Health Alert! India Categorises Packaged Drinking Water As ‘High-Risk Food’

India has categorised packaged drinking water and mineral water as "high-risk food."
The step taken by India’s food regulator FSSAI – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India - indicates that these products will now undergo more stringent safety checks through regular inspections and audits. 
This reclassification comes a month after the government's decision to remove the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification requirement for packaged water.
Under the new guidelines, manufacturers and processors of packaged water must undergo thorough inspections before receiving a license or registration. 
The guidelines, effective from November 29, stipulate that all such manufacturers must also pass third-party food safety audits and adhere to stricter quality norms. Central license holders in this category are subject to annual inspections to reduce health risks associated with water production.
This regulatory shift comes after changes to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011, which previously eliminated the BIS certification mandate for specific food products.
This has come after the food safety regulator declassified dairy-based beverage mixes, cereal-based beverage mixes and malt-based beverages from being categorised as health drinks.