Fish and 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.
Regulation 2.6 has two sub-regulations. Sub-regulation 2.6.1 sets 25 standards for fish and fishery products, from frozen shrimp and finfish to canned fish, smoked fish, fish oil, fish sausage and pasteurised crab meat. Sub-regulation 2.6.2 sets limits for naturally occurring formaldehyde by species group. Processors, exporters and cold-chain operators 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.
Frozen fish products are frozen only when the thermal centre reaches minus 18 °C or lower, and the label must show storage at minus 18 °C or lower. For species associated with histamine, raw material for frozen finfish, fillets and canned fish must not contain more than 100 mg/Kg of histamine. Formaldehyde limits run from 4.0 mg/kg for Group I marine fish to 100 mg/kg for frozen stored marine fish products. Additives follow Appendix A and microbiology follows Appendix B.
Frozen products: clauses 1 to 5, 9, 15, 17 and 21
| Clause | Product | Key points as printed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frozen shrimp | raw or cooked, peeled or unpeeled; freezing is complete only at minus 18 °C or lower at the thermal centre; glazing water must be potable (IS 10500) or clean sea-water |
| 2, 3 | Frozen lobsters; frozen squid | the lobster product may not be a mixture of species; no food additive is allowed in frozen squid (the entry for squid and lobster also shows omitted sub-parts) |
| 4 | Frozen finfish | with or without head, viscera removed completely or partly; histamine not more than 100 mg/Kg for listed families |
| 5 | Frozen fish fillets | cut parallel to the backbone; may be boneless if pin-bones are removed; histamine rule as for finfish |
| 9 | Frozen cephalopods | squid, cuttlefish and octopus families |
| 15 | Frozen minced fish meat | bone content 1.0 per cent by weight; colour, texture, odour and flavour characteristic of the species |
| 17, 21, 22 | Frozen clam meat; fish sticks and portions; scallop products | each has its own definition and defects list |
A note applies to clauses 1 to 5: the product must be frozen quickly so that the range of temperature of maximum crystallisation is passed quickly, kept deep frozen through transport, storage and sale, and processed and packaged to minimise dehydration and oxidation. Repacking under controlled conditions followed by a second freezing is permitted. The histamine rule applies to the families named in the text, such as Clupeidae, Engraulidae and Scombridae.
Salted, canned and smoked fish: clauses 7, 8, 10, 11 and 16
- Dried salted fish (clause 7): water activity (aw) at 25 °C less than 0.78; salt (sodium chloride) not less than 12 % for dry salted products; histamine not more than 200 mg/Kg for dried or dry-salted fish from listed species; acid insoluble ash on dry basis not more than 1%.
- Canned fishery products (clause 8): finfish (sardine, tuna, mackerel, seer fish, pomfret), crustaceans (shrimp or prawn, crab) and molluscs (mussels, squid), packed in own juice, brine, water, oil, tomato sauce or curry. The raw fish must not contain more than 100 mg/Kg of histamine. A table gives drained weight as a percentage of water capacity (for example 70 for tuna in oil and 64 for shrimp in brine), disintegrated portion at a maximum of 5 per cent, a headspace of 5-10 mm, and an exterior that is not rusted, dented or bulged. Sodium chloride in canned sardine and mackerel in brine is 3.5 per cent.
- Smoked fishery products (clause 10): smoked, smoke-dried and smoke-flavoured fish, with defined hot and cold smoking, smoke condensates and a requirement that smoking minimises polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Smoke drying aims at water activity of 0.75 or less (10% moisture or less). The label must declare storage and handling instructions.
- Ready-to-eat fish curry in retortable pouches (clause 11): commercially sterile curry in pouches; no artificial colouring matter or firming agents; disintegrated portion not more than 5 per cent of drained mass; a table of pouch strength parameters.
- Freeze dried prawns (clause 16): defect limits, such as nil deterioration and nil black spots.
Powders, pickles, oils and other products: clauses 12 to 14, 18 to 20 and 23 to 25
| Clause | Product | A few parameters exactly as printed |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Fish oil | acid value not more than 3 mg KOH/g; peroxide value not more than 5 milliequivalent of active oxygen/kg oil; anisidine value not more than 20; ToTox not more than 26 |
| 13 | Edible fish powder | moisture not more than 10 per cent by weight; crude protein 65 |
| 14 | Fish pickles | sodium chloride not more than 12.0 per cent by weight; acidity as acetic acid of fluid portion 2.5-3.0 |
| 18 | Live and raw bivalve molluscs | dead or damaged product not more than 5% by count; live bivalves must be alive when sold |
| 19 | Sturgeon caviar | own standard |
| 20 | Fish sauce | total nitrogen not less than 10 g/l; salt not less than 200g/l as NaCl; pH between 5.0 and 6.5 |
| 23 | Pasteurised fish sausage | fish mince proportion 65% minimum; fat 8% maximum |
| 24 | Pasteurised crab meat | chilled below 3 °C; only certain phosphates at a maximum level of 10mg/kg |
| 25 | Gelatin from fish processing waste | Type A or Type B by method; moisture in the range of 8-13% |
Fish oil (clause 12) covers named fish oils (anchovy, tuna, krill, menhaden, salmon), cod liver oil, concentrated oils and ethyl esters. Refined fish oils must not contain trans fatty acids, excluding two named isomers, of more than 2.0 % by mass. The table prints a fatty acid composition for each named oil; fish liver oil must show vitamin A of not less than 40 µg of retinol equivalents/ml and vitamin D of not less than 1.0 µg/ml, and labels declare the species and the EPA and DHA content. The fish sausage clause requires transparent food grade containers.
Sub-regulation 2.6.2: formaldehyde
This sub-regulation, inserted by the amendment of 11 January 2023, limits the amount of naturally occurring formaldehyde, in mg/kg, by group.
| Group | Fish covered | Limit, mg/kg, maximum |
|---|---|---|
| I (marine) | all finfishes listed, elasmobranchs, crustaceans and molluscs except those in Groups III and IV | 4.0 |
| II (freshwater origin) | freshwater finfishes, crustaceans and molluscans | check the figure in the Gazette text; the compendium copy does not print it legibly |
| III (marine) | lizard fishes and other marine fishes not in Group I | 8.0 |
| IV (frozen stored marine) | all frozen stored marine fish products | 100 |
Our sister article on histamine in fish covers the contaminants-side histamine limits.
A practical example
Coastal Seafoods packs frozen mackerel fillets. Mackerel belongs to the Scombridae family, so the raw material must not contain more than 100 mg/Kg of histamine, and the freezer must bring the thermal centre to minus 18 °C or lower. The pack label shows storage at minus 18 °C or lower. For cold-chain and contaminant questions, see our sister article on natural toxins, PCBs and PAH, and for the licence see our post on fish and meat processing licences.
Need help with fish standards?
Our team can match each product to its clause and prepare the licence application through FSSAI registration for food manufacturers. The overview of fish and seafood standards gives the wider picture, and our article on meat, poultry and egg products is the previous chapter.
Key takeaways
- Frozen fish products reach minus 18 °C or lower at the thermal centre.
- Raw material for frozen finfish, fillets and canned fish may not exceed 100 mg/Kg of histamine for the named families.
- Canned fish has a table for drained weight, disintegrated portion and headspace.
- Fish oil carries acid, peroxide, anisidine and ToTox limits.
- Formaldehyde limits range from 4.0 to 100 mg/kg by group.
Read next
- Regulation 2.5: meat, poultry and egg products
- Fish and seafood standards under FSSAI
- Histamine in fish: contaminants regulations
- Licence for meat and fish processing
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.