Steps taken to Prevent Adulteration in Food Items
Steps taken to Prevent Adulteration in Food Items
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is mandated to lay 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. The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 is a shared responsibility between the Central and State Governments.
FSSAI through its regional offices and States/UTs food safety departments, conducts surveillance, inspection, monitoring and random sampling to check & verify compliance with the standards & requirements laid down under the FSS Act, 2006 & regulations made thereunder. FSSAI is responsible for laying down science-based standards and ensuring overall coordination, the State Food Safety Authorities are primarily responsible for enforcement at the field level.
To ensure compliance with the set standards, limits, & other statutory requirements under the Act and regulations made thereunder, FSSAI, through its 4 (four) Regional Offices and State/UT food safety authorities conducts regular localized/targeted special enforcement and surveillance drives.
To ensure the quality and safety of food and food products through testing, FSSAI has notified 246 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories for primary analysis of food samples and 24 Referral Food Laboratories, for the analysis of appellate samples. To address the deficiency of food testing infrastructure in remote areas and to improve consumer access to such services, there are Mobile Food Testing Laboratories, known as Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs) at the State/UT levels. Currently, 305 FSWs are deployed across 35 States/ UTs. These mobile labs are equipped to perform basic tests for common adulterants in food products. These multipurpose vehicles not only serve as mobile testing units but also play a vital role in spreading food safety awareness and provide training programmes.
Details of enforcement action on various food safety issues (including food adulteration) in the FY 2023-24, FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26 (so far) is annexed at Annexure-I and Annexure-II, respectively.
The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
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Annexure-I
Details of enforcement action on various food safety issues (including food adulteration)
S. No.
State/UT
FY 2023-24
FY 2024-25
No. of
Samples Analysed
No. of Samples found non-conforming
No. of Samples Analysed
No. of Samples found non-conforming
1
Andaman And Nicobar Islands
0
0
810
4
2
Andhra Pradesh
6439
472
5984
514
3
Arunachal Pradesh
501
11
125
9
4
Assam
1139
125
1705
234
5
Bihar
2806
126
2863
124
6
Chandigarh
311
49
374
65
7
Chhattisgarh
1373
167
2069
270
8
Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu
185
0
56
0
9
Delhi
3412
150
2624
130
10
Goa
599
16
1172
74
11
Gujarat
15841
910
12387
901
12
Haryana
3485
856
2233
500
13
Himachal Pradesh
1618
401
1587
293
14
Jammu & Kashmir
9057
750
6955
651
15
Jharkhand
384
292
364
138
16
Karnataka
5492
286
9371
662
17
Kerala
10792
1304
10767
1635
18
Ladakh
638
11
417
45
19
Lakshadweep
0
0
0
0
20
Madhya Pradesh
13998
2022
13920
1635
21
Maharashtra
5087
1174
5403
1250
22
Manipur
168
3
126
1
23
Meghalaya
123
7
388
5
24
Mizoram
0
0
0
2
25
Nagaland
138
3
223
11
26
Orissa
2003
252
2282
273
27
Puducherry
31
0
173
0
28
Punjab
6041
929
4131
748
29
Rajasthan
18536
3493
13840
3788
30
Sikkim
231
0
254
0
31
Tamil Nadu
18146
2237
18071
2240
32
Telangana
6156
973
3347
324
33
Tripura
87
0
123
5
34
Uttar Pradesh
27750
16183
30380
16500
35
Uttarakhand
1998
192
1509
140
36
West Bengal
5948
414
14502
1217
Total
1,70,513
33808
1,70,535
34,388
Annexure-II
Details of enforcement action on various food safety issues (including food adulteration)
in the FY 2025-26 (till date)
Year
No. of Samples Analysed
No. of Samples found non-conforming
2025-26
1,55,306
27,567*
*The data for FY 2025–26 is provisional.
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