Regulations 2 3 35 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.
Regulations 2.3.35 to 2.3.47 are the standards for preserved and dried produce: dehydrated and frozen fruits and vegetables, beverage mix, chutneys, pickles, table olives, desiccated coconut, vinegar, and a long list of nuts, raisins and dried fruits. Pickle makers, frozen food packers and dry fruit traders will find their product here. Makers can start with FSSAI registration for food manufacturers.
This article reads the text as amended up to 21 October 2024 (FSSAI chapter compendium consolidated to amendment 83; the amendment of 10 July 2025 does not change this chapter). Later notifications should be checked on fssai.gov.in. A compendium is a reference consolidation; the Gazette text prevails.
Pickles must have a drained weight of not less than 60.0 percent in citrus juice, brine, oil or vinegar, with a sodium chloride minimum of 12.0 percent when packed in brine. Frozen produce is frozen only when the thermal centre reaches minus 18 °C. Vinegar, brewed or synthetic, must have acidity of not less than 3.75 percent. In pickles, the word "copper" was omitted by the amendment of 21 October 2024. Additives follow Appendix A and microbiology follows Appendix B.
Dehydrated and frozen produce: 2.3.35 to 2.3.40
- Dehydrated fruits (2.3.35): moisture not more than 20 percent m/m; powders must flow easily and have no agglomerates.
- Dehydrated vegetables (2.3.36): moisture not more than 8.0 percent for all dehydrated vegetables and 5.0 percent for vegetable powders, acid insoluble ash not more than 0.5 percent, and a negative peroxidase test.
- Frozen fruits and frozen vegetables (2.3.37, 2.3.38): frozen in blocks or individually quick frozen. Freezing is not complete until the product temperature has reached minus 18 °C at the thermal centre. Frozen vegetables must test negative for peroxidase.
- Frozen beans, cauliflower, peas and spinach (2.3.38.A to 2.3.38.D): each has a product definition, styles that must be labelled (for beans: whole, cut, short cut, sliced), a table of visual defects with sample sizes, and defined terms. Frozen peas must have alcohol-insoluble solids of not more than 23 per cent; frozen spinach must have dry matter, excluding salt, of not less than 5.5 per cent. None may contain added colour.
- Frozen curried vegetables (2.3.39): culinary preparations frozen to the same minus 18 °C rule.
- Fruit based beverage mix (2.3.40): a powder with moisture of not more than 5.0 percent and fruit juice content of not less than 5.0 percent when reconstituted as directed.
Chutneys (2.3.41, 2.3.42)
Fruit and vegetable chutney is cooked with nutritive sweetener and may contain salt and spices. The standard prints total soluble solids of not less than 50.0 percent for fruit chutney and not less than 25.0 percent for vegetable chutney and hot and sour (spicy) chutney, fruit and vegetable content of not less than 40.0 percent, pH of not more than 4.6, total ash of not more than 5.0 percent and ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid of not more than 0.5 percent. Mango chutney (2.3.42) has the same figures for soluble solids (50.0) and fruit content (40.0). The fill rule does not apply to bulk packs for industrial use.
Pickles (2.3.43)
Pickles are preserved fruits, vegetables or other edible plant material, including mushrooms, in salt, acid, sugar or a combination. The product may contain onion, garlic, ginger, jaggery, oil, chillies, spices, lime juice, vinegar, citric acid and dry fruits, must not contain mineral acid, alum or synthetic colours, and must show no sign of fermentation. The text records that a word was omitted by the amendment of 21 October 2024.
| Pickle type | Parameters printed |
|---|---|
| In citrus juice or brine | drained weight not less than 60.0 percent; sodium chloride not less than 12.0 percent in brine; acidity as citric acid not less than 1.2 percent in citrus juice |
| In oil | drained weight not less than 60.0 percent; pieces practically submerged in oil |
| In vinegar | drained weight not less than 60.0 percent; acidity of vinegar as acetic acid not less than 2.0 percent |
| Without medium | labelled "(name of vegetable or fruit) Pickle" |
For business-level guidance see our post on FSSAI compliance for pickle and sauce manufacturers.
Table olives (2.3.44) and desiccated coconut (2.3.45)
Table olives are classified by ripeness (green, turning colour, black) and by processing (natural, treated, dehydrated or shrivelled, darkened by oxidation), with styles from whole to stuffed. The packing brine table sets a minimum sodium chloride content (6.0 per cent for natural olives, 5.0 per cent for treated olives) and a maximum pH of 4.3. Drained weight must be not less than 50.0 per cent for whole olives and 40.0 per cent for stoned and stuffed olives, and stuffed olives are labelled "olives stuffed with ...".
Desiccated coconut was substituted by the amendment of 21 February 2023. It is white to light creamy white and sold as powder, flakes, chips or shreds. The table prints moisture of not more than 3.0 per cent, total acidity of the extracted oil as lauric acid of not more than 0.3, and oil content of not less than 60.0 where no oil is extracted and 35.0 to 60.0 where it is partially extracted. A product with oil of 35 to 60 per cent is labelled "Reduced Fat Desiccated Coconut".
Vinegar (2.3.46)
Brewed vinegar comes from alcoholic and acetic fermentation of fruits, malt, molasses, jaggery or sugar cane juice and may not be fortified with acetic acid. It needs acidity (m/v) of not less than 3.75 percent as acetic acid, total solids of not less than 1.5 percent and total ash of not less than 0.18 percent. Synthetic vinegar, made from acetic acid, also needs acidity of not less than 3.75 percent m/v and must be labelled "SYNTHETIC - PREPARED FROM ACETIC ACID". Neither may contain sulphuric acid or any other mineral acid, or colouring other than caramel.
Nuts and raisins (2.3.47)
| Clause | Product | A few parameters exactly as printed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Groundnut kernel | moisture not more than 7.0 per cent |
| 2 | Raisins | moisture not more than 15.0 percent; sugared raisins not more than 15.0 percent |
| 3 | Pistachio nuts | moisture not more than 7.0 percent; unopened shells not more than 2.0 percent |
| 4 | Dates | moisture not more than 30.0 percent |
| 5 | Dry fruits and nuts | extraneous vegetable matter not more than 1.0 percent; acidity of extracted fat as oleic acid not more than 1.25 percent |
| 6 | Almond kernels | moisture not more than 6.0; oil content not less than 45.0 |
| 7 | Cashew kernels | moisture not more than 5.0; FFA (as oleic acid) 1.25 for whole kernels and 2.0 for cut pieces; peroxide value 10.0 meq/kg |
| 8 | Walnut kernels | moisture not more than 5.0; damaged units not more than 4.0 |
Almond, cashew and walnut kernels each have a table of defects such as shrivelled, speckled, split or insect-damaged units, with explanations of the terms. Our article on cereal and grain standards covers the other staples.
A practical example
Mehta Pickles packs lime pickle in oil. A laboratory report gives a drained weight of 58 percent. Under 2.3.43(ii) pickles in oil need a drained weight of not less than 60.0 percent, so the batch falls short, however the jar is labelled. The same company's mango chutney would be checked for soluble solids, fruit content, pH and ash.
Where this leads
The first part of the chapter is covered in our articles on squashes, sauces and jams and the last in coconut milk, cocoa beans, arecanut and edible fungi.
Need help with pickles, chutneys or dry fruit?
Our team can map your product to its clause and check the label before it reaches a shelf through FSSAI registration for food manufacturers.
Key takeaways
- Pickles need a drained weight of not less than 60.0 percent and may not contain mineral acid, alum or synthetic colours.
- Frozen produce must reach minus 18 °C at the thermal centre.
- Brewed and synthetic vinegar both need acidity of not less than 3.75 percent.
- Desiccated coconut with oil of 35 to 60 per cent is labelled "Reduced Fat Desiccated Coconut".
- Nuts and kernels each have moisture and defect limits in a table.
Read next
- Regulations 2.3.16 to 2.3.34: squashes, syrups, ketchup, sauces and jams
- Regulations 2.3.48 to 2.3.65: coconut milk, cocoa beans, arecanut and edible fungi
- FSSAI compliance for pickle and sauce manufacturers
- Regulations 2.4.1 to 2.4.6: atta, maida, besan and food grains
Disclaimer: Based on the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 as consolidated in FSSAI's chapter-wise compendium (to amendment 83 of 21 October 2024) and the First Amendment Regulations, 2025, as 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.