On Monday, the FSSAI recalled the recent advisory issued to food businesses to stop suggesting that their products include ‘A1’ and ‘A2’ milk and products derived from them. This decision came after the regulator was to undertake other consultations with the stakeholders on the matter.
A2 Milk Background The companies that will be briefly described are A1 and A2 milk companies There are a number of companies in the industry but for ease and simplicity of the study, we will focus on these two companies. There is a difference in the type of beta-casein protein in A1 and A2 milk and this depends with the type of breed of the cows. They have been used by the food business in a bid to map a difference between the two types of milk with special health benefits. Still, as mentioned earlier, FSSAI does not differentiate between the two in its current set of regulations.
Withdrawal of the Advisory
It was announced in the new advisory of September 4 2024 that FSSAI had withdrawn the earlier advisory of August 21, 2024on the account of further consultations. This means that food businesses are able to go on making and promoting food with various descriptions regarding ‘A1’ and ‘A2’ milk for the mean time.
Previous Advisory Details
The original advisory saw FBOs request to remove any ‘A1’ and ‘A2’ statements from their food items. Indeed, e-commerce platforms were forced to remove such claims on products listed on their online shopping sites. The reason was that these claims did not tally with the Food Safety and Standards Act, of 2006.
