FSSAI rollsback mandatory ‘Dahi’ label on curd packets after backlash

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin alleged ‘Hindi imposition’ by the Centre and hit out at the national food safety authority. He declared those responsible would be ‘banished’ from the southern states

After opposition from regional language-speaking groups and political parties in election-bound Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday revised its earlier order, making it mandatory to use ‘Dahi’ and allowed the use of regional names in printed labels of curd packets.

The FSSAI said the Food Business Operators (FBOs) can use “curd” and in brackets can add the regional equivalent such as “Dahi”, “Thayir” or “Mosaru (Representative Photo)

The controversy erupted after the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), also known as Nandini, board of directors opposed the order alleging “imposition of Hindi.”

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin alleged ‘Hindi imposition’ by the Centre and hit out at the national food safety authority. He declared those responsible would be ‘banished’ from the southern states.

“The unabashed insistence of #HindiImposition has come to the extent of directing us to label even a curd packet in Hindi, relegating Tamil & Kannada in our own states. Such brazen disregard for our mother tongues will make sure those responsible are banished from South forever,” Stalin wrote on Twitter.

“As many representations were received recently on the omission of the terms ‘curd, from the Standards of Fermented Milk Products, it has been decided that FBOs may use the term Curd along with any other designation (prevalent regional common name) in brackets on the label’. Accordingly, Curd can also be labelled as per the following examples: ‘Curd (Dahi)’ OR ‘Curd (Mosaru)’ OR ‘Curd (Zaamut daud)’ OR ‘Curd (Thayir)’ OR ‘Curd (Perugu)’,” the FSSAI said in a press release on Thursday.

The letter from the joint director (Science and Standard), FSSAI dated March 10, stated that the word Dahi will replace the term ‘Fermented Milk’ currently labelled on curd packets.

“The name ‘Fermented Milk’ may be replaced with designations Dahi, and Yoghurt if the product complies with the relevant provisions of this standard,” the letter read.

“In case of fermented products complying with the relevant provisions of Dahi, any other designation (prevalent regional common name) may be used together with the term ‘Dahi’ in brackets on the label,” said the letter.

The directive also comes at a time when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accused of attempting to merge KMF with Amul. In January, Union home minister Amit Shah received backlash from netizens and the Opposition in which he pushed for “cooperation” between the KMF and the Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul) in Gujarat.

Apart from the opposition, the BJP state leaders too have expressed anger. BJP state unit chief K Annamalai has said the notification was not in tandem with the Centre’s policy of promoting regional languages.

“The notification released by FSSAI for the use of (the word) Dahi in curd sachets produced by state-run cooperative societies is not in tandem with the policy of our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl to promote regional languages. We want an immediate rollback of the notification,” he wrote on Twitter.

Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy called the FSSAI’s directive wrong and said, “Knowing that Kannadigas are opposed to the imposition of Hindi, it is wrong for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to order KMF to print Hindi Dahi on the pocket of Nandini Probiotic Yogurt.”

Arun Javagal, a pro-Kannada activist, hit out at the directive and said, that the Union government of India is not only the government of Hindi speakers. “The government is receiving tax from everyone. To increase the unity of India, it should stop acting as the representative of the Hindi language only,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) functionaries trended the Twitter hashtag “DahiNahipoda” (No to Dahi, go on) to oppose “Hindi imposition.”