Parliament Question: Food Safety Enforcement against Adulteration and Harmful Additives

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 985 TO BE ANSWEREDON24th JULY, 2026 FOOD SAFETYENFORCEMENTAGAINST ADULTERATION AND HARMFUL ADDITIVES 985. MS KANGNARANAUT: Will the Ministerof HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a)the numberof inspections, food samples tested andprosecutions initiatedbythe Food SafetyandStandards Authority of India (FSSAI)against manufacturersof packaged food productsduring the last three years; (b) the numberof cases inwhich food productswere found to containadulterants,excessive preservatives, toxic contaminants or carcinogenicsubstances inexcess of the prescribed limits; (c)the actiontaken bythe FoodSafetyandStandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI) against defaulting manufacturers including product recalls, licence suspension or cancellation, imposition of penaltiesand prosecution; and (d) the measures takenby the Government tostrengthen surveillance,laboratorytesting and consumer awareness regardingfood safety standards across the country? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATEIN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) to (d): 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. Around 98% of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) fall within the jurisdiction of the State/UT Food Safety Authorities. To ensure compliance with the standards, limits, and other statutory requirements prescribed under the FSS Act, 2006, and the regulations made thereunder, the State Food Safety Authorities undertake surveillance, monitoring, targeted enforcementdrives, inspections, andsampling activitiesacross the food sector.Any deviation from the prescribed standards or violation of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Regulation (FSSR), when detected, results in stringent regulatory and punitive action against the non-compliant FBOsinaccordance with the FSSAct, 2006and the rules framed thereunder, including suspension & cancellation of licence, prohibition on sale, seizure & destruction of non-compliant food articles and judicial action through adjudication (civil) and prosecution (criminal) as per the provisions outlined in Chapter IX (Offences and Penalties)of FSS Act, 2006. Total number of food recall in the FY 2024-25 was 754 and quantity of Food recall was 51512.94 Kg. Total number of food recall in the FY 2025-26 was 1147 and quantity of Foodrecallwas 33540.68Kg. Details of the enforcement action taken viz., inspections, samples analysed, samples found non-conforming including violations such as adulterants, excessive preservatives, contaminants and penal action viz., adjudication & prosecution undertaken against the defaulting FBOs including the manufacturers of packaged food products, for non-compliance in the last 3 years is annexed at Annexure-I. The number of Licenses suspended and cancelledinlast 3yearsisannexedat Annexure-II. Measures taken to strengthen the laboratory testing, surveillance and consumer awareness regardingfood safety standards across the country are as:  To ensure 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 and 24 Referral Food Laboratories for 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 has also provided assistance under the scheme “Strengthening of Food Testing System in the Country including provision of Mobile FoodTesting Labs'' (SoFTeL) tovariousStatesandUTs.  To strengthen the laboratorycapacity, from 2017totill date FSSAI hasconducted222 training programmes for its notified food testing laboratories in which 3937 participantshave been trained.  Mobile FoodTesting Laboratory (MFTL)or “FoodSafety onWheels” (FSW) ensures the widest outreach for food testing, training andawareness programme, especially inthe villages, towns and remote areas. Currently, 305 FSWs are deployed across 35 States/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, FoodGrains & itsproducts, 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.  RapidAnalytical FoodTesting (RAPID) Kits are advanced, easy to use, portable and handheld devices and don't require any sophisticated equipment or conventional reagents 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 focus on 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 consumer awareness about food adulterationandhow toidentify adulteratedproducts. 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 foodsafety 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 Details of Enforcement forlast 3Yearsincluding packagedfoodproducts conductedbyState Food SafetyAuthorities Civil Cases CriminalCases No. of Samples No. of Numberof found Decided Penalties Penalties Year Samples No. of Inspection non- with Raised Raised Analysed Convictions conform- Penalty (CrRs.) (CrRs.) ing 2025-26* 83,612 223,808 40023 31878 109.11 1918 5.70 2024-25 99,875 170535 34388 30142 35.74 1265 3.03 2023-24 88,249 170513 33808 29586 74.12 1161 2.67 *Thedata for FY2025–26 is provisional and subjectto revision based onthe outcome of furtherlabtestingandcourtproceedings. Note- The cases launched and penalties raised may include the data of the samples analysed inthe previous year.Annexure-II Thenumberof Licenses suspendedandcancelled inlast 3years FinancialYear TotalSuspended TotalCancelled 2025-26 704 4764 2024-25 769 1679 2023-24 791 1505 Total 2264 7948