FSSAI or the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India governs and monitors food businesses in India. This department ensures that food products undergo quality checks to prevent the food adulteration and sale of sub-standard or below par products. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which is the same Act responsible for creating the FSSAI, lays down rules and regulations for running a food business and the responsibilities of registering and licensing, food business operators (FBO) in India.
According to the Government of India, it is statutory and mandatory for all the Food Business Operators (FBOs) to obtain a Food License or Food Licenses, depending on the type of work that they are doing. According to the Food Safety and Standards Regulations of 2011, all food businesses have to register and receive their FSSAI registration or license if they are involved in the manufacturing, storage, transportation or distribution of food products. While in these industries, their work could entail the processing, manufacture, storage distribution and sale of food products.
Completing an FSSAI Registration and receiving an FSSAI or Food License is not the same thing. Licences vary based on business details including, annual turnovers, the scale of expansion and number of branches and so on. All three categories fall within the purview of the FSSAI but getting the right licence is relevant, or else, establishments could find themselves in trouble for not handling the correct process.
With a process as complex as this, it only makes sense to work with someone who knows their way around the system. There are multiple companies with their websites providing information about the process. Additionally, they even provide the forms that need filling and document and certificates that need submitting. Find a website, providing the correct information and go through the FAQ section to get answers to any questions you might have.
At least ten Indian states are not equipped to ensure food safety, due to the scarcity of staff, food testing laboratory infrastructure, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India stated. They also mentioned their struggle to maintain proper checks in all states and many of the poorly performing States. They have not been able to put full-time officers in place for food safety, and do not have proper food testing laboratories despite the food safety law coming into force more than a decade ago.
Across India, the FSSAI analysed a total of 106,459 samples across the country and found over 15.8% of the food samples were sub-standard, 3.7% unsafe and 9% mislabelled in 2018-19. More rigorous enforcement by States is essential to build public trust in food, which has been declining because of rumours and false information about food. The FSSAI is looking at increasing the capacity of State food laboratories and enabling the use of private food labs for testing food samples.
2018-19 is the first year that worked on compiling the data for unsafe, sub-standard, and labelling defects, separately. It comprised of samples analysed, non-conforming samples, cases launched, convictions and penalties by States and Union Territories in 2018-19 and also trends over the past three years.