Members of the food industry and experts have welcomed the series of measures, introduced by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Spices Board of India, to maintain quality check of food products sold within the country and of those exported while stating that despite the regulatory ecosystem for food articles in India being one of the most comprehensive frameworks in the world it continues to grapple lack of ground-level implementation.
The measures have been brought in following the recent suspension of sale of certain spice blends from two leading brands in India by Singapore and Hong Kong. The suspension was allegedly due to elevated levels of ethylene oxide (ETO), a known carcinogen.
As part of its remedial measures FSSAI has now put under surveillance food items including fruit and vegetables, salmonella in fish products, spice and culinary herbs, fortified rice, and milk and milk products in and directed comprehensive testing of spices from all brands across India. It has also asked State governments to conduct spice testing to guarantee quality, a senior FSSAI official confirmed.
Additionally, India’s Spices Board has mandated ETO testing for all spices exported to Hong Kong and Singapore from May 6.
Mr. Rishi Agrawal, CEO and co-founder at Teamlease Regtech, a company helping Ministries, regulators, and private firms in compliance regulations, said, “The regulatory ecosystem for food articles in India is one of the most comprehensive frameworks in the world. But the lack of ground level implementation has failed to do justice to the extant laws.”
“While there has been significant progress on the policy front, weak enforcement has become a roadblock. There has been a gradual increase in the enforcement metrics of the regulator. The industry has come a long way in the past decades and there is still a long way to go to reach the western standards of food safety,” he said.
Industry insiders have also called for strict action from both regulators and manufacturers stating that incidents of contamination will hamper growth in the sector.
“The recent ban on MDH and Everest masalas in Singapore and Hong Kong due to ethylene oxide contamination raises concern for the sector. The overall issue underscores the importance of robust quality control measures in the industry,” Akash Agrawal, co-founder, Zoff Foods, said. He added that government’s regulatory bodies, and brands themselves must collaborate to ensure stricter testing procedures throughout the supply chain, from farmer crop cultivation practices to final processing and packaging.
“This might involve implementing stricter guidelines for pesticide use on farms, investing in improved storage and transportation facilities to minimize contamination risk, and conducting more rigorous testing at various stages of production. It is important to instate the supremacy of organic spices meeting the safety requirements of the consumers. Such measures can help rebuild trust with international consumers and safeguard the reputation of Indian spices,” he said.
The FSSAI maintained that it has developed over 700 standards of food products and reviewed and amended the standards required.
“We have expanded standards for food additives that now have over 9000 provisions covering 350 additives and food processing aids by harmonising the standards of food additives with CODEX standards,” the statement said.
Codex Alimentarius, or “Food Code”, is a collection of international food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice that define many aspects of food quality and safety for foods moving in international trade.
FSSAI added that the number of samples analysed during the past few years have grown from 1,07,829 in 2020-21 to more than 4,51,000 in 2023-24, registering an increase of more than three times. It also noted that from 2020-21 to 2022-23 each year over 22% samples were found non-conforming.
Highlighting the challenges before the Authority it said that — 90% of the food business operators fall under the jurisdiction of the State Governments. Enforcement of the provisions of the Act usually rests with the State Governments.
“Adjudicating officers involved in checking violations are under the State Government Authority and criminal cases are filed at district level courts,” it said.
India presently has 239 primary food testing laboratories, 22 referral laboratories and 12 reference laboratories operating in the country.
