Proprietary Foods

There is no specific list of Proprietary Foods, the food articles are considered as proprietary food if there is no such existence of standards for them in FSSAI regulations.

Proprietary Foods means an article of food that has not been standardised under Food Safety & Standard Regulations, but does not include any Novel foods, functional food, Food for special dietary uses, food for special medical purposes, Nutraceuticals, Health supplements & such other food articles, which the Central gov. may notify in this behalf.

They can be made from standardised products like milk or milk products, cereals, eggs, meat and meat products, vegetables and fruits, nuts, etc. Eg. RTC products like chips,Snacks, Namkeens,  instant coffee & tea premixes, instant noodles, Spice mix for different preparations, instant mix. etc

Some Properties of Proprietary foods are as listed:

•  These foods shall contain only those ingredients, other than additives, which are standardised under FSSR or permitted to use in the preparation of these standardised foods. These food articles may also contain Vitamins & minerals in quantities not exceeding one RDA for the respective micro-nutrients.
• Proprietary food shall use only such additives and at such levels, as specified for the Category or Subcategory, to which the food belongs.
• Proprietary food shall comply with the microbiological requirements as specified in Regulations. If no microbiological standards are specified for any foods or food categories in  these regulations, proprietary foods falling under such food categories shall not contain any pathogenic microorganism at a level that may render the food product unsafe. 
• No health claims shall be made in respect of proprietary foods either on the product label or otherwise, unless it is substantiated by adequate and scientific evidence.
• “The Food Business Operator shall be fully responsible for safety of the proprietary food in respect of human consumption.”.