‘Over 5.18L food samples analysed in 3 yrs, 88,192 penalties imposed’

New Delhi: More than 5.18 lakh food samples were analysed during the period from 2022-23 to 2024-25 by officials of food safety departments of respective states and Union territories as well as regional offices of FSSAI, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. During this period, 88,192 cases were decided with penalties and 3,614 cases resulted in convictions, while 1,161 licences were cancelled, Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said in a written reply.

Surveillance drives, monitoring, regulatory inspection and random sampling of various food products including milk, ghee, spices, honey, and paneer are conducted throughout the year to check compliance with the quality and safety parameters and other requirements as laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, he said.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has also developed a Risk-Based Inspection System (RBIS) where frequency of inspection is decided based on risk associated with food businesses and issued guidelines, the minister said.

Annual inspections are to be conducted for all food categories identified as high risk. Total number of risk-based inspections done in the three-year period (2022-23 to 2024-25) are 56,259, Jadhav said. The FSSAI extends financial and technical assistance to all states for strengthening of food safety infrastructure in the country. The support includes strengthening enforcement and compliance such as licensing and registration, inspections and audits, sampling and testing of enforcement and surveillance samples, consumer grievance redressal and strengthening of food testing ecosystem such as high-end/ basic equipment for labs, among others.