Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an extension of free food ration distributions for the nation’s poor till November, but recent government data has also revealed that distributions till date have been ineffective in several major states.
India’s raw turmeric price this year is about 10% lower than last year partly because COVID-19 lockdowns and market closures have led to a surplus, said a major merchant association in India.
India’s edible oil industry has managed to survive the COVID-19 crisis by processing more crude oil to fulfil local demand, and now wants to strengthen its position by banning all refined palm oil imports into the country.
India has repeatedly stressed that the country’s agricultural sector will emerge unscathed from and even achieve growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, but injurious fearmongering and a severe locust threat seem to suggest otherwise.
India’s vegan supplement firm Unived has launched wholly plant-based multivitamins and vitamin B complex capsules to tackle what it believes was a major gap in the local market.
India’s national research institute, the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), will conduct a clinical trial on a zinc supplement that it claims has a higher bioavailability to support recovery in COVID-19 patients.
Concerns that India faces a significant public health risk from counterfeiters making beverages featuring alcohol from hand sanitisers have been voiced by a trade association, which claims the problem is being aggravated by liquor shortages in the country.
The local food industry in India has welcomed the government’s plans to reorganise the local food production sector using a cluster-based approach, believing that this will help to reduce food waste and drive long-term growth.
Researchers in India have developed a new coating from oat and wheat to be used for various fruits that it says can extend shelf life and overcome the country’s cold chain challenges in a cheap and effective manner.
Yoghurt brands in India will need to step up creativity and innovation in varying flavours if they wish to curry favour amongst local consumers, in a market where homemade yoghurt is rapidly gaining ground.
An Indian research institute has developed a range of high protein and fibre foods, including cookies, bread, and rusks specially for COVID-19 patients.
India’s food safety regulatory body Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has insisted that the public need not be concerned about food safety in the country despite a lack of laboratory staff to do food safety testing due to COVID-19 lockdowns...
India-based children’s organic food company, Mimmo Organics, is seeking to expand in the Gulf region with its range of wafers, pasta and juices for six months to two-year-olds.
Almost 10% of grain-based foods labelled as ‘gluten-free’ and over 35% of those that do not contain gluten by nature in India have been found to be contaminated with it, some up to 90 times more than permitted levels.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) has revamped the national food code system for all imported foods into the nation in an attempt to achieve more uniformity with the internationally used HS Code system.
India’s Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) is aiming to put a stop to false claims for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 by setting up a task force to evaluate products and practices.
India recently announced import tariff increases for many food and agricultural products in hopes of encouraging local trade, but the same move is likely to push it even further away from the possibility of entering free trade agreements within the APAC...
The FSSAI has allowed children’s complementary foods companies holding the proprietary license to renew their licenses for a further 12 months, in order to provide more time to meet new standards.
Indian beverage start-up GoliSoda is targeting 250% growth this year, and is banking on its ‘ancient wisdom’-inspired drink range, as well as diversification of its product portfolio to include traditional desserts for success.
In the wake of India’s nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, Coca-Cola India, Nestle India and various other big MNCs in the country have called for F&B manufacturing to be made an ‘essential service’ in order to keep shelves stocked and avoid further...
Branded milk sold in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has seen a 5% increase in adulteration levels despite the implementation of stricter regulations, with 85% of all samples found to be tainted.
An Indian start-up specialising in making protein bread and cookies saw online sales go up by 15% in mid March, with the firm believing consumers are increasingly making more healthy food choices as COVID-19 continues to spread.
Indonesia has relaxed the quality requirements for sugar entering the country to allow Indian supply in, as part of a barter exchange to secure palm oil export access to the latter and to deal with dwindling local supply.
Local F&B companies in India such as Mother Dairy and Parle Products appear to have come out on top in terms of product healthiness in a new listing – but overall, just 16% of all companies’ products have been recognised as ‘healthy’ items in the...
Products from Nestle and Unilever in India have emerged at the top of a list of firms improving the nutritional quality of foods in the country based on criteria from the Health Star Rating (HSR) system used in Australia and New Zealand – but the highest...
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has denied that the recent novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has had any impact on the local meat and fish industry, but said that it intended to ‘leverage’ the crisis to raise hygiene standards...
Researchers are pushing for India to focus on enhancing its production of crops other than rice, the country’s traditional staple, if it wishes to effectively address its triple threats of food security, climate change effects and malnutrition.
Almost US$100,000 worth of well-known spreads were confiscated by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from two local Indian dairy firms for ‘zero cholesterol’ and ‘low cholesterol’ mislabelling violations.
India’s Ministry of AYUSH has attracted criticism from medical experts for suggesting alternative medicines, such as Ayurveda, homoeopathy, and unani practices, could act as immunity booster against the deadly novel coronavirus.
With the food adulteration situation in India showing no sign of slowing down, an authentication expert has argued that food packaging developments can help improve the situation and raise food safety levels in the country.
An ayurvedic botanical-based ingredient has shown to reduce the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, including knee pain and stiffness, according to an eight-week trial involving Indian participants.
Over 25% of food samples in the Indian state of Haryana have been found to fail food quality tests conducted by the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) claiming they are getting better...
Many big F&B brands in India have been making the shift towards the responsible labelling of products, but this is still lacking in smaller local companies – a situation that might be helped by implementing better and stricter labels and regulations,...
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has just released its new Action Plan for Safe and Quality Milk and Milk Products, with the majority of actions targeted at self-testing or self-monitoring by dairy companies, farmers and consumers.
India’s sports nutrition brand MuscleBlaze has launched two new whey protein products that are catered to improve absorption rates in the Indian population.
Kellogg India is collaborating with The Breakfast Revolution (TBR) and Sesame Workshop India (SWI) in an initiative to provide nutritious breakfasts to 100,000 children by 2022.
Smaller packaging for chocolates is gaining traction in India on the back of rising consumer awareness of portion control and health and wellness in the country, and F&B manufacturers have been urged to take advantage of this growing trend.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a set of legislations four years in the making, which would see F&B manufacturers banned from selling or promoting foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) in or around school premises.
Indian fresh produce specialist e-commerce platform FreshToHome is confident that private labelling and high quality are key new trends for the local online shopping scene, driving them to cut out the middle men and go direct-to-producer.
Researchers from India have discovered that a diet high in flavonoids may contribute to the low prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Indian population.
Dairy industry would have suffered if PM Modi signed RCEP deal, experts say
India’s government has bowed to pressure from agriculture, and in particular the powerful dairy industry, and refused to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade deal with 15 other Asia-Pacific countries.
An internationally-backed Indian nanotechnology-based fruit and vegetable shelf-life extension formulation has moved beyond the research phase into commercialisation, claiming to extend freshness by a minimum of two weeks.
Tea Board India has warned manufacturers and sellers of tea and related products that adulterating teas with any form of artificial colouring will see legal action being enforced, stating that there is ‘no provision’ of any sort for using colour in tea.
The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has prosecuted 31 food and beverage manufacturers for adulteration under the National Security Act (NSA), following test results that revealed just 54% of all food samples tested so far to be safe for consumption.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has pointed out supply and demand alignment as one of the key challenges in scaling up food fortification rates in the country.
Indian social enterprise Mrida Group has launched two millet products, Upma and Khichdi, to cope with the growing trends of clean label, nutritious, and ethnically sourced ready to cook (RTC) meals for Indian consumers.
Food and beverage firms in India have been advised to focus on high-protein product innovation, as over 25% of all Indian consumers feel that there is a lack of such items in the country, according to a new report.
