Regulations explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
These opening provisions of the Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales Regulations, 2011 fix when the Regulations began, define two terms, and list the mixtures and adulterated products that no person may sell. Regulation 2.1.1 is the first of the sales bans: milk with added water, ghee with matter not drawn from milk fat, turmeric with a foreign substance and similar items. Businesses that want a product range checked against these bans can use FSSAI compliance support.
This article reads the text as amended up to 23 May 2026 (FSSAI Compendium Version XI dated 02.04.2025, consolidated to the notification of 17 October 2024, and the notification of 23 May 2026 omitting regulation 2.3.14(8)). FSSAI compendia are reference consolidations; the Gazette text prevails. Later notifications should be checked on fssai.gov.in.
Regulation 2.1.1 bars any person, by himself or through a servant or agent, from selling the products listed in it. The list covers milk containing added water, ghee with matter not exclusively from milk fat, skimmed milk sold as milk, a mixture of edible oils sold as an edible oil, vanaspati with ghee or any other substance added, turmeric with a foreign substance, coffee mixed with anything except chicory, and dahi not made from boiled, pasteurised or sterilised milk. Clause (1) is omitted and clause (11) was added for mustard oil in multi-source edible oil. The text names no penalty itself. Shops, dairies, oil packers and caterers are all covered.
Regulation 1.1: title and commencement
Regulation 1.1.1 gives the short title: the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulations, 2011. Regulation 1.1.2 says the Regulations come into force on or after 5th August, 2011. These Regulations are made under the Act's rule-making power, which our post on section 92 and 93 of the FSS Act explains that power.
Regulation 1.2: the two definitions
Regulation 1.2 has two definitions, each applying "unless the context otherwise requires".
| No. | Term | Meaning as printed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "ingredient" | any substance, including a food additive, used in the manufacture or preparation of food and present in the final product, possibly in a modified form |
| 2 | "Industrial trans fatty acids" | all the geometrical isomers of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids having non-conjugated, interrupted by at least one methylene group, carbon-carbon double bonds in the trans configuration; it excludes trans-fatty acids from dairy, meat, fish and their products |
The second definition was inserted by the notification of 2 February 2021 (note 12 in the compendium). It matters for the limit in regulation 2.3.14(21), covered in our article on clauses 11 to 20 of regulation 2.3.14.
Regulation 2.1.1: who is bound and what is banned
The regulation opens with "Notwithstanding the provisions of 2.7 of labelling and packaging regulations", then says no person shall either by himself or by any servant or agent sell the listed items. That cross-reference is to the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011. Those 2011 regulations have been replaced by the Packaging Regulations, 2018 and the Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020; see our articles on those instruments in this series.
| Clause | What may not be sold |
|---|---|
| (1) | Omitted (footnote 4 in the compendium) |
| (2) | milk which contains any added water |
| (3) | ghee which contains any added matter not exclusively derived from milk fat |
| (4) | skimmed milk (fat abstracted) as milk |
| (5) | a mixture of two or more edible oils as an edible oil |
| (6) | vanaspati to which ghee or any other substance has been added |
| (7) | turmeric containing any foreign substance |
| (8) | mixture of coffee and any other substance except chicory |
| (9) | dahi or curd not prepared from boiled, pasteurised or sterilized milk |
| (10) | milk or a milk product specified in the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, 2011 containing a substance not found in milk, except as provided in the regulations |
| (11) | any multi-source edible vegetable oil containing mustard oil manufactured on or after 8th June, 2021 |
Clause (11) was inserted by the notification of 8 March 2021 (note 13).
Reading the list in practice
Each clause describes the product as sold. The test is what the sold item contains or how it is described. A dairy that tops up a can of milk with water, a trader who sells a blend of groundnut and sunflower oil as a single named oil, or a spice seller whose turmeric carries a foreign substance each falls within a clause. The words "by himself or by any servant or agent" mean the owner cannot avoid the ban by pointing to a counter assistant.
Take an invented example. Sharma Dairy Traders sells loose dahi made from raw milk that has not been boiled. Clause (9) bars exactly that product. If the same dairy sold dahi from boiled milk, clause (9) would not apply.
The provisos after the list
Three provisos follow the list.
- Soluble coffee extracts. The Central Government or the Food Authority may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt any preparations made of soluble extracts of coffee from the operation of the regulation.
- Proprietary food. Proprietary food articles, as defined in sub-regulation 2.12.1 of the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, 2011, relating to clauses (8) and (10) of 2.1.1, are exempted. This proviso was added by an amendment in the compendium (footnote 1). A further proviso, marked "Omitted", sits next to it.
- Multi-source edible oil. The prohibition in clause (5) remains inoperative in respect of Multi-Source Edible Oil specified under clause 24 of sub-regulation 2.2.1 of regulation 2.2 of the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, 2011, and Multi-Source Edible Oil shall not be sold in a package weighing more than 15 litres.
The third proviso links clause (5) with clause (11) and with regulation 2.3.14(11). Read together, a blend may be sold as multi-source edible oil, in the packs the Regulations allow, but not as one named oil. Our sister article on edible oil standards sets out the product standard.
How these regulations are laid out
The remaining Chapter 2 provisions sit in three groups:
| Regulation | Subject | Article |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | admixtures prohibited (this article) | 001 |
| 2.2 | Kesari gram and its mixtures | Khesari dal restriction |
| 2.3.1 to 2.3.13 | specific prohibitions | Specific prohibitions |
| 2.3.14 | conditions for sale, clauses (1) to (21) | two articles in this series |
| 2.3.15 | vegetable oil and fat | one article in this series |
For a general overview of the whole instrument see prohibited substances in food. For the Act's meaning of sub-standard and unsafe food, see section 3 of the FSS Act on sale of sub-standard and unsafe food.
Who is affected
Dairies, milk vendors, ghee and edible oil packers, spice and coffee traders, and retailers are the plain targets. Because the ban applies to "any person", an e-commerce seller or a restaurant that sells the listed product falls in too. Food businesses that want help reading these bans against their own product range can ask our team through FSSAI compliance support.
Need help with sales prohibitions?
If a product in your range sits close to one of the clauses above, a short review of the label, the blend and the packaging usually settles it before a sample is drawn. Our FSSAI compliance support service covers product and label checks against the Prohibition Regulations for manufacturers, packers and traders.
Key takeaways
- Regulation 2.1.1 lists products no person may sell, whether personally or through a servant or agent.
- Clause (1) is omitted; clause (11) bars multi-source edible vegetable oil containing mustard oil manufactured on or after 8th June, 2021.
- Coffee mixed with chicory is the only coffee blend left outside clause (8).
- A proviso keeps multi-source edible oil outside clause (5), with packs not above 15 litres.
- The cross-reference to the 2011 Packaging and Labelling Regulations now points to the 2018 and 2020 Regulations.
Read next
- Regulation 2.2: the restriction on Kesari gram (khesari dal)
- Regulations 2.3.1 to 2.3.13: specific prohibitions
- Prohibited substances in food under FSSAI rules
- Section 3, FSS Act: sale of sub-standard and unsafe food
Disclaimer: Based on the FSSAI regulations named above as consolidated in FSSAI's compendium versions or as published in the Gazette, with the later notifications the article names (consulted on fssai.gov.in on 2-3 October 2026). Later notifications and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 provisions referred to should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.