Unveiling Ayurveda Aahara and regulatory provisions

Food is vital for human health, providing energy, nutrients, and other essential benefits. Ensuring food safety is of the utmost importance and crucial, as highlighted by the World Health Organization, for maintaining proper nutrition. Ayurveda , the oldest living holistic healthcare system, emphasizes equally on wellness as well as therapeutic aspects by proposing its unique dietetic principles ( Aahara ) as a probable solution. This could also be observed since the demand for plant-based Ayurvedafood products is surging substantially. To uphold quality, safety, standards, and efficacy in Ayurvedafood products, the Ministry of Ayush and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have taken the joint initiative to include a new category, that is, Ayurveda Aahara , under the ambit FSSAI regulations in May 2022. An attempt has been made to integrate Ayurveda food-related principles with contemporary scientific understanding within the regulatory framework, which is expected to strengthen India’s global position as a custodian of Ayurveda wellness practices through dietetics, thereby contributing toward United Nations Development Programme that is Sustainable development goals related to human health and wellbeing. In this manuscript, the data were collected from various online and offline sources.