Excise dept looks to ensure that liquor manufacturers adhere to safety norms

Kolkata: The state Excise department is bent upon ensuring foolproof safety during preparation of country spirit and foreign liquor, in the wake of complaints of unhygienic manufacturing of the same. There have also been reports of not demineralising the water that is used to dilute spirit for manufacturing country spirit.

"Liquor has been declared as food by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and so it comes under the ambit of the regulations framed by FSSAI in connection with food safety. The Excise Commissioner has directed stakeholders to ensure safety at the time of manufacturing liquor, to comply with the FSSAI regulations," said a senior official of the state Excise department.

An order in this regard has recently been issued by the Excise Commissioner. It directs that the lubricant used in and around the distillation unit for procurement of spirit and the manufacturing of any kind of liquor including beer at the brewery shall have Unites States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) or NSFH1 certification.

It further orders that to avoid the formation of calcium oxalate in the bottles of country spirit, demineralised water should be used for dilution, to make it potable at the time of manufacture.

"The brand owners or suppliers desirous of supplying any kind of liquor by way of import to the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Ltd. shall have to submit a certificate to the corporation, stating that the supply of liquor intended is produced in a plant that has used food grade lubricant and demineralised water," the official added.

The order issued in this regard will come into effect from June 1, 2019, so that all licence holders of factories across the state of all kind of liquor make necessary arrangements in their respective units to strictly adhere to the orders and ensure that the standards of FSSAI are met.