Main Role and Functions of FSSAI in India

FSSAI or the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a statutory authority of India that reports to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The government of India has set it up for regulating and supervising the safety of food or eatables in India.

Role of FSSAI

Certainly, the role of FSSAI is associated with the quality maintenance of food or eatables. India is where a vast population of 1.4 billion people lives. It comes second if you see it in terms of population in the world. As the population is so vast, it becomes necessary to evaluate the quality of food. The demand would be obviously high. So, discovering whether the food is safe, nutritious, and of the highest quality is a must. This is where the need for FSSAI arises. The government of India set it up as a regulating body for managing and maintaining the quality of food. With it in place, it's easy to prevent food-borne illness, unsafe products, and poor-quality food supply.

So, this statutory body was formed in 2006 to regulate the standards defined under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Its head office is in New Delhi. Also, you can see its four regional offices, 12 branch offices, and six import offices across India. These offices and branches are responsible for testing and officially recognising the quality of food. In addition, there are 14 referral laboratories, 72 state/ UT laboratories, and 112 FSSAI-notified NABL- recognised labs also.

Before its establishment, there were many regulatory authorities to monitor the food industry. These are the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act of 1954, the Fruit Products Order (FPO) of 1955, the Meat Food Products Order (MFPO) of 1973, etc. But, if you look into their acts or laws, they were not sufficient or adequate. Many of them needed revisions to overcome challenges in the food industry. Then only, FSSAI was formed, which clubbed all of these authorities under a roof. This is how it formed in India.

Functions of the FSSAI

As aforementioned, this food safety and quality management body deals with confusion regarding its standards.

• Its main function is to define and maintain food safety standards. These all standards have scientific aspects and are drafted for people to consume standard food. These standards are defined for various food items, which cover a range of food like packaged, dairy, meat, and poultry products. All of its standards make it necessary to clearly reveal ingredients and label hygiene and sanitation.

• In addition to setting up standards, it proactively controls food safety and quality issues by enforcing regulations. This entity examines the entire food business to find out if food sellers are following safety laws and regulations. Non-compliant businesses have to face strict action or penalties. In many cases, the licences are canceled. To overcome violations, investigation, and prosecution, it works with other government entities, such as the police and the health department.

• Monitoring is another function of this governing body. It frequently gathers data on food products and food-borne diseases to determine trends and potential risks. This information proves fundamental in deriving policies and programs that are meant to improve food safety and also, protect consumers from health hazards. Sometimes, training and education become must-haves for businesses that are involved in food and consumers' safety.

• Awareness is another function that should be promoted to ensure food safety and nutrition. This governing body is responsible for conducting several campaigns and educational programs for safe food handling, storage, and preparation. FSSAI guides not only businesses, but also schools, colleges, and universities to ensure that the correct knowledge about food safety is spread among students.

Famous Food Safety Programs and Campaigns

For education, it runs many programs for educating. Here are examples of a few campaigns:

• Eat Right India: This awareness program aims to make people aware of a balanced diet and healthy eating habits. It inspires people to prefer healthier food to junk or unhealthy food. This effort helps in reducing the intake of unhealthy eatables.

• Safe and Nutritious Food (SNF): This program focuses on the idea of providing safe and nutritious eatables to school goers, expecting mothers, and breastfeeding mothers. This program directs to provide fortified food items to schools and anganwadis. In addition, running awareness campaigns on food safety and nutrition is a must.

• Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC): This is a certification, which ensures that the food handlers, supervisors, and managers in this industry are trained and certified for providing safe and hygienic food services.

• Food Fortification: This is mainly concerned with encouraging the idea of food fortification. It is actually the practice of integrating essential vitamins and minerals with foods to better their nutritional values. This government agency promotes the fortification of staple foods, such as wheat flour, rice, and salt with must-have nutrients like iron, folic acid, and iodine.

• Food Safety Mitra (FSM): This program provides technical training and support about how to abide by food safety regulations.

These food safety standards are responsible to keep people (who consume and run food businesses) aware of food safety standards. With these practices, FSSAI makes people aware of these regulations.

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