The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced new packaging requirements for pan masala, specifying plastic-free materials that can be used to package the product and ruling out plastic, aluminium foil and metallised layers from the permitted packaging options.
The changes were notified through the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Amendment Regulations, 2026, published in the Gazette of India on Monday (August 10).
The amendment modifies the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 by adding pan masala as a new entry under Schedule 4, which deals with the list of suggestive packaging materials.
Under the new provisions of the FSSAI, which comes under the Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, pan masala can be packaged in paper, paperboard, cellulose or other naturally derived materials, but these materials must be completely free from plastic.
The notification specifically states that the packaging cannot contain polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or any other synthetic polymers, copolymers or laminates.
The restriction goes beyond conventional plastic packaging. The specified paper and naturally derived materials must also be free from aluminium foil and metallised layers. This means packaging that uses a paper-based outer material but contains plastic or metallised layers within the packaging would not meet the material specifications set out in the amendment.
FSSAI has also permitted manufacturers to use tin or glass containers for pan masala. These are listed separately as permitted packaging options under the new entry.
The amendment further states that certain provisions of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, will also apply to pan masala packaging.
The regulations come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. FSSAI notified the final amendment after completing a consultation process on the proposed changes.
The authority had first published the draft Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Amendment Regulations, 2026, on April 28, inviting objections and suggestions from people likely to be affected by the proposed regulations.
The draft was open for public feedback for a period of 60 days.
FSSAI said the objections and suggestions received from the public in response to the draft were considered before the final amendment was issued.
The final notification was issued under the powers granted to FSSAI under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, with the previous approval of the Central Government.
The notification is specifically a packaging regulation.
It does not announce a ban on pan masala as a product. Instead, it adds pan masala to the packaging schedule and specifies the materials that can be used for its packaging.
The new rules therefore place the focus on moving pan masala packaging away from plastic-based materials.
Manufacturers using paper, paperboard, cellulose or other naturally derived materials will have to ensure that these materials contain no plastic, synthetic polymer, copolymer or laminate and do not use aluminium foil or metallised layers.
The other packaging alternatives explicitly listed by FSSAI are tin and glass containers. With the amendment coming into force upon publication, these provisions now form part of the amended Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018.
Source: India Today