Food safety requirements
To acquire and maintain food licensing, the FSSAI requires that every food business operator (FBO) to plan and implement a Food Safety Management System (FSMS), in compliance with the 2011 Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses Regulations, and has prepared separate guidance documents for different sectors to assist compliance. The Regulatory Compliance Division works with State/UT Food Safety Commissioners to ensure these requirements are followed.
Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers are required to draw samples of licensed products from time-to-time to verify that they meet safety standards. Failing to meet the standards would imply that the FSMS has not been properly implemented by the business.
The data collected from sample testing and analysis is collated in an annual report on food safety enforcement released by the body.
The data from 2018-19
Out of the total 1,06,459 samples that were analysed by the Authority this year, 30,415 samples (28.5 per cent) were found to be non-conforming to the safety standards. 3,900 samples (3.7 per cent) were found to be unsafe, 16,870 (15.8 per cent) were found to be sub-standard, and 9645 (9 per cent) had labelling defects.
In their press release, while stating that there should be zero tolerance to unsafe food, the FSSAI said that reducing sub-standard products and labelling defects will more capacity building for food businesses, food standards as well as labelling requirements.
The Authority indicated that many of the poorly performing states have not been able to put in place full-time officers for food safety and do not have proper food testing laboratories, despite the food safety law coming into force over a decade ago.
Finding non-adherence to the safety requirements entails a revocation of the FBO’s food license. Depending on the gravity of the non-conformity, the FSSAI also pursues civil or criminal cases against them.
There has been a 36% increase in civil cases launched and a 67% increase in the number of cases where penalties were imposed. As far as criminal cases are concerned, there has been 86% increase in criminal cases launched – 701 convictions.
The importance of enforcement
FSSAI notes that food safety issues extend beyond food adulteration.
In 2015, the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) of the World Health Organization identified 31 foodborne hazards. It estimated that these 31 hazards would have likely resulted in 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths in 2010.
The group found that the global burden of food borne by two of these diseases (FBD) is comparable to those of the major infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The most frequent causes of foodborne illness were diarrheal disease agents, particularly norovirus and Campylobacter spp. Diarrheal disease agents, especially non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica, were also responsible for the majority of deaths due to FBD. Other major causes of FBD deaths were Salmonella Typhi, Taenia solium and hepatitis A virus.
Hits and misses
CNBC reported that FSSAI is in the process of stepping up scrutiny on food-related advertisements across television, digital and print mediums by forming a committee of internal and external experts, consisting of members from the advertising and food and regulatory space. The objective of the screening process will be to check the credibility of claims by companies, said the sources, it noted.
The New Indian Times reported that With Aflatoxin-M1and antibiotic residues emerging as a major contaminant in milk, the FSSAI has proposed various preventive and corrective actions, including extensive capacity building at primary production levels in the milk sector after finding cancer-causing substance Aflatoxin M1 in 20 milk samples.
In December 2017, Quartz India reported on an audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) which raised several concerns over clearances and testing of food, the lack of equipment, and a shortage of staff across various testing labs affiliated with the FSSAI.
It also questioned the lack of guidelines and procedures to regulate the use of certain food items. “The audit revealed systemic inefficiencies, including delays and deficiencies in the framing of various regulations and standards,” the CAG report noted.
In response to the controversy, FSSAI acknowledged its shortcomings, but said, “CAG report should, however, be seen in the context of the huge and complex task at hand and the fact that FSSAI is a new and evolving organisation and it faces severe constraints of manpower and resources.
In July 2018, the Centre for Science Environment (India’s leading research organisation) released a study in which they found that more than 20 packaged food products which have been illegally genetically modified (GM) are being sold openly in the market to unsuspecting consumers.
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