obesity, especially among urban middle and upper class consumers," said Singh.
She said that herbal supplements, leveraging against cholesterol concerns and diabetes, have already started to make inroads in this areas - as have edible oils, especially those enriched with essential fatty acids and cholesterol-reducing nutrients.