(a) whether the Government has set up any monitoring mechanism to regulate and curb the companies producing adulterated and poor quality food products; and
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the number of such cases of adulteration in food products reported during the last three years and the current year; and
(d) the penal action taken thereon?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)
(a) to (d): 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 Regulations 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 lies with the State/UT Governments. Regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and sampling of food products from all sources i.e. manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, transporters, retail markets 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. As per reports received from States/UTs, details of food samples analysed, found adulterated/sub-standard/misbranded and action taken thereon during the last three years i.e. 2018-19, 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
2018-19 106459 30415 18550 12734 Not available 2813 NA 701
2019-20 118775 29589 27412 18192 17345 4681 828 780
2020-21 107829 28347 24195 15878 14817 3869 520 506
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