The FSSAI came into being in 2008, two years after the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
In the past few weeks, questions have been raised about India’s food safety regime in the wake of allegations against products as varied as infant food, “health drinks” and spices. The country’s food business regulator, FSSAI, is probing charges of unhealthy sugar content in Nestle’s baby food products. The agency has also begun collecting samples of powdered spices of several brands, including market leaders MDH and Everest, after regulatory authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong raised concerns over carcinogenic additives. The authorities in the Southeast Asian countries are not the first to raise red flags. A report in this newspaper has revealed that over the past six months, US customs declined entry to 31per cent spice-related shipments of MDH over salmonella contamination. Data obtained by this newspaper from the US FDA shows that the refusal rate has doubled in the past one year. The EU too has, reportedly, placed food items originating from India under the scanner. The contaminants in question are different. But the brands in question are amongst the most well-known. The controversies have raised fears that a large section of the Indian market could be bypassing the regulatory radar.
The FSSAI came into being in 2008, two years after the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act. Its remit extends to multinationals like Nestle and Cadbury, established Indian companies like MDH and Everest and thousands of small and medium-sized food businesses who have razor-thin profit margins. The agency has had a chequered record. It has consistently been hamstrung by staff and infrastructure shortage. This has meant that a large section of the market views regulation as paperwork rather than regular inspections followed by expert guidance. The FSSAI is mandated to educate businesses and consumers on food safety. It is also tasked to “collect and collate data regarding food consumption, incidence and prevalence of biological risk, contaminants in food, residues of various contaminants in foods products, and identify risks”. The frequent controversies around food items indicate that the agency has done scarce justice to its remit. In instances such as the Vital Neutraceuticals case in 2015, the food authority’s actions have been struck down by courts for procedural shortcomings.
Regulations must contend with scientific uncertainty and the variance in rules amongst nations. That’s why the food authority must regularly update standards, and handhold exporters. The FSSAI has fallen short on both counts. The failure of MDH’s plants to meet the USFDA sanitary standards shows the Indian regulator in poor light. A country with a growing food market and an aspiration to increase its footprint in the global market needs a more proactive regulator.
