FPO mark

FPO mark
Expansion	Fruit products order
Certifying agency	Ministry of Food Processing Industries (India)
Effective region	India
Effective since	1955
Product category	Processed fruit products
Legal status	Mandatory
Mandatory since	2006

The FPO mark is a certification mark mandatory on all processed fruit products sold in India such as packaged fruit beverages, fruit-jams, crushes and squashes, pickles, dehydrated fruit products, and fruit extracts, following the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.^[1] The FPO mark guarantees that the product was manufactured in a hygienic 'food-safe' environment, thus ensuring that the product is fit for consumption.

The standards have been in force since 1955 by the law of Fruit Products Order, after which the mark is named,^[2][3][4] but the mark itself got a mandatory status only after the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. An FPO license is, in fact, necessary to start a fruit processing industry in India.^[5] The agency that develops standards for this purpose and that which issues the mark is the Ministry of Food Processing Industries of the Government of India.

References

1. National Institute of Open Schooling. 'Wise Buying.'
2. Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Official web site.
3. Financial Express. 'Now You Can Get FPO Licence Online.'
4. CreatIndia.
5. "Food laws and Regulations".