The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has implemented comprehensive measures to strengthen food safety enforcement across India. The infrastructure enhancement includes a notified network of 259 NABL-accredited food testing laboratories, comprising state/UT government labs, government institutions, and accredited private laboratories for food sample analysis. Additionally, FSSAI has established 24 Referral Food Laboratories specifically for analyzing appeal samples and deployed 305 Mobile Food Testing Laboratories (Food Safety on Wheels) across the country to conduct on-the-spot testing, distribute rapid testing kits, and drive public awareness campaigns in remote areas.
Under the SoFTeL scheme (Strengthening of Food Testing System in the Country including provision of Mobile Food Testing Labs), 47 State Food Testing Laboratories have been structurally upgraded with advanced analytical equipment to enhance testing capabilities. The enforcement framework recognizes that approximately 98% of Food Business Operators (FBOs) fall under the jurisdiction of State/UT Food Safety Authorities, who bear primary responsibility for implementing the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. These authorities conduct regular surveillance, monitoring, targeted enforcement drives, inspections, and sampling activities across the food sector to ensure compliance with prescribed standards and statutory requirements.
FSSAI regularly reviews the performance and vacancies of Food Safety Officers across all States/UTs through various forums including Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings and Inter-State Zonal Council Meetings. The regulatory body has also launched significant consumer awareness initiatives including the "#NoToAdulteration" campaign and "How to Check for Adulteration" videos on its official YouTube channel. The "#HarLabelKuchKahtaHai" (Every Label Speaks) campaign educates consumers on nutritional information, ingredient lists, allergen warnings, and date markings for informed food choices.
Technical resources include the DART (Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test) book, which provides 44 simple tests that households can perform using water and basic solutions like tincture of iodine to detect adulteration in milk products, oils, sugar, confectionery, food grains, spices, and condiments. The Food Safety Magic Box is another initiative containing rapid test methods to detect common adulterants in seven food commodity types, distributed in schools as part of hands-on learning programs to engage students in food safety awareness.