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10 years of FSSAI - From preventing adulteration to ensuring food safety
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Saturday, 03 September, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d In 2006, India’s Parliament adopted a new comprehensive law replacing the erstwhile Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954. It was named the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The latter aimed at looking into more comprehensively the food safety ecosystem that included a broader definition of food business operator (FBO), thousands of additives and their standards well harmonised with those of Codex, creating duly accredited lab infrastructure across the country for scientific analysis of the samples collected and placing robust food clearance systems for imports amongst others to make food safe when it comes to the plate.
“The statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the Food Safety and Standards Bill 2006 refers to a multiplicity of food laws, standard setting and enforcement agencies, and the need for modernisation of laws which are non-responsive to technological developments, all of which hinder the growth of a modern food processing sector and fixation of safety standards,” wrote P I Suvrathan, the first chairperson of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in his memoir in the book released by FSSAI.
“It was in 1998 that the prime minister’s Council on Trade and Industry recommended comprehensive legislation on food, with a regulatory authority as a means to modernise the food sector and ensure safety of food,” he added.
In August 2011, FSSAI started its operations officially.
But after five years of its operations, Suvrathan felt that the regulator must reinvent itself.
To avail safety all-round need of staff arrangements - bringing on board food inspectors as food safety officers (FSO).
During the initial days of the operations, FSSAI took several initiatives to build the organisation from scratch, which appeared to have got derailed in the middle before the current dispensation took over and tried to save the cause.
The new law put in place a unified structure with a central body, FSSAI, prescribing the processes and the state authorities under respective commissioners following the rules or advisories as they were called. Designated officers were also appointed, and food inspectors were given the new designation of food safety officers (FSO).
It was also envisaged to have an appellate tribunal and special courts for speedy disposal of the cases related to food safety violations and grievances.
However, there is a serious staff crunch in many states against the originally conceived thought of having one FSO in every block of the country. And because of the staff crunch, FSSAI has now started moving to surveillance-based food safety using technological advancements than direct enforcement.
Steps taken for product approval and the need for it, imported food ingredients - regulations for imports. Standardising norms for mixing two ingredients import export - Codex harmonisation (international standards)
Setting standards
One of the major objectives of the Authority was to set standards for the food processed and manufactured in India. With the establishment of the Authority, the work related to laying scientific standards for processed foods started. It was aimed at regulating the food manufacturing, storage, transport, etc. in order to ensure safe food.
The officials appeared rigid over the definitions and instead of originally conceived idea of felicitation of FBO moving to the new regime, FSSAI, during the period of 2012 onwards, tried to tighten its grip on the food business.
Also the new Act talked for the first time about functional food, proprietary food, health food and nutraceuticals.
“It is important to remember that the regulator must always be driven by a science-based approach and perfect and immediate implementation. The regulations framed by FSSAI must be emphasised with clarity on the product label, which is the point of contact with the consumer,” said Dr V Prakash, distinguished scientist, CSIR India and vice-president, International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS).
“We must also acknowledge that the industry has a major role to play, and we must tap their knowledge while formulating standards. The brand equity of FSSAI may take some time to become established and be understood as a seal of safety,” he added.
The whole process of licensing and registration was so tedious that FSSAI was forced to extend the time continuously until August 4, 2016. The first deadline (from August 5, 2011) was twelve months, but subsequently it was repeatedly extended by six months. And while 35 lakh FBO were given licences, sections of traders demand extension which the FSSAI’s current dispensation refused.
Legal changes related to products (like packaging display, net weight and expiry)
Another focus area for FSSAI is labelling and packaging norms. However, there are multiple agencies working on this subject like the Legal Metrology Department under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
Recently it released an order about displaying vital information about the manufacturer, cost, date of expiry, ingredient list, etc. On 40 per cent of the area. However, the food industry expressed concern about the same, while the matter is still under consideration.
Meanwhile, it was thought that a single document for all the food categories should be released and work on that also commenced. In 2012, a draft was also released for the same but it didn’t see the light of day.
FSSAI decided to rework on the subject and now have since released a set of rules for different categories of food products like nutraceuticals. FSSAI is also in the process of making a new draft of labelling and packaging.
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