FSSAI enforces stricter antibiotic limits in food products

The new regulations from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) lower permissible levels of antibiotic residues in various food products and expand the list of drugs under surveillance. The changes will take effect on April 1, 2025.

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India’s food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has tightened antibiotic residue norms for various food products like meat, milk, poultry, eggs, and aquaculture, aiming to tackle the critical issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The updated regulations also prohibit antibiotics in honey production and reset contamination limits for chemicals like ochratoxin A and deoxynivalenol in wheat, wheat bran, barley, rye, and coffee.

The initiative seeks to reduce the spread of “superbugs” — drug-resistant bacteria and fungi arising from the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and farming. The revised regulations will come into effect on April 1, 2025.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where microbes evolve to resist antibiotics, is a serious global health threat, and India has one of the highest rates of AMR, particularly in food animals. 

Antibiotics are often used in farming to treat diseases and as growth promoters, leading to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains and their spread into the environment. The last revision of antibiotic residue limits occurred in 2011, necessitating an update.

A report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) highlighted the increasing resistance of common diseases like UTIs, pneumonia, and typhoid to antibiotics, making treatments more challenging. The ICMR report, based on 99,492 samples from 2023, also identified the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture as a key contributor to this growing resistance. It calls for urgent action to protect the effectiveness of essential antibiotics for both human and animal health, underscoring the need for stronger regulations in the agricultural sector.