The SPs are constituted by the Food Authority under Section 13 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act) for the purpose of developing standards, and also to provide scientific opinion/inputs to the Food Authority, as and when sought. The Food Authority can establish as many SPs as it deems necessary. The FSS Act clearly provides the term, number of Members, and eligibility criteria for selection of Members of SPs. Currently, there are a total of 21 SPs covering aspects related to particular food commodities (called the vertical panels; e.g., milk and milk products) and aspects that span across different commodities (referred to as horizontal panels; e.g., pesticides residues in food commodities). List of SPs is provided below :
SP Nos. |
Name of Scientific Panel |
|
SP Nos. |
Name of Scientific Panel |
SP-01 |
Food additives, Flavourings, Processing aids & Materials in contact with food |
SP-12 |
Fruits & Vegetables |
SP-02 |
Pesticides Residues |
SP-13 |
Meat & Meat Products, poultry |
SP-03 |
Antibiotic Residues |
SP-14 |
Milk & Milk Products |
SP-04 |
Genetically Modified Organisms and Foods |
SP-15 |
Oils &Fats |
SP-05 |
Functional foods, Nutraceuticals, Dietetic Products and Other similar products |
SP-16 |
Sweets, Confectionery, Sweeteners Sugar &Honey |
SP-06 |
Biological Hazards |
SP-17 |
Water & Beverages |
SP-07 |
Contaminants in the Food Chain |
SP-18 |
Nutrition and Fortification |
SP-08 |
Labelling and Claims/Advertisements |
SP-19 |
Spices and Culinary Herbs |
SP-09 |
Method of Sampling and Analysis |
SP-20 |
Packaging |
SP-10 |
Fish and Fisheries Products |
SP-21 |
Alcoholic Beverages |
SP-11 |
Cereals, Pulses & Legume and their products (including Bakery) |
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