The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has rejected product approval applications of Tata Starbucks, Kellogg and McCain due to lack of sufficient supporting documents for safety assessment, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
While 34 products of Tata Starbucks have been rejected which included honey vanilla flavoured syrup, sea salt and red bean sauce, two products of Kelloggs including Kellogg's special K Red Berries and Kellogg's special K Oats and Honey have been rejected.
"FSSAI has rejected product approval applications of Tata Starbucks, Kellogg and McCain due to lack of sufficient supporting documents for safety/risk assessment," Minister of state for Health Shripad Naik said.
The only product of McCain Foods India which was rejected was McCain Battered Pepper and Cheese Bites.
The Minister said that the primary responsibility of FSSAI is to lay down science based food standards, make regulations, regulate imports and undertake coordination with states and UTs on food safety.
The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act 2006 largely rests with states and UnionTerritories. Random inspections of premises and sampling of food items are done by officials of the food safety departments of the respective states and UTs to ensure compliance of the FSS Act 2006, Rules and Regulations.
"In cases where samples are found to be non-compliant, action is taken as per provisions of the FSS Act 2006 by the state authorities or the FSSAI," Naik added.
