Jaivik Bharat: Certification for Organic Food in India

Just like green & red dots on products to signify if they are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in December 2017, introduced the Jaivik Bharat logo to help customers identify authentic organic food.

What is Jaivik Bharat ?

Everyday, the Indian market is flooded with new organic food products, which appear to be healthy & different from normal products. The variety of choices and claims made by each of these products, confuse & worry about the authenticity of their claims and genuineness these products.

Considering the scenario, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced the Jaivik Bharat logo to help customers identify authentic organic food. Any product that has the Jaivik Bharat logo would have to meet specific standards of organic farming. 

Significance of Jaiviki Bharat Logo

The unified logo is an identity mark to distinguish organic food products from non-organic ones supported with the tagline “Jaivik Bharat” at the bottom, which signifies Organic Food from India. Effectively intertwining all the elements of environment, the logo communicates adherence to the National Organic Standards.

The new green logo bears a circle, leaf and a tick mark. The circle represents global holistic wellness, the leaf represents nature, and the tick mark denotes the product as FSSAI certified.

Which legislation regulates the Organic Food in India?

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has the mandate to regulate manufacture, distribute, sell or import “organic foods” as per the provisions laid under Section 22 of the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006. Organic foods are regulated by Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017 notified under the provisions of the Act.

So does that mean, any product that does not have Jaivik Bharat Logo is not Organic or Fake ?

No,

Organic food which is marketed through direct sales to the end consumer by the small original producer or producer organisation is exempted from the provisions of the certification. Small original producer or producer organisation is the one whose annual turnover is not exceeding Rs 12 Lakhs per annum.

Still have doubts ? Read how to identify organic products in India

Indian Organic Integrity Data Base: Webportal

The FSSAI in collaboration with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has also built a web-portal to consolidate all the information in form of “Indian Organic Integrity Data Base”, to help consumers verify the authenticity of organic food. Through this portal, consumers can access information about the producer, the certification system and the availability of certified organic products.