New Delhi: The Centre has strengthened food safety enforcement across the country through expanded testing infrastructure, regulatory monitoring, capacity building and consumer awareness initiatives, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav informed the Lok Sabha.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified a network of 259 NABL-accredited food testing laboratories for analysing food samples. It has also notified 24 referral laboratories for testing appeal samples.
In addition, 305 Mobile Food Testing Laboratories, or “Food Safety on Wheels”, have been deployed across the country for on-the-spot testing, distribution of rapid testing kits and awareness programmes, particularly in remote areas.
Under the SoFTeL (Strengthening of Food Testing System in the Country including provision of Mobile Food Testing Labs) scheme, 47 State Food Testing Laboratories have been structurally upgraded with advanced analytical equipment and facilities.
The government said around 98% of food business operators (FBOs) fall under the jurisdiction of State and Union Territory food safety authorities. These authorities conduct regular surveillance, inspections, sampling and targeted enforcement drives to ensure compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
FSSAI also regularly reviews the performance and vacancies of Food Safety Officers through various forums, including Central Advisory Committee and Inter-State Zonal Council meetings.
To improve consumer awareness, FSSAI has launched campaigns such as #NoToAdulteration and #HarLabelKuchKahtaHai, encouraging people to identify adulterated food and understand nutritional information, ingredients, allergens and date markings.
The DART (Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test) book provides 44 simple household tests for detecting adulteration in products such as milk, oils, sugar, food grains and spices.
FSSAI has also introduced the Food Safety Magic Box, a portable testing kit used in schools to help students identify common adulterants in milk, spices, oils and grains through hands-on activities.
