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FSSAI Enforcement: Protecting Public Health Through Food Safety
Know in detail about FSSAI enforcements that help to protect public health through food safety.
Covers information on FSSAI complaints, FSSAI licensing safety regulations, and FSSAI enforcements.
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Overview of FSSAI Enforcement
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has implemented various initiatives to enforce the Food Safety Standards Act (FSS) across the country. The stringent scrutiny applied to all food products before licensing is central to these efforts, ensuring they meet rigorous safety and quality standards. This process involves a series of measures, including regular inspections, sampling, and testing of food products, coupled with vigilant monitoring to ensure compliance with established regulations.
- Under the regulatory framework established by the FSSAI, food business operators (FBOs) must adhere strictly to the guidelines and standards outlined in the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. Compliance with these standards necessitates obtaining the requisite registration license and maintaining impeccable hygiene standards in labelling and packaging for food products. Such stringent adherence is essential to not only meet legal requirements but also to safeguard public health and maintain the trust of consumers in the integrity of the food supply chain.
- The effective enforcement of the Act is paramount in ensuring FBOs comply with established food safety standards. Beyond mere regulatory adherence, this enforcement serves as a bulwark against potential risks to public health, reinforcing consumer confidence in the safety and reliability of the food products they consume.
- The enforcement guidelines provided by the FSSAI offer comprehensive directives for the conduct of inspections, sampling, and delineate the necessary actions to be taken in instances of non-compliance. In cases where deviations from the prescribed standards are identified, the FSSAI can impose penalties, including fines, imprisonment, or even the revocation of food licenses. These punitive measures underscore the seriousness with which the FSSAI approaches enforcing food safety standards, further emphasizing the imperative of strict adherence to established guidelines and regulations within the food industry.
Introduction to FSSAI Enforcement
- The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), established in 2008 under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare plays a crucial role in mandating food safety in India. The main function is to lay down a scientific based standard for food articles and regulate their manufacturing, distribution, storage, sales, and import to ensure the availability of safe and whole food for human consumption.
- With India's booming population, enforcing these food safety rules is a crucial task. FSSAI implements multiple policies to enhance food safety enforcement across the country. The food safety authority provides policy intervention, direction and coordination in national, state, and union territories. FSSAI has launched multiple online platforms that help consumers and food business owners stay compliant with the FSSAI rules. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India provides support by imparting the required training and capacity building for staff enforcement in both the states and union territories.
The Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006 and Its Objectives
The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 is an Act formed to consolidate the laws related to food and establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The main objective of the Act is to lay down a science-based standard for food articles, regulate the distribution, manufacturing, sales, and input, and make sure it is available for safe and wholesome food for human consumption across India. The Food Safety Standards Act, 2006 provides a clear outline of food laws and how to implement it across the nation. It outlines the duties and functions of the food authority, scientific committee, scientific panels, central advisory committee, along with the functions of the chief executive officer. The Act also outlines general principles to be followed in food safety and FSSAI enforcement actions.
Administrative Setup for FSSAI Enforcement
The general framework for food safety enforcement is clearly outlined under the Food Safety And Standards Act of 2006 and Rules And Regulations. The following officers play a crucial role in FSSAI administrative structure and when it comes to food safety enforcement:
- Commissioner of food safety
- Designated officers
- Food safety officer
- Adjudicating officer
- Food analysts
Nationwide Enforcement Machinery
The governing structure of FSSAI involves the chairpersons of the food authorities and 22 members forming the core team. Further, in order to fix the food standards, the scientific committee plays a huge role. It is headed by a chairperson of scientific panels and six independent members, along with 17 scientific panels. In order to maintain compliance and inspections, central state and district-level advisory committees are further implemented. FSSAI works through the following 11 divisions:
- Standard division regulation / Codex division
- Regulatory compliance / surveillance division
- Quality assurance / surveillance division
- Human resource, vigilance and training division
- Finance division
- Imports division
- Risk assessment and R and D division
- FSMS division
- Administration division
- legal division
Licensing and Registration Under FSSAI
Based on the annual turnover and the number of locations of the food business, The FSSAI licensing and registration are of three types and they are:
FSSAI Basic Registration
If the food business owner generates an annual turnover that is less than ₹12 lakhs, they shall get registered through basic registration.
FSSAI State License
If the food business has an annual turnover between ₹12 lakhs and ₹20 crores, then the food business operator should apply for a state license.
FSSAI Central License
If the annual revenue of the food business is above ₹20 crore, then the food business owner should apply for a central license using Form B. This license is also required for food businesses with branches across India.
Note: The requirement for state and central license greatly varies based on the type of business and the total productivity.
Compliance and Enforcement Actions
The food safety department's officials conduct random sampling, surveillance, monitoring, and inspections of food products in order to enforce these regulations. Food Safety Compliance via Regular Inspections and Sampling (FoSCoRIS) is established as a large-scale IT infrastructure. Standard compliance matrices would be used during inspections to guarantee uniformity in the methodology of inspections throughout the nation.
Food Safety Officers (FSOs) are allowed to conduct real-time inspections using the web-based software FoSCoRIS. It helps in instant geotagging, time stamping, real-time data collection, and many levels of verification when used with handheld devices like tablets and cell phones.
All relevant parties, including food companies, food safety officers (FSOs), designated officers (DOs), and state food safety commissioners (FSCs), are brought together by the system through a national IT platform to ensure that process integrity is upheld and that sampling and inspections are carried out in an efficient manner. Apart from establishing a network of authorities and multiple online portals FSSAI also implements stringent penalties.
Liabilities of Food safety officer
If the FSO is found guilty of any of the offences listed in Section 39 of the Act, they could face a penalty of up to ₹1 lakh. With the understanding that the complainant faces a fine of at least ₹50,000 and up to ₹1 Lakh in the event that the complaint against the Food Safety Officer is untrue.
Other Penalties are Outlined Below
- Under Section 50, selling food not meeting the quality demanded by the purchaser or not complying with the Act carries a fine of ₹2 lakhs for the seller
- Section 51 involves substandard food, with a fine of ₹5 lakhs applicable to manufacturers, sellers, storage, distributors, and importers
- Section 52 deals with misbranded food, resulting in a ₹3 lakh fine for manufacturers, sellers, storage, distributors, and importers
- Section 53 addresses misleading advertisements regarding food quality, with a ₹10 lakh fine for publishers or those involved in publishing
- Section 54 penalises the presence of extraneous matter in food with a ₹1 lakh fine for manufacturers, sellers, storage, distributors, and importers
- Section 55 imposes a ₹2 lakh fine on food business operators or importers for failing to comply with Food Safety Officer directions
- Section 56 mandates a ₹1 lakh fine for manufacturers of processors involved in unhygienic or unsanitary food processing or manufacture.
Strengthening the Enforcement Framework
FSSAI ensures enforcement through a network of Food Safety Commissioners and Food Safety Officers across the states. A digital metrics-based inspection system, an online licensing and registration system, and procedure simplification to lessen the load on food enterprises are some of the means to ensure transparency. With technology FSSAI has ensured the convenience of doing business. The use of digital/e-governance programs like FoSCoRIS (Food Safety Compliance via Regular Inspection and Sampling) and FLRS (Food Licensing & Registration System) has improved the efficacy and efficiency of the licensing, registration, and surveillance procedures.
As a consequential outcome, a dynamic database comprising licensed and registered Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) has been established. This initiative aims to streamline operational processes by rationalising the documentation prerequisites for licensing and registration. Notably, e-commerce operators are now held accountable to licensing regulations, marking a significant advancement. Moreover, the adoption of a risk-based inspection approach, supplemented with metrics, has enabled a judicious allocation of resources. Additionally, it has been recognised that 24 audit firms are capable of supporting field enforcement activities and conducting impartial third-party audits of FBOs.
Frequently Asked Questions on FSSAI Enforcement
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