Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) the action taken till date to check adulteration in milk and to penalise the criminals involved in it by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on the instruction of Hon’ble Supreme Court, State/UT-wise; and
(b) the details of action taken to implement the quality/norms of imported food articles and dairy items strictly by FSSAI?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): In compliance of directions given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India vide its Order dated 05.08.2016 in the matter of WP (C) No.159 of 2012 titled as Swami Achyutanand Tirth &Ors. v/s Union of India & Ors. pertaining to checking the menace of adulterated milk, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has advised States/UTs to comply with the direction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
Further, FSSAI has carried out a Nationwide Qualitative Screening of milk samples for on-spot qualitative and quantitative analysis of milk samples for quality parameters viz. FAT, Solid not Fat (SNF), added water, protein content and safety parameters viz. 13 adulterants, antibiotics, pesticides and aflatoxin M1.
The survey was initiated in May, 2018 with a sample size of 6432 samples taken from 1100 towns across all 29 States and 7 Union Territories for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Scope of National Milk Quality Survey(NMQS) 2018 covered 2 quality parameters (Fat & SNF), 12 common adulterants; and 4 contaminants (antibiotics, pesticides, aflatoxin M1, Aluminium Phosphate). Of the total 6432 samples, 41% (2607) were of processed milk and remaining 59% (3825) were of raw milk. Of the processed milk, 60% were toned milk, 20% full-cream milk, 15% standard milk and 5% double toned milk. Of the raw milk, one third each were samples of cow, buffalo and mixed milk. All the 6432 samples were collected and analysed qualitatively immediately onsite in mobile vans and nearly one-third of the samples that indicated possible adulteration or contamination for safety parameters were sent to the laboratory and analysed quantitatively.
As per the report released in November, 2018, about 39% of milk samples were non-compliant with reference to quality parameters [fat, Solid not-fat (SNF), sugar and maltodextrin] but were without any safety issues. 9.9% samples were found to be unsafe for consumption due to presence of harmful contaminants in excess of specified limits coming mainly from poor quality of feed, irresponsible use of antibiotics and poor farm practices.
As implementation and enforcement of FSS Act, 2006 primarily lies with State/UT Governments, regular surveillance, monitoring and inspection are being carried out by the Officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/ UTs to check compliance of the provisions laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
Accordingly, in order to ensure the availability of good quality foodstuffs including milk and milk products to the consumers and for keeping a check on the problems of food adulteration in the country, the state food authorities have been advised from time to time to keep a strict vigil by regularly drawing food samples from all sources viz. manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers and to take strict action against the offenders under the provisions of FSS Act, 2006. In cases where samples are found to be non-conforming to the provisions of FSS Act, 2006, and Rules and regulations made thereunder, penal action has been initiated against the defaulting FBOs as per the provisions of FSS Act, 2006, and Rules and Regulations made thereunder.
With regards to imported food products, import of only standardized food products or the food products which are approved by Food Authority is allowed.
As per information received from State/UT Governments, the number of milk samples analyzed, found non-conforming and action taken thereon for the year 2017-18 and 2018-19 is at Annexure-I and Annexure-II.
(b): FSSAI is present at six Ports viz. Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Kochi and Tuticorin covering 20 points of entry for checking compliance of imported food with the standards specified by FSSAI under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules and Regulations made thereunder. . The food articles when referred to FSSAI’s Food Import Clearance System (FICS) for clearance by the Customs Authorities are subjected to scrutiny of documents, Visual inspection, sampling and testing in order to determine whether or not they conform to the safety and minimum quality standards established and laid down under various Food Safety and Standards Regulations. If sample is found conforming, then No Objection Certificate (NOC) is generated and if not conforming, then Non-Conforming Report (NCR) is generated. Further, risk based sampling called Risk Management System (RMS) is in operation at Customs Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT). Therefore, selected Bills of Entry are referred to FSSAI’s FICS system from Customs for clearance.
There are another 396 locations throughout the country where Customs officers have been notified as Authorised Officers by FSSAI for food import clearance to ensure that the imported food comply with norms and standards specified by FSSAI.
It is also mentioned that on the recommendation of FSSAI, Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide Notification dated 23rd April, 2019 have extended the ban on import of milk and milk products including chocolates and chocolate products and candies/confectionary/food preparations with milk & milk solids as ingredients from China until the capacity of all laboratories at ports of entry have been suitably upgraded for testing melamine.