New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) The government has stepped up food safety enforcement across the country, with more than 56,000 risk-based inspections conducted in the last three years — more than 100 per cent growth in the last three years — to ensure compliance with food safety standards, the Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for laying down science-based standards for food products and regulating their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure safe and wholesome food for consumers.

According to the minister, 26,267 risk-based inspections were conducted in 2024-25 under the Risk Based Inspection System (RBIS), compared with 18,098 in 2023-24 and 11,904 in 2022-23.

The RBIS framework determines the frequency of inspections based on the risk associated with different food businesses, with high-risk food categories required to undergo annual inspections.

However, enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is a shared responsibility between the Centre and the states, with State Food Safety Authorities primarily responsible for field-level implementation.

Currently, 2,997 Food Safety Officers and 668 Designated Officers are working across states and Union Territories to enforce food safety regulations.

The government has also strengthened the food testing ecosystem by notifying 252 food testing laboratories and 24 referral laboratories for the analysis of food samples and appellate testing, according to him.

Moreover, 305 mobile food testing laboratories — known as “Food Safety on Wheels” — have been deployed across 35 states and Union Territories to enable on-the-spot testing of food products and help curb adulteration.

FSSAI also mandates annual third-party audits for food business operators holding central licences and has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 to improve transparency and consumer awareness through clear product labelling.

To curb the reuse of cooking oil, the regulator has mandated that food business operators (FBOs) maintain records of used cooking oil (UCO) disposal if edible oil consumption for frying exceeds 50 litres per day, while vegetable oil with Total Polar Compounds exceeding 25 per cent cannot be used.

Consumers can also lodge food safety complaints through the FSSAI grievance portal, email or toll-free helpline, the minister added.

–IANS

ag/na