Following uproar, FSSAI withdraws order to use the word “dahi” on curd packet

After the uproar over the insistence on the use of the word “Dahi” prominently as the nomenclature on the curd packet marketed by milk federations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday withdrew the order.

After the uproar over the insistence on the use of the word “Dahi” prominently as the nomenclature on the curd packet marketed by milk federations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday withdrew the order. In fresh changes to labelling provisions, FSSAI has enabled the use of Curd prominently and its nomenclature in regional languages in brackets.

Following the order, the milk federations have been allowed to use Curd prominently and use its regional nomenclatures as Mosaru, Thayir, Perugu, Zaamt Daud and Dahi in brackets.

The Hindu in its Wednesday’s edition had highlighted the challenges before Karnataka Milk Federation to use Dahi as prominent nomenclature after several Kannada groups opposed the FSSAI order. In the same letter, the Joint Director (Science and Standards) had asked the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd. Aavin to use Dahi since Curd as the prominent nomenclature had been dropped earlier.

The FSSAI had notified provisions for omission of the term curd from the Standards of Fermented Milk Products through a January 11, 2023 notification. The labelling standards came under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011 and the milk federations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala had been asked to use Dahi as the nomenclature that had been opposed. Following which the FSSAI had issued clarification asking federations to use regional nomenclatures in brackets along with Dahi.

Thursday’s order by FSSAI to use Curd in the labelling came after severe criticism from prominent political leaders, including Tamil Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and BJP Tamil Nadu president Annamalai among others. Besides, linguistic groups had also raised concern over the use of Dahi prominently that was seen as an effort to impose Hindi among the non -Hindi speaking population in Southern states.