(a) whether the Government is aware that poor quality food products are being supplied in the country particularly in metro cities;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government has formulated any scheme to ensure the quality of food being supplied, particularly to metro cities;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the steps being taken by the Government forproper implementation of the scheme?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)
(a) to (e): Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established in 2008 under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 primarily for laying 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.
Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Rules and Regulations, lay down the quality and safety standards for various articles of food. Implementation and enforcement of these standards primarily lie with the State/UT Governments. Regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and sampling of food products from all sources i.e. manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, transporters, retailmarkets etc. are carried out by Food Safety Officers of States/UTs and in cases of non-compliance, penal action is taken against the defaulting Food Business Operators (FBOs) as per the provisions of FSS Act, 2006, Rules and Regulations.
In order to address the gaps in the food safety eco-system of States/ UTs and to ensure safe and wholesome food through pooling of technical knowledge and best practices as a shared responsibility, FSSAI has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with States/ UTs to extend both technical and financial support to the States/UT Governments. FSSAI has extended financial support to States/UTs under a Central Sector Scheme for strengthening of food testing infrastructure.FSSAI has regularly urged States/UTs to carry out targeted enforcement and surveillance drive to check adulteration in food products.
FSSAI has developed State Food Safety Index to measure the performance of States on five significant parameters of Food Safety: namely; Human Resource and Institutional Data, Compliance, Food Testing Infrastructure & Surveillance, Training and Capacity Building and Consumer Empowerment and to inculcate competitive spirit to improve the food safety ecosystem in the State/UT. Regular interaction is held with States/UTs through quarterly meetings of Central Advisory Committee to review the performance of the States/UTs.
Based on information made available by the States/UTs, details of total samples of food analysed, found non- conforming, and action taken during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 is as below:
Year No. of Samples Analysed No. of Samples found non-conforming Action taken - Civil Cases Action taken - Criminal Cases
No. of Cases launched No. of Cases decided No. of Convictions No. of Cases Launched No. of Cases decided No. of Convictions
2019-20 118775 29589 27412 18192 17345 4681 828 780
2020-21 107829 28347 24195 15878 14817 3869 520 506
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