Parliament Question: Violations of Food Safety Standards

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3270 TOBE ANSWERED ON 07TH AUGUST,2026 VIOLATIONS OFFOOD SAFETYSTANDARDS

3270. SHRI RAHULGANDHI:

Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate:

(a) the reasons for the rising cases of food adulteration, contamination, counterfeiting and repeated violations of food safety standards across the country;

(b) the details of food samples tested and found unsafe, prosecutions launched, convictions secured, and the number of deaths due to food adulteration during the last five years, year wise and State-wise;

(c) the details of food-testing infrastructure, including the number of functional laboratories, the average testing time and vacancies of Food Safety Officers, State-wise;

(d) the number of notified FSSAI laboratories lacking facilities to test for heavy metals, pesticide residues and bacterial contamination, alongwith the reasons therefor;

(e) whether any regulatory framework specifically governs storage conditions, temperature control, hygiene, traceability and inspection frequency at quick-commerce dark stores, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(f) whether the Government proposes to launch a comprehensive National Food Safety Mission to ensure food traceability, strengthen surveillance and safeguard public health, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (f): 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 implementationandenforcementof theFoodSafetyandStandards(FSS)Act, 2006isa shared responsibility betweenthe Central andStateGovernments.Around 98% of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) fall within the jurisdiction of the State/UT Food Safety Authorities. Accordingly, the enforcement and implementation of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006(FSS Act, 2006) primarily rests with the State/UT Food Safety Authorities within their respective jurisdictions. For compliance with the standards, limits, and other statutory requirements prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the regulations made thereunder, the State Food Safety Authorities undertake surveillance, monitoring, targeted enforcement drives, inspections, and sampling activitiesacross the food sector.

Detailsof enforcement actiontaken bythe State/UTFoodSafetyAuthorities against non -conforming food products (including adulteration) during the last 5 years (state wise) are placedat Annexure-I.

For the quality and safety of the food and food products, FSSAI has notified 259 NABL accredited food testing laboratories for analysis of food samples and 24 Referral Food Laboratories for the analysis of appellate samples. These laboratories are notifiedfor analysis of food samples in accordance with their NABL-accredited scope. The Food analyst is required to submit the report of analysis within fourteen days of receipt of the sample. State-wise details of food testing laboratoriesare placedat Annexure-II.

Matters related to vacancies of Food Safety Officers (FSOs) in states are taken up regularly with the Commissioner of Food Safety of States/UTs through Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings. State-wise details of sanctioned strength, actual strength and vacanciesof FoodSafety Officers,are attachedasAnnexure-III.

The number of FSSAI notified laboratories lacking the facilities to test heavy metals, pesticides, microbiological parameters etc. are 13 across the country. In order to upgrade and strengthen the testing infrastructure of State Food Testing Laboratories (SFTL), FSSAI has

provided financial and technical assistance for establishment of facilities for microbiological analysis and procurement of High End Equipment (HEE) for heavy metals and pesticide residues analysis.

FSSAI has specified General Hygienic and Sanitary Practices to be followed by Licensed/Registered Food Business Operators under Schedule 4 of FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 which is applicable to all food business operators including those involved in storage activity such as quick-commerce dark stores.

Schedule 4 of the said Regulations lays down the sanitary and hygienic requirements to be complied with by Food Business Operators, including requirements relating to storage conditions, temperature control, hygiene, transportation, pest control, personnel hygiene, cleaningandsanitation, andmaintenanceof recordstofacilitate traceability, asapplicable.

*******Annexure-I DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming foodproducts (includingadulteration)duringthe Year2025-2026 S. State Samples No.of Civil Cases Criminal No. analyzed Samples Cases foundNon- Decidedwith No.of Conforming Penalty Convictions 1 AndamanAndNicobarIslands 0 0 0 0 2 AndhraPradesh 5,798 429 196 16 3 ArunachalPradesh 191 10 1 0 4 Assam 1,444 117 0 0 5 Bihar 1,850 94 25 0 6 Chandigarh 603 53 71 17 7 Chhattisgarh 2,065 214 200 2 8 DadraandNagarHaveli&Daman& 151 0 0 0 Diu 9 Delhi 1,684 109 32 16 10 Goa 2,492 321 12 0 11 Gujarat 11,903 824 842 65 12 Haryana 2,335 723 1,424 116 13 HimachalPradesh 1,589 321 359 9 14 Jammu&Kashmir 6,546 664 1,368 14 15 Jharkhand 1,281 356 73 0 16 Karnataka 13,349 537 248 33 17 Kerala 16,746 1,863 1,026 330 18 Ladakh 519 26 12 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 20 MadhyaPradesh 12,448 757 1,790 32 21 Maharashtra 7,694 1,335 2,445 8 22 Manipur 570 0 1 0 23 Meghalaya 388 22 0 0 24 Mizoram 198 1 0 0 25 Nagaland 238 13 0 0 26 Orissa 1,110 61 0 0 27 Puducherry 388 84 0 0 28 Punjab 7,809 1,031 723 25 29 Rajasthan 17,325 4,594 2,695 31 30 Sikkim 418 7 6 0 31 TamilNadu 44,603 3,984 1,359 857 32 Telangana 3,576 398 0 0 33 Tripura 304 14 0 0 34 UttarPradesh 39,519 20,427 14,890 342 35 Uttarakhand 1,937 224 243 5 36 WestBengal 14,737 410 1,837 0 Total 2,23,808 40,023 31,878 1,918 *ThedataforFY2025–26 isprovisional andsubjecttorevisionbasedontheoutcomeof furtherlabtesting andcourtproceedings.DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming foodproducts(includingadulteration) duringtheyear2024-2025 S. State/UT No.of No.of CivilCases Criminal No. Samples Samples Cases Analysed foundNon- Decided with No. of Conforming Penalty Convictio ns 1 AndamanAndNicobarIslands 810 4 0 0 2 AndhraPradesh 5984 514 464 8 3 ArunachalPradesh 125 9 7 0 4 Assam 1705 234 0 0 5 Bihar 2863 124 25 0 6 Chandigarh 374 65 116 41 7 Chhattisgarh 2069 270 143 6 8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman 56 0 0 0 &Diu 9 Delhi 2624 130 18 16 10 Goa 1172 74 11 0 11 Gujarat 12387 901 859 91 12 Haryana 2233 500 599 59 13 HimachalPradesh 1587 293 471 0 14 Jammu&Kashmir 6955 651 1,239 29 15 Jharkhand 364 138 52 0 16 Karnataka 9371 662 283 32 17 Kerala 10767 1635 1,088 206 18 Ladakh 417 45 38 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 20 MadhyaPradesh 13920 1635 2,597 22 21 Maharashtra 5403 1250 1,147 0 22 Manipur 126 1 2 0 23 Meghalaya 388 5 0 0 24 Mizoram 0 2 0 0 25 Nagaland 223 11 0 0 26 Orissa 2282 273 27 0 27 Puducherry 173 0 0 0 28 Punjab 4131 748 333 8 29 Rajasthan 13840 3788 3,114 30 30 Sikkim 254 0 0 0 31 TamilNadu 18071 2240 1,536 492 32 Telangana 3347 324 125 0 33 Tripura 123 5 0 0 34 UttarPradesh 30380 16500 14,920 215 35 Uttarakhand 1509 140 256 4 36 WestBengal 14502 1217 672 6 Total 170535 34388 30142 1265Detailsofenforcementactiontakenby theState/UTFoodSafety Authoritiesagainstnon-conforming foodproducts(includingadulteration) duringtheyear2023-24 S. State/UT No.of No.ofsamples CivilCases Criminal No. Samples foundNon- Cases Analysed Conforming Decidedwith No.of penalty Convictions 1 AndamanAndNicobar 0 0 0 0 Islands 2 AndhraPradesh 6439 472 646 8 3 ArunachalPradesh 501 11 2 0 4 Assam 1139 125 0 0 5 Bihar 2806 126 79 0 6 Chandigarh 311 49 87 52 7 Chhattisgarh 1373 167 86 2 8 DadraandNagarHaveli& 185 0 0 0 Daman&Diu 9 Delhi 3412 150 36 12 10 Goa 599 16 17 0 11 Gujarat 15841 910 1701 65 12 Haryana 3485 856 593 47 13 HimachalPradesh 1618 401 376 2 14 Jammu&Kashmir 9057 750 1612 22 15 Jharkhand 384 292 59 0 16 Karnataka 5492 286 75 16 17 Kerala 10792 1304 854 134 18 Ladakh 638 11 19 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 20 MadhyaPradesh 13998 2022 1938 46 21 Maharashtra 5087 1174 154 0 22 Manipur 168 3 0 0 23 Meghalaya 123 7 0 0 24 Mizoram 0 0 0 0 25 Nagaland 138 3 3 0 26 Orissa 2003 252 0 0 27 Puducherry 31 0 0 0 28 Punjab 6041 929 1204 102 29 Rajasthan 18536 3493 2181 12 30 Sikkim 231 0 0 0 31 TamilNadu 18146 2237 2195 478 32 Telangana 6156 973 425 0 33 Tripura 87 0 0 0 34 UttarPradesh 27750 16183 14627 163 35 Uttarakhand 1998 192 332 0 36 WestBengal 5948 414 285 0 Total 170513 33808 29586 1161Detailsofenforcementactiontakenbythe State/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conforming foodproducts(includingadulteration)duringtheyear2022-23 S. NameofState/UT No.ofSamples No.ofSamples CivilCases CriminalCases No. Analysed foundNon- Conforming ConvictedwithNo.of penalty Conviction 1 Andaman&NicobarIslands 1200 46 58 0 2 AndhraPradesh 3607 314 339 12 3 ArunachalPradesh 258 11 0 0 4 Assam 602 99 0 0 5 Bihar 2935 92 39 0 6 Chandigarh 473 64 27 8 7 Chhattisgarh 1468 96 119 8 8 DadraNagarHaveli&Daman 164 10 13 0 &Diu 9 Delhi 3133 255 86 10 10 Goa 699 103 11 0 11 Gujarat 14562 978 547 24 12 Haryana 4445 1425 915 35 13 HimachalPradesh 2720 729 93 1 14 Jammu&Kashmir 13502 1195 1592 15 15 Jharkhand 943 370 44 8 16 Karnataka 3416 322 191 15 17 Kerala 8533 1362 454 33 18 Ladakh 220 6 23 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 20 MadhyaPradesh 12507 2092 1908 71 21 Maharashtra 11077 1340 198 5 22 Manipur 169 4 0 0 23 Meghalaya 409 41 0 0 24 Mizoram 140 0 0 0 25 Nagaland 109 6 0 0 26 Odisha 1368 367 47 0 27 Puducherry 0 0 0 0 28 Punjab 8179 1724 1404 5 29 Rajasthan 13184 3965 2435 4 30 Sikkim 279 0 4 0 31 TamilNadu 24188 7924 3714 678 32 Telangana 4809 894 315 0 33 Tripura 31 8 0 0 34 UttarPradesh 30140 18108 13148 251 35 Uttarakhand 1839 342 507 5 36 WestBengal 6203 334 233 0 Total 177511 44626 28464 1188DetailsofenforcementactiontakenbytheState/UTFoodSafetyAuthoritiesagainstnon-conformingfood products(includingadulteration)duringtheyear2021-22 S. NameofState/UT No.of No.ofSamples CivilCases Criminal No. Samples foundNon- Cases Analysed Conforming Convictedwith No.of penalty Conviction 1 Andaman&NicobarIslands 850 4 5 0 2 AndhraPradesh 5290 533 484 6 3 ArunachalPradesh 108 2 0 0 4 Assam 520 67 5 0 5 Bihar 555 17 75 0 6 Chandigarh 388 28 60 1 7 Chhattisgarh 1436 180 90 6 8 DadraNagarHaveli&Daman&Diu 234 0 7 0 9 Delhi 1956 218 89 27 10 Goa 200 14 2 0 11 Gujarat 13663 824 668 14 12 Haryana 4235 1182 78 21 13 HimachalPradesh 1745 308 249 0 14 Jammu&Kashmir 8109 1735 1931 4 15 Jharkhand 175 85 42 8 16 Karnataka 5844 150 125 0 17 Kerala 7855 925 237 10 18 Ladakh 47 19 12 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 20 MadhyaPradesh 16059 2900 2030 72 21 Maharashtra 9580 1454 787 12 22 Manipur 236 3 1 1 23 Meghalaya 70 5 0 0 24 Mizoram 0 0 0 0 25 Nagaland 127 14 0 0 26 Odisha 1168 260 52 0 27 Puducherry 5 2 2 0 28 Punjab 6768 1059 0 8 29 Rajasthan 10386 2891 626 1 30 Sikkim 66 5 0 0 31 TamilNadu 16363 3778 2884 360 32 Telangana 3077 353 77 0 33 Tripura 31 0 0 0 34 UttarPradesh 21987 13153 8585 118 35 Uttarakhand 2511 560 182 1 36 WestBengal 2701 207 52 1 Total 144345 32935 19437 671Annexure- II State-wise Numberof Primary andReferral Laboratories No. of Referral labs No. of Primarylabsnotified byFSSAIu/s43 (1), FSSA2006 notified by FSSAIu/s 43(2), FSSA2006 FSSAI Ownedand Labsowned Referral State S, FSSAI RunonPPP by Govt. Private labs(All Govt.

N State/UT Owned (Public Institutions Owned Govt.

Owned o. Labs Private (Otherthan Labs Owned Labs Partnership) FSSAI) Labs) mode 1 Andhra 1 4 1 Pradesh 2 A& N Islands 3 Arunachal Pradesh 4 Assam 1 1 1 5 Bihar 1 1 2 6 Chandigarh 7 Chhattisgarh 1 8 Dadar Nagar Haveli and 1 Daman& Diu 9 Delhi 1 1 14 10 Goa 1 1 11 Gujarat 6 3 10 2 12 Haryana 2 1 17 2 13 Himachal 1 1 Pradesh 14 Jammu & 2 Kashmir 15 Jharkhand 1 1 16 Karnataka 4 18 2 17 Kerala 3 9 7 2 18 Ladakh 19 Lakshadweep 20 Madhya 1 9 Pradesh 21 Maharashtra 5 1 1 32 4 22 Manipur 1 23 Meghalaya 1 24 Mizoram25 Nagaland 1 26 Odisha 1 1 27 Puducherry 28 Punjab 1 1 1 1 29 Rajasthan 10 1 5 30 Sikkim 31 Tamil Nadu 6 1 1 17 3 32 Telangana 1 2 9 4 33 Tripura 1 1 34 Uttar Pradesh 6 1 3 5 2 35 Uttarakhand 1 1 36 West Bengal 2 1 3 6 1 62 2 3 29 163 Total 24 259AnnexureIII FoodSafetyOfficer S.No. State/UT Sanctioned FilledPost Vacant Post 1 A& N Islands 19 17 2 2 Andhra Pradesh 145 47 98 3 Arunachal Pradesh 3 16* 0 4 Assam 77 41 26 5 Bihar 105 9 96 6 Chandigarh 8 5 3 7 Chhattisgarh 125 37 88 8 DNHDD 4 3 1 9 Delhi 32 19 13 10 Goa 39 35 4 11 Gujarat 306 162 144 12 Haryana 45 23 22 13 HimachalPradesh 22 14 8 14 Jammu & Kashmir 101 79 22 15 Jharkhand 77 20 57 16 Karnataka 210 210 0 17 Kerala 160 160 0 18 Ladakh 7 8* 0 19 Lakshadweep 0 9* 0 20 Madhya Pradesh 367 157 210 21 Maharashtra 350 318 32 22 Manipur 34 17 17 23 Meghalaya 25 21 4 24 Mizoram 9 7 2 25 Nagaland 7 5 2 26 Orissa 147 63 84 27 Puducherry 7 0 7 28 Punjab 60 52 8 29 Rajasthan 398 318 80 30 Sikkim 4 2 2 31 Tamil Nadu 394 326 68 32 Telangana 81 44 37 33 Tripura 23 11 12 34 Uttar Pradesh 662 552 110 35 Uttarakhand 57 20 37 36 West Bengal 190 174 16 Total 4300 3001 1312 *Working on contractbasis or givenadditional chargeasperrequirement.