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GOVERNMENT OFINDIA
MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE
DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3270
TOBE ANSWERED ON 07TH AUGUST,2026
VIOLATIONS OFFOOD SAFETYSTANDARDS
3270. SHRI RAHULGANDHI:
Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate:
(a) the reasons for the rising cases of food adulteration, contamination, counterfeiting and
repeated violations of food safety standards across the country;
(b) the details of food samples tested and found unsafe, prosecutions launched, convictions
secured, and the number of deaths due to food adulteration during the last five years, year
wise and State-wise;
(c) the details of food-testing infrastructure, including the number of functional laboratories,
the average testing time and vacancies of Food Safety Officers, State-wise;
(d) the number of notified FSSAI laboratories lacking facilities to test for heavy metals,
pesticide residues and bacterial contamination, alongwith the reasons therefor;
(e) whether any regulatory framework specifically governs storage conditions, temperature
control, hygiene, traceability and inspection frequency at quick-commerce dark stores, if so,
the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(f) whether the Government proposes to launch a comprehensive National Food Safety
Mission to ensure food traceability, strengthen surveillance and safeguard public health, if so,
the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY
WELFARE
(SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV)
(a) to (f): 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 implementationandenforcementof theFoodSafetyandStandards(FSS)Act,
2006isa shared responsibility betweenthe Central andStateGovernments.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 Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006(FSS Act, 2006) primarily rests with the
State/UT Food Safety Authorities within their respective jurisdictions. For compliance with the
standards, limits, and other statutory requirements prescribed under the Food Safety and
Standards Act, 2006, and the regulations made thereunder, the State Food Safety Authorities
undertake surveillance, monitoring, targeted enforcement drives, inspections, and sampling
activitiesacross the food sector.
Detailsof enforcement actiontaken bythe State/UTFoodSafetyAuthorities against non
-conforming food products (including adulteration) during the last 5 years (state wise) are
placedat Annexure-I.
For the quality and safety of the food and food products, FSSAI has notified 259 NABL
accredited food testing laboratories for analysis of food samples and 24 Referral Food
Laboratories for the analysis of appellate samples. These laboratories are notifiedfor analysis of
food samples in accordance with their NABL-accredited scope. The Food analyst is required to
submit the report of analysis within fourteen days of receipt of the sample. State-wise details of
food testing laboratoriesare placedat Annexure-II.
Matters related to vacancies of Food Safety Officers (FSOs) in states are taken up
regularly with the Commissioner of Food Safety of States/UTs through Central Advisory
Committee (CAC) meetings. State-wise details of sanctioned strength, actual strength and
vacanciesof FoodSafety Officers,are attachedasAnnexure-III.
The number of FSSAI notified laboratories lacking the facilities to test heavy metals,
pesticides, microbiological parameters etc. are 13 across the country. In order to upgrade and
strengthen the testing infrastructure of State Food Testing Laboratories (SFTL), FSSAI has
provided financial and technical assistance for establishment of facilities for microbiological
analysis and procurement of High End Equipment (HEE) for heavy metals and pesticide
residues analysis.
FSSAI has specified General Hygienic and Sanitary Practices to be followed by
Licensed/Registered Food Business Operators under Schedule 4 of FSS (Licensing and
Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 which is applicable to all food business
operators including those involved in storage activity such as quick-commerce dark stores.
Schedule 4 of the said Regulations lays down the sanitary and hygienic requirements to be
complied with by Food Business Operators, including requirements relating to storage
conditions, temperature control, hygiene, transportation, pest control, personnel hygiene,
cleaningandsanitation, andmaintenanceof recordstofacilitate traceability, asapplicable.
*******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.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 1265Detailsofenforcementactiontakenby 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 1161Detailsofenforcementactiontakenbythe State/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming
foodproducts(includingadulteration)duringtheyear2022-23
S. NameofState/UT No.ofSamples No.ofSamples CivilCases CriminalCases
No. Analysed foundNon-
Conforming ConvictedwithNo.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 DadraNagarHaveli&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 1188DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/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 671Annexure- II
State-wise Numberof Primary andReferral Laboratories
No. of
Referral
labs
No. of Primarylabsnotified byFSSAIu/s43 (1), FSSA2006 notified by
FSSAIu/s
43(2),
FSSA2006
FSSAI
Ownedand Labsowned Referral
State
S, FSSAI RunonPPP by Govt. Private labs(All
Govt.
N State/UT Owned (Public Institutions Owned Govt.
Owned
o. Labs Private (Otherthan Labs Owned
Labs
Partnership) FSSAI) Labs)
mode
1 Andhra
1 4 1
Pradesh
2 A& N Islands
3 Arunachal
Pradesh
4 Assam 1 1 1
5 Bihar 1 1 2
6 Chandigarh
7 Chhattisgarh 1
8 Dadar Nagar
Haveli and 1
Daman& Diu
9 Delhi 1 1 14
10 Goa 1 1
11 Gujarat 6 3 10 2
12 Haryana 2 1 17 2
13 Himachal
1 1
Pradesh
14 Jammu &
2
Kashmir
15 Jharkhand 1 1
16 Karnataka 4 18 2
17 Kerala 3 9 7 2
18 Ladakh
19 Lakshadweep
20 Madhya
1 9
Pradesh
21 Maharashtra 5 1 1 32 4
22 Manipur 1
23 Meghalaya 1
24 Mizoram25 Nagaland 1
26 Odisha 1 1
27 Puducherry
28 Punjab 1 1 1 1
29 Rajasthan 10 1 5
30 Sikkim
31 Tamil Nadu 6 1 1 17 3
32 Telangana 1 2 9 4
33 Tripura 1 1
34 Uttar Pradesh 6 1 3 5 2
35 Uttarakhand 1 1
36 West Bengal 2 1 3 6 1
62 2 3 29 163
Total 24
259AnnexureIII
FoodSafetyOfficer
S.No. State/UT
Sanctioned FilledPost Vacant Post
1 A& N Islands 19 17 2
2 Andhra Pradesh 145 47 98
3 Arunachal Pradesh 3 16* 0
4 Assam 77 41 26
5 Bihar 105 9 96
6 Chandigarh 8 5 3
7 Chhattisgarh 125 37 88
8 DNHDD 4 3 1
9 Delhi 32 19 13
10 Goa 39 35 4
11 Gujarat 306 162 144
12 Haryana 45 23 22
13 HimachalPradesh 22 14 8
14 Jammu & Kashmir 101 79 22
15 Jharkhand 77 20 57
16 Karnataka 210 210 0
17 Kerala 160 160 0
18 Ladakh 7 8* 0
19 Lakshadweep 0 9* 0
20 Madhya Pradesh 367 157 210
21 Maharashtra 350 318 32
22 Manipur 34 17 17
23 Meghalaya 25 21 4
24 Mizoram 9 7 2
25 Nagaland 7 5 2
26 Orissa 147 63 84
27 Puducherry 7 0 7
28 Punjab 60 52 8
29 Rajasthan 398 318 80
30 Sikkim 4 2 2
31 Tamil Nadu 394 326 68
32 Telangana 81 44 37
33 Tripura 23 11 12
34 Uttar Pradesh 662 552 110
35 Uttarakhand 57 20 37
36 West Bengal 190 174 16
Total 4300 3001 1312
*Working on contractbasis or givenadditional chargeasperrequirement.