FSSAI Sets Stricter Rule for Antibiotics in Food Items

India's food safety regulator has tightened antibiotics residue norms for meat and meat products, milk and milk products, poultry, eggs and aquaculture, lowering the permissible levels and placing more drugs on its watch list.

The move is aimed at tackling the growing problem of 'superbugs', which are bacteria and fungi that have developed resistance to antibiotics and other medications due to drug 'misuse'.

The revised limits, notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently, will come into effect from April 1, 2025.

"If enforced strictly, the regulations will ensure safer food products for consumers by setting stricter residue and contaminant limits across a variety of food items and help in dealing with antimicrobial resistance," said George Cheriyan, working president of Consumers Protection Association (CPA).

The FSSAI has also prohibited the use of antibiotics during honey production and reset the limit of the chemicals ochratoxin A and deoxynivalenol in wheat, wheat bran, barley, rye and coffee.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is caused when microbes evolve into drug-resistant 'superbugs' in response to the presence of antibiotics, is considered one of the top threats to health and development. India has one of the highest rates of resistance to antimicrobial agents used both in humans and food animals.

Antibiotics are usually used in the farming sector to treat diseases in animals, Cheriyan said, adding that using antibiotics as growth promoters is resulting in the development of antibiotic-resistant strains and the release of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment.

The maximum residue limits for antibiotics were last set in 2011. Cheriyan said they now need a revision.

A recent report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that diseases like urinary tract infections (UTIs), blood infections, pneumonia, and typhoid have developed resistance to commonly used antibiotics, making treatment more difficult.

It calls for immediate action to combat the rising threat of antibiotic resistance and stresses the need for tighter regulations on antibiotic use.

The report, based on data from hospitals and clinics across India from January 1 to December 31, 2023, analySed 99,492 samples from public and private healthcare centres and highlights a concerning rise in antibiotic resistance and decreasing susceptibility of common bacteria.

The report also pointed out the misuse of important antibiotics in agriculture, which accelerates resistance. It stressed that stronger steps are needed to safeguard the effectiveness of essential antibiotics for human and animal health.