New Delhi Former CEO of FSSAI Arun Singhal said that concerned about the large number of cases of adulteration of food items, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has registered 28,906 civil and 4,946 criminal cases against food business operators in the last one year.
The food regulator analyzed 144,345 samples, out of which 32,934 were found to be in violation of the norms prescribed under the FSS Act, 2006 and regulations in 2021-22.
“Regular monitoring of food businesses is being done by the States/UTs through an intensive surveillance drive. Penal action has been initiated against the defaulting Food Business Operators (FBOs) involved in adulteration of food items. Fines have been imposed in 19,437 civil cases while imprisonment and fine have been imposed in 671 criminal cases.
Adulteration of spices, oils and other foods is most common in India. These include artificial color in red chili powder, blackberry in black pepper, cheap oil found in coconut oil, lead chromate adulteration in turmeric and cassia bark in cinnamon.
“States/UTs are advised to conduct special drives from time to time to check adulteration in sweets, milk and milk products, especially during the festive season to prevent any kind of adulteration and in the market To ensure availability of safe and unadulterated products. Apart from this, it has also been advised to use Mobile Food Laboratories (Food Safety on Wheels) for rapid testing and monitoring, boosting public confidence and sending a strong message to those indulging in any kind of illegal activities.” Singhal said.
In August, FSSAI completed a special surveillance drive at pan-India level for oil products like vegetable oil, multi-source edible oil, vegetable and a total of 4,845 surveillance samples were collected. “The analysis report is expected to start soon and action will be taken based on these results,” he added.
In another development, FSSAI has proposed to introduce front pack labeling to inculcate the habit of making healthier food choices.
He said, “Based on the recommendations made by IIM Ahmedabad and deliberations by a panel of eminent scientists, the draft regulation has been published inviting public comments, which will be incorporated before the final recommendations are submitted to the Central Government. Will be done.”
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