The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has detailed comprehensive measures to strengthen food safety enforcement across India through enhanced testing infrastructure, regulatory oversight, and consumer awareness initiatives. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has established a robust 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 notified 24 Referral Food Laboratories specifically for the analysis of 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 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, including the establishment of microbiology facilities. The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 primarily rests with State/UT Food Safety Authorities, which have jurisdiction over approximately 98% of Food Business Operators (FBOs). These authorities undertake 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 authority has launched multiple consumer awareness campaigns including #NoToAdulteration and #HarLabelKuchKahtaHai (Every Label Speaks) to educate consumers about food adulteration detection, label literacy, nutritional information, ingredient lists, allergen warnings, and date markings through advertisements, educational materials, and online platforms.
FSSAI has introduced the DART (Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test) book covering 44 tests that can be performed easily at households using water and simple solutions like tincture of iodine for food products including Milk & Milk Products, Oils, Sugar & Confectionery, Food Grains & its products, and Spices & Condiments. The book includes sensory evaluation tests for establishing authentication of food products and depicts differences between pure and adulterated food through pictorial representation. Additionally, the Food Safety Magic Box is a compact user-friendly kit containing rapid test methods to detect common food adulterants in seven types of food commodities, distributed in schools as part of food safety awareness initiatives to engage students through hands-on learning for identifying adulteration in everyday food items such as milk, spices, oils, and grains.