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GOVERNMENTOFINDIA
MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 1093
TOBE ANSWERED ON24th JULY,2026
ADULTERATION IN FOOD ITEMS
1093. SHRI RAJABHAU PARAG PRAKASH WAJE:
Will the Ministerof HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate:
(a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the increasing instances reported from
various parts of the country, including Maharashtra, where inspections have allegedly
detected adulteration and contamination in commonly consumed food items such as milk,
edible oils, spices, sweets, temple prasad, beveragesandotheressential food products, posing
a serious threattopublic health, if so, the detailsthereof;
(b) the details of food samples tested andfound unsafe or adulterated,prosecutions launched,
convictions secured and licences suspended or cancelled under the food safety laws during
the last five years, year-wise andState-wise;and
(c) the measures taken by the Government, including stricter quality standards, enhanced
surveillance, rapid testing infrastructure, higher penalties, traceability systems and a time-
bound national action plan to ensure safe, unadulterated food for every citizen and curb food
adulterationacross the country?
ANSWER
THE MINISTEROFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY
WELFARE
(SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV)
(a) to (c): Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is mandated to lay down
science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage,
distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human
consumption. The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS)
Act, 2006isa shared responsibility between the Central andStateGovernments.To regulate food businesses engaged in the sale of food products, FSSAI has
prescribed standards for various food products under the Food Safety and Standards (Food
Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. FSSAI has also notified Food
Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 which
prescribes limitsfor pesticide residues, heavymetals, toxins, etc.present infood products.
Around 98% of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) fall within the jurisdiction of the
State/UT Food Safety Authorities. Accordingly, the enforcement and implementation of the
provisions of the FSS Act, 2006 primarily rests with the State/UT Food Safety Authorities
within theirrespective jurisdictions.
For compliance with the set standards, limits, & other statutory requirements under
the Act and regulations made thereunder, FSSAI, through its 4 (four) Regional Offices and
State/UT food safety authorities conducts localized/targeted special enforcement and
surveillance drives, inspections and sampling activities for various food products including
milkand milkproductsthroughout the year.If anydeviations from the standards or violations
tothe FoodSafetyandStandardsRegulation(FSSR)have beenobserved, the defaultingFood
Business Operators (FBOs) have been subjected to regulatory actions, including punitive
measures, as stipulated under the FSS Act, 2006 and regulations made thereunder. The
numberof inspectionsconductedagainst the FBOsduring the last three yearsisasbelow:-
FinancialYear NumberofInspection
2023-24 3,57,072
2024-25 4,01,391
2025-26* 5,20,566
*Datafortheyear2025-26isprovisional.
The numberof Licensessuspended andcancelled inlast 5yearsisasbelow:-
Financial TotalSuspended TotalCancelled
Year
2025-26 704 4764
2024-25 769 1679
2023-24 791 1505
2022-23 1100 1715
2021-22 1097 1830
Total 4461 11493Details of enforcement action taken for all non-conforming foods products (including
adulteration) across the country (State wise) including Maharashtra in the last 5 years is
annexedat Annexure-I, II, III, IVandVrespectively.
Measures taken to strengthen the laboratory testing, surveillance and consumer
awareness regardingfood safety standards across the country are as:
For the safety of the food and food products through testing, FSSAI has notified 259
National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for
analysis of food samples and24Referral Food Laboratoriesfor the analysis of appeal
samples. These laboratories belong to the States/UTs, various Government
Institutions/Departments and private entities. FSSAI provides technical and financial
support to the State Food Safety Authorities, to strengthen the food testing
infrastructure in States& UTs. FSSAI hasalso providedassistance underthe scheme
“Strengthening of Food Testing System inthe Country including provision of Mobile
FoodTesting Labs'' (SoFTeL)to variousStatesandUTs.
To strengthen the laboratory capacity, from 2017 to till date FSSAI has conducted
222 training programmes for its notified food testing laboratories in which 3937
participantshave been trained.
Mobile Food Testing Laboratory (MFTL) or “Food Safety on Wheels” (FSW)
ensures the widest outreach for food testing, training and awareness programme,
especially inthe villages, towns andremote areas. Currently, 305FSWs are deployed
across 35States/UTs.
The "Magic Box" is a compact and user-friendly kit containing simple, rapid test
methods to detect common food adulterants in seven different food commodities. It
aims to identify adulteration in everyday food items such as milk, spices, oils, and
grains.
Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART) book covers 44 tests that can be
performed easily at household level with the help of water and simple solutions like
tincture of iodine for food products like Milk & Milk Products, Oils & Fats, Sugar&
Confectionary, Food Grains & its products, Spices & Condiments etc. These tests
also include sensory evaluation tests for establishing authentication of food products.
DART book depicts the differences between pure and adulterated food product
through pictorialrepresentation.
RapidAnalyticalFoodTesting(RAPID) Kits are advanced, easy to use, portable and
handheld devices and don't require any sophisticated equipment or conventionalreagents to conduct the tests. So far, 88 RAFT kits have been approved. These kits
help to reduce the screening time of the food products at the field level and thereby
acceleratesurveillance aswell asmonitoringactivities.
The FSSAI also carries out a nation-wide movement'Eat Right India' with a focuson
preventive and promotive healthcare through social and behavioural change through
State Food Safety Authorities. Financial assistance is provided to the States/UTs for
spreading consumer awareness.
FSSAI has launched various campaigns such as “#No To Adulteration” to raise
consumerawarenessaboutfoodadulterationandhowtoidentifyadulteratedproducts.
These initiatives include advertisements, educational materials, and online platforms
tospread awareness.
Videos “How to Check for Adulteration” on its official YouTube channel, which
includes short videos demonstrating methods to detect adulteration in various food
items, including milk and milk products, edible oil etc. These Information Education
Communication (IEC) materials are available in regional languages too and are
showcased at variouspublic eventsandcampaigns.
Complaints/concerns of consumers and FBO are received through various channels
such as Web portal, Mobile App, FSSAI Helpline, State helpline, Twitter, Facebook,
etc. Complaints on Food Safety Connect Portal is part of the online Food Safety
Compliance System (FoSCoS). Complaints are attended by the respective State food
safety authorities and in cases, where the food samples are found non-conforming,
penal actions are initiated against the defaulting FBOs as per the provisions of FSS
Act, 2006,RulesandRegulationsmade thereunder.
FSSAI is also carrying out an awareness campaign, "#HarLabelKuchKahtaHai", to
empower citizens with label literacy for healthier eating and informed choices. This
initiative educates consumers on key elements like nutritional information (calories,
fats, sugars, protein),ingredientlists, allergen warnings, anddate markings.
******Annexure-I
DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming
foodproducts (includingadulteration)duringthe Year2025-2026
S. State Samples No.of Civil Cases Criminal
No. analyzed Samples Cases
foundNon-
Decidedwith No.of
Conforming
Penalty Convictions
1 AndamanAndNicobarIslands 0 0 0 0
2 AndhraPradesh 5,798 429 196 16
3 ArunachalPradesh 191 10 1 0
4 Assam 1,444 117 0 0
5 Bihar 1,850 94 25 0
6 Chandigarh 603 53 71 17
7 Chhattisgarh 2,065 214 200 2
8 DadraandNagarHaveli&Daman& 151 0 0 0
Diu
9 Delhi 1,684 109 32 16
10 Goa 2,492 321 12 0
11 Gujarat 11,903 824 842 65
12 Haryana 2,335 723 1,424 116
13 HimachalPradesh 1,589 321 359 9
14 Jammu&Kashmir 6,546 664 1,368 14
15 Jharkhand 1,281 356 73 0
16 Karnataka 13,349 537 248 33
17 Kerala 16,746 1,863 1,026 330
18 Ladakh 519 26 12 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
20 MadhyaPradesh 12,448 757 1,790 32
21 Maharashtra 7,694 1,335 2,445 8
22 Manipur 570 0 1 0
23 Meghalaya 388 22 0 0
24 Mizoram 198 1 0 0
25 Nagaland 238 13 0 0
26 Orissa 1,110 61 0 0
27 Puducherry 388 84 0 0
28 Punjab 7,809 1,031 723 25
29 Rajasthan 17,325 4,594 2,695 31
30 Sikkim 418 7 6 0
31 TamilNadu 44,603 3,984 1,359 857
32 Telangana 3,576 398 0 0
33 Tripura 304 14 0 0
34 UttarPradesh 39,519 20,427 14,890 342
35 Uttarakhand 1,937 224 243 5
36 WestBengal 14,737 410 1,837 0
Total 2,23,808 40,023 31,878 1,918
*ThedataforFY2025–26 isprovisional andsubjecttorevisionbasedontheoutcomeof furtherlabtesting
andcourtproceedings.Annexure-II
DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming
foodproducts(includingadulteration) duringtheyear2024-2025
S. State/UT No.of No.of CivilCases Criminal
No. Samples Samples Cases
Analysed foundNon- Decided with No. of
Conforming Penalty Convictio
ns
1 AndamanAndNicobarIslands 810 4 0 0
2 AndhraPradesh 5984 514 464 8
3 ArunachalPradesh 125 9 7 0
4 Assam 1705 234 0 0
5 Bihar 2863 124 25 0
6 Chandigarh 374 65 116 41
7 Chhattisgarh 2069 270 143 6
8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman 56 0 0 0
&Diu
9 Delhi 2624 130 18 16
10 Goa 1172 74 11 0
11 Gujarat 12387 901 859 91
12 Haryana 2233 500 599 59
13 HimachalPradesh 1587 293 471 0
14 Jammu&Kashmir 6955 651 1,239 29
15 Jharkhand 364 138 52 0
16 Karnataka 9371 662 283 32
17 Kerala 10767 1635 1,088 206
18 Ladakh 417 45 38 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
20 MadhyaPradesh 13920 1635 2,597 22
21 Maharashtra 5403 1250 1,147 0
22 Manipur 126 1 2 0
23 Meghalaya 388 5 0 0
24 Mizoram 0 2 0 0
25 Nagaland 223 11 0 0
26 Orissa 2282 273 27 0
27 Puducherry 173 0 0 0
28 Punjab 4131 748 333 8
29 Rajasthan 13840 3788 3,114 30
30 Sikkim 254 0 0 0
31 TamilNadu 18071 2240 1,536 492
32 Telangana 3347 324 125 0
33 Tripura 123 5 0 0
34 UttarPradesh 30380 16500 14,920 215
35 Uttarakhand 1509 140 256 4
36 WestBengal 14502 1217 672 6
Total 170535 34388 30142 1265Annexure-III
Detailsofenforcementactiontakenby theState/UTFoodSafety Authoritiesagainstnon-conforming
foodproducts(includingadulteration) duringtheyear2023-24
S. State/UT No.of No.ofsamples CivilCases Criminal
No. Samples foundNon- Cases
Analysed Conforming
Decidedwith No.of
penalty Convictions
1 AndamanAndNicobar 0 0 0 0
Islands
2 AndhraPradesh 6439 472 646 8
3 ArunachalPradesh 501 11 2 0
4 Assam 1139 125 0 0
5 Bihar 2806 126 79 0
6 Chandigarh 311 49 87 52
7 Chhattisgarh 1373 167 86 2
8 DadraandNagarHaveli& 185 0 0 0
Daman&Diu
9 Delhi 3412 150 36 12
10 Goa 599 16 17 0
11 Gujarat 15841 910 1701 65
12 Haryana 3485 856 593 47
13 HimachalPradesh 1618 401 376 2
14 Jammu&Kashmir 9057 750 1612 22
15 Jharkhand 384 292 59 0
16 Karnataka 5492 286 75 16
17 Kerala 10792 1304 854 134
18 Ladakh 638 11 19 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
20 MadhyaPradesh 13998 2022 1938 46
21 Maharashtra 5087 1174 154 0
22 Manipur 168 3 0 0
23 Meghalaya 123 7 0 0
24 Mizoram 0 0 0 0
25 Nagaland 138 3 3 0
26 Orissa 2003 252 0 0
27 Puducherry 31 0 0 0
28 Punjab 6041 929 1204 102
29 Rajasthan 18536 3493 2181 12
30 Sikkim 231 0 0 0
31 TamilNadu 18146 2237 2195 478
32 Telangana 6156 973 425 0
33 Tripura 87 0 0 0
34 UttarPradesh 27750 16183 14627 163
35 Uttarakhand 1998 192 332 0
36 WestBengal 5948 414 285 0
Total 170513 33808 29586 1161Annexure-IV
Detailsofenforcementactiontakenbythe State/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming
foodproducts(includingadulteration)duringtheyear2022-23
S. NameofState/UT No. of Samples No. of SamplesCivilCases CriminalCases
No. Analysed found Non-
Conforming Convicted withNo. of
penalty Conviction
1 Andaman&NicobarIslands 1200 46 58 0
2 AndhraPradesh 3607 314 339 12
3 ArunachalPradesh 258 11 0 0
4 Assam 602 99 0 0
5 Bihar 2935 92 39 0
6 Chandigarh 473 64 27 8
7 Chhattisgarh 1468 96 119 8
8 Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman 164 10 13 0
&Diu
9 Delhi 3133 255 86 10
10 Goa 699 103 11 0
11 Gujarat 14562 978 547 24
12 Haryana 4445 1425 915 35
13 HimachalPradesh 2720 729 93 1
14 Jammu&Kashmir 13502 1195 1592 15
15 Jharkhand 943 370 44 8
16 Karnataka 3416 322 191 15
17 Kerala 8533 1362 454 33
18 Ladakh 220 6 23 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
20 MadhyaPradesh 12507 2092 1908 71
21 Maharashtra 11077 1340 198 5
22 Manipur 169 4 0 0
23 Meghalaya 409 41 0 0
24 Mizoram 140 0 0 0
25 Nagaland 109 6 0 0
26 Odisha 1368 367 47 0
27 Puducherry 0 0 0 0
28 Punjab 8179 1724 1404 5
29 Rajasthan 13184 3965 2435 4
30 Sikkim 279 0 4 0
31 TamilNadu 24188 7924 3714 678
32 Telangana 4809 894 315 0
33 Tripura 31 8 0 0
34 UttarPradesh 30140 18108 13148 251
35 Uttarakhand 1839 342 507 5
36 WestBengal 6203 334 233 0
Total 177511 44626 28464 1188Annexure-V
DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conformingfood
products(includingadulteration)duringtheyear2021-22
S. NameofState/UT No.of No.ofSamples CivilCases Criminal
No. Samples foundNon- Cases
Analysed Conforming
Convictedwith No.of
penalty Conviction
1 Andaman&NicobarIslands 850 4 5 0
2 AndhraPradesh 5290 533 484 6
3 ArunachalPradesh 108 2 0 0
4 Assam 520 67 5 0
5 Bihar 555 17 75 0
6 Chandigarh 388 28 60 1
7 Chhattisgarh 1436 180 90 6
8 DadraNagarHaveli&Daman&Diu 234 0 7 0
9 Delhi 1956 218 89 27
10 Goa 200 14 2 0
11 Gujarat 13663 824 668 14
12 Haryana 4235 1182 78 21
13 HimachalPradesh 1745 308 249 0
14 Jammu&Kashmir 8109 1735 1931 4
15 Jharkhand 175 85 42 8
16 Karnataka 5844 150 125 0
17 Kerala 7855 925 237 10
18 Ladakh 47 19 12 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
20 MadhyaPradesh 16059 2900 2030 72
21 Maharashtra 9580 1454 787 12
22 Manipur 236 3 1 1
23 Meghalaya 70 5 0 0
24 Mizoram 0 0 0 0
25 Nagaland 127 14 0 0
26 Odisha 1168 260 52 0
27 Puducherry 5 2 2 0
28 Punjab 6768 1059 0 8
29 Rajasthan 10386 2891 626 1
30 Sikkim 66 5 0 0
31 TamilNadu 16363 3778 2884 360
32 Telangana 3077 353 77 0
33 Tripura 31 0 0 0
34 UttarPradesh 21987 13153 8585 118
35 Uttarakhand 2511 560 182 1
36 WestBengal 2701 207 52 1
Total 144345 32935 19437 671