How veg are your cosmetics? red, green dots to soon specify

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On lines of packaged food products, cosmetics and toiletries like face wash, soaps, shampoos and toothpastes will soon carry a brown/red or green dot indicating the source of the product as vegetarian or non vegetarian.

A proposal in this regard was recently cleared by India's highest drug advisory body, the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), said a senior official in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

"The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) cleared the proposal regarding mandatory labelling of cosmetic products and toiletries with a brown/red and green dot on Wednesday.To incorporate the changes, the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, will have to be amended," the senior official said.

A notification in this regard is expected to be issued in another six months.

According to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr S Eswara Reddy, the people belonging to Jain community and the department of Consumer Affairs have been demanding labelling of cosmetics and toiletries with a brown/red and green dot indicating non vegetarian or vegetarian origin for quite some time.

Currently, packaged food products sold in India are required to be labelled with a mandatory mark indicating whether source of the product was vegetarian or non-vegetarian,