Context:

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an advisory asking all States and Union Territories to discourage the practice of packing of toys/ gifts with food products for infants and small children as there are chances of contamination and risk of accidental ingestion.

What is Issue:

• It has become a common practice for manufacturers to attract sales by adding small toys/gifts inside food packets.
• Several brands of chips and even chocolates come along with small toys/ gifts inside the packet. Some brands of chips packets even have tattoo stickers inside.

Concern:

• Considering the safety of public at large, there is a need to discourage food businesses from providing any toy or gift item inside the food packages, especially in case of food which is likely to be ingested directly by an infant or a small child.
• Also, it is desirable that the colour, texture and nature of toy or gift item should not at all resemble the food product inside food package.
• As per Section 3(1) zz (xi) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 “unsafe food” means an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health by virtue of its being misbranded or sub­standard or food containing extraneous matter.

About FSSAI:

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body.
• 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.

Establishment of the Authority:

• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI.

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  • Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.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.

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 programmes 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.

Highlights of Food Safety and Standards Rule, 2011.

• The Rules provides for: The Food Safety Appellate Tribunal and the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal, for adjudication of food safety cases.
• It covers Licensing and Registration, Packaging and Labelling of Food Businesses, Food Product Standards and Food Additives
• It prohibits and restricts on sales or approval for Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients, such ingredients may cause harm to human health.
• It provides for Food Safety and Standards on Organic Food and regulates Food Advertising.

Recent Cases:

Nestle India Limited Maggi Case:

• The maggi noodles were reported with excess lead unfit for human consumption and FSSAI prescribed for ban.

Cadbury India:

• It was reported that worms was found in Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. The FSSAI declared packaging was not proper or airtight and made it mandatory to change the packaging.