New Delhi: With the Holi festival looming, the country’s top food regulator—the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)— has directed all states and union territories to run an anti-adulteration drive to ensure stringent monitoring and strong enforcement.
As part of the exercise, FSSAI has sought a consolidated report on enforcement activities performed till 31 March.
Details sought
The details sought by FSSAI include: the name of the product, total number of samples taken, number of non-conforming and failed samples, and the total quantity seized and destroyed along with the reasons.
During Holi the demand for sweets, savouries, milk and milk products such as ghee, Khoya, paneer and other food items rises significantly in North India. This leads to substandard and spurious products entering the market, posing potentially serious risks to public health.
“To address this issue effectively, the “Holi-Anti-Audulteration Drive 2025” shall be initated by the States/UTs and regional offices of FSSAI to ensure stringent monitoring and proactive enforcement actions. Enforcement officers may be directed to conduct inspections and sampling in their respective jurdisctions, intensifying vigilance, to safeguard public health and curb any malpractice,” said Rakesh Kumar, Director (Regulatory Compliance), FSSAI to all the State/UTs in a letter dated 28 February.
Holi focused
“This anti-adulteration drive is particularly for the Holi festival. This will be across India, however, state/UTs have been given flexibility in drawing samples based on the eating pattern and prevalence in the region. In north India, milk and milk-related products are more common while in south India, cereals and rice flour are mostly used in sweets and saviours . This heightened surveillance and enforcement actions will prevent the circulation of adultered and unsafe food in the market.” Kumar told Mint.
“We generally seek enforcement report in every quarter from the state government, however, the state government submits consolidated report for the entire year in the month of June for us to review,” he said.
In cases where food samples are found to be non-conforming, penal action is taken against the defaulting Food Business Operators as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, Rules and Regulations, Kumar added.
FSSAI is a statutory body under union ministry of health and family welfare that ensures the safety and quality of food in India. It conducts regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection, and random sampling of food products.
Not meeting standards
In FY2023-24, around 170,513 samples were analyzed, out of which 33,808 were found to not conform with FSSAI standards. Around 33,750 civil cases were launched and 4,737 criminal cases initiated against food business operators.
Consumers can also lodge complaints through the FSSAI helpline or Food Safety Connect mobile app.
