The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards , 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying 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.
Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
- Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954,Fruit Products Order , 1955, Meat Food Products Order,1973,
- Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.
The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command. To this effect, the Act establishes an independent statutory Authority – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India with head office at Delhi. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the State Food Safety Authorities shall enforce various provisions of the Act.
Establishment of the Authority
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI. The Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have already been appointed by Government of India. The Chairperson is in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.
FSSAI has been mandated by the FSS Act, 2006 for performing the following functions:
- Framing of Regulations to lay down the Standards and guidelines in relation to articles of food and specifying appropriate system of enforcing various standards thus notified.
- Laying down mechanisms and guidelines for accreditation of certification bodies engaged in certification of food safety management system for food businesses.
- Laying down procedure and guidelines for accreditation of laboratories and notification of the accredited laboratories.
- To provide scientific advice and technical support to Central Government and State Governments in the matters of framing the policy and rules in areas which have a direct or indirect bearing of food safety and nutrition.
- Collect and collate data regarding food consumption, incidence and prevalence of biological risk, contaminants in food, residues of various, contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.
- Creating an information network across the country so that the public, consumers, Panchayats etc receive rapid, reliable and objective information about food safety and issues of concern.
- Provide training programs for persons who are involved or intend to get involved in food businesses.
- Contribute to the development of international technical standards for food, sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards.
- Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.
- To provide assurance of food safety, Food businesses must implement an effective Food Safety Management System (FSMS) based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and suitable pre- requisite programs by actively controlling hazards throughout the food chain starting from food production till final consumption.
- As per the condition of license under FSS (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011, every food business operator (FBO) applying for licensing must have a documented FSMS plan and comply with schedule 4 of this regulation. Schedule 4 introduces the concept of FSMS based on implementation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) by food businesses and is divided into five parts as under:.
| Schedule 4 | General Requirements |
| Part 1 | General hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by food business operators applying for registration – Petty food operators and Street food vendors |
| Part 2 | General hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by food business operators applying for license- Manufacturing/ processing/ packaging/storage/distribution |
| Part 3 | General hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by food business operators applying for license- Milk and milk products |
| Part 4 | General hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by food business operators applying for license- Slaughter house and meat processing |
| Part 5 | General hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by food business operators applying for license- Catering |