‘3.7% food samples unsafe, 15.8% sub-standard’, says FSSAI

Syllabus subtopic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources, issues relating to poverty and hunger.

News: Data released by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on enforcement of norms has noted that 3.7% of the samples collected and analysed were found unsafe, 15.8% substandard and 9% samples had labelling defects.

Prelims and Mains focus: About the key findings of the report and its significance

Key findings of the report:

Releasing the data for 201819, when 1,06,459 samples were analysed, the food regulator said this was the first year the data had been compiled for unsafe, substandard and labelling defects separately. This would help authorities take precise corrective and preventive action. While there should be zero tolerance to unsafe food, substandard and labelling defects require greater efforts on capacity building of the businesses and standards, as well as labelling requirements.

There has been a 7% increase in the number of samples analysed during 201819 compared to 201718. Compared to the previous year, 25% more samples were found nonconforming. This shows that there has been better targeting of enforcement efforts by States/UTs.

There has been a 36% increase in civil cases launched and a 67% increase in the number of cases where penalties were imposed. The amount of penalty — ?32.58 crore— imposed has increased by 23% during 201819 compared to the previous year. There has been 86% increase in criminal cases launched. Since the conclusion of criminal cases takes time, 5,198 cases were concluded during 201718 that included a backlog of previous years. During the year there have been 701 convictions in criminal cases so far.

Ten States/UTs that have performed well include Uttarakhand, Goa, Bihar, Sikkim, Gujarat and Telangana.

Ten States that have performed poorly include Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab.

Source: The Hindu

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