Lok Sabha Question No. 5700 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Adulteration in Food Items
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5700 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 th APRIL, 2025

## ADULTERATION IN FOOD ITEMS

## †5700. SHRI MANSUKHBHAI DHANJIBHAI VASAVA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that adulteration in milk products, edible oils, vegetables, sweets and other food items is adversely affecting the health of the people in the country;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the percentage of adulteration found in various food items in the country during the last three years and the current year, State/UT and year-wise;
- (d) the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Government against the guilty persons involved in such activities; and
- (e) the corrective measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (e): Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has not undertaken any study to assess the adverse effects of consumption of adulterated food on the health of the people of the country. However, intake of adulterated food can cause certain health effects like diarrhea, nausea, allergic reactions etc.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established in 2008 under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 primarily 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.

The Food Safety and Standards Act includes specific provisions for penal action concerning substandard food, misbranded food, and unsafe food. FSSAI through its regional offices and State/ Union Territories conducts regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection, and random sampling of food products. In cases where food samples are found to be nonconforming, penal action is taken against the defaulting Food Business Operators as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, Rules and Regulations. Further, to extend reach of basic testing facilities even in remote areas, FSSAI has provided mobile food testing labs called Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs). FSSAI also conducts periodic Pan-India Surveillance of food products especially on staple foods and commodities that are prone to adulteration.

State wise details on the percentage of adulteration found in various food items during the year 2021-22 to 2024-25 are attached at Annexure I to Annexure-IV .

******

Annexure I Details of enforcement samples analysed and found non-conforming during the year

## 2024-25 (till September)

| S. No.   | State/UT                           | No. of Samples No. of samples found Percentage of Samples   | No. of Samples No. of samples found Percentage of Samples   | No. of Samples No. of samples found Percentage of Samples   |
|----------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|          |                                    | Analysed                                                    | Non-Conforming during the year                              | found non-conforming (%)                                    |
| 1        | Andaman And Nicobar Islands        | 44                                                          | 0                                                           | 0.0 9.9                                                     |
| 2 3      | Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh   | 2997 34                                                     | 298 2                                                       | 5.9                                                         |
| 4        | Assam                              | 742                                                         | 121                                                         | 16.3                                                        |
| 5        | Bihar                              | 1543                                                        | 43                                                          | 2.8                                                         |
| 6        | Chandigarh                         | 114                                                         | 24                                                          | 21.1                                                        |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                       | 683                                                         | 115                                                         | 16.8                                                        |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli &Daman &Diu | 10                                                          | 0                                                           | 0.0                                                         |
| 9        | Delhi                              | 1192                                                        | 42                                                          | 3.5                                                         |
| 10       | Goa                                | 294                                                         | 24                                                          | 8.2                                                         |
| 11       | Gujarat                            | 4316                                                        | 360                                                         | 8.3                                                         |
| 12       | Haryana                            | 694                                                         | 176                                                         | 25.4                                                        |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh                   | 724                                                         | 155                                                         | 21.4                                                        |
| 14       | Jammu &Kashmir                     | 1338                                                        | 78                                                          | 5.8                                                         |
| 15       | Jharkhand                          | 151                                                         | 54                                                          | 35.8                                                        |
| 16       | Karnataka                          | 3955                                                        | 316                                                         | 8.0                                                         |
| 17       | Kerala                             | 4425                                                        | 564                                                         | 12.7                                                        |
| 18       | Ladakh                             | 76                                                          | 5                                                           | 6.6                                                         |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                        | 0                                                           | 0                                                           | 0.0                                                         |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh                     | 7091                                                        | 924                                                         | 13.0                                                        |
| 21       | Maharashtra                        | 1878                                                        | 352                                                         | 18.7                                                        |
| 22       | Manipur                            | 3                                                           | 1                                                           | 33.3                                                        |
| 23       | Meghalaya                          | 139                                                         | 1                                                           | 0.7                                                         |
| 24       | Mizoram                            | 8                                                           | 0                                                           | 0.0                                                         |
| 25       | Nagaland                           | 135                                                         | 2                                                           | 1.5                                                         |
| 26       | Orissa                             | 1144                                                        | 91                                                          | 8.0                                                         |
| 27       | Puducherry                         | 63                                                          | 0                                                           | 0.0                                                         |
| 28       | Punjab                             | 1628                                                        | 358                                                         | 22.0                                                        |
| 29       | Rajasthan                          | 6576                                                        | 1865                                                        | 28.4                                                        |
| 30       | Sikkim                             | 90                                                          | 0                                                           | 0.0                                                         |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu                         | 7839                                                        | 1095                                                        | 14.0                                                        |
| 32       | Telangana                          | 1660                                                        | 167                                                         | 10.1                                                        |
| 33       | Tripura                            | 66                                                          | 3                                                           | 4.5                                                         |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh                      | 13305                                                       | 7030                                                        | 52.8                                                        |
| 35       | Uttarakhand                        | 687                                                         | 94                                                          | 13.7                                                        |
| 36       | West Bengal                        | 6464                                                        | 423                                                         | 6.5                                                         |

Annexure-II Details of enforcement samples analysed and found non-conforming during the year 2023-24

|   S. No. | State/UT                           |   No. Samples Analysed |   of No. of samples found Non-Conforming during the year |   Percentage of Samples found non-conforming s(%) |
|----------|------------------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman And Nicobar Islands        |                      0 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                     |                   6439 |                                                      472 |                                              7.33 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                    501 |                                                       11 |                                              2.2  |
|        4 | Assam                              |                   1139 |                                                      125 |                                             10.97 |
|        5 | Bihar                              |                   2806 |                                                      126 |                                              4.49 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                         |                    311 |                                                       49 |                                             15.76 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                       |                   1373 |                                                      167 |                                             12.16 |
|        8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli &Daman &Diu |                    185 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|        9 | Delhi                              |                   3412 |                                                      150 |                                              4.4  |
|       10 | Goa                                |                    599 |                                                       16 |                                              2.67 |
|       11 | Gujarat                            |                  15841 |                                                      910 |                                              5.74 |
|       12 | Haryana                            |                   3485 |                                                      856 |                                             24.56 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                   |                   1618 |                                                      401 |                                             24.78 |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                   9057 |                                                      750 |                                              8.28 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                          |                    384 |                                                      292 |                                             76.04 |
|       16 | Karnataka                          |                   5492 |                                                      286 |                                              5.21 |
|       17 | Kerala                             |                  10792 |                                                     1304 |                                             12.08 |
|       18 | Ladakh                             |                    638 |                                                       11 |                                              1.72 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                        |                      0 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                     |                  13998 |                                                     2022 |                                             14.44 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                        |                   5087 |                                                     1174 |                                             23.08 |
|       22 | Manipur                            |                    168 |                                                        3 |                                              1.79 |
|       23 | Meghalaya                          |                    123 |                                                        7 |                                              5.69 |
|       24 | Mizoram                            |                      0 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|       25 | Nagaland                           |                    138 |                                                        3 |                                              2.17 |
|       26 | Orissa                             |                   2003 |                                                      252 |                                             12.58 |
|       27 | Puducherry                         |                     31 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|       28 | Punjab                             |                   6041 |                                                      929 |                                             15.38 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                          |                  18536 |                                                     3493 |                                             18.84 |
|       30 | Sikkim                             |                    231 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                         |                  18146 |                                                     2237 |                                             12.33 |
|       32 | Telangana                          |                   6156 |                                                      973 |                                             15.81 |
|       33 | Tripura                            |                     87 |                                                        0 |                                              0    |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh                      |                  27750 |                                                    16183 |                                             58.32 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                        |                   1998 |                                                      192 |                                              9.61 |
|       36 | West Bengal                        |                   5948 |                                                      414 |                                              6.96 |

Annexure-III Details of enforcement samples analysed and found non-conforming during the year 2022-23

|   S. No. | State/UT                          |   No. of Samples Analysed |   No. of samples found Non- Conforming during the year |   Percentage of Samples found non- conforming (%) |
|----------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman And Nicobar Islands       |                      1200 |                                                     46 |                                              3.83 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                    |                      3607 |                                                    314 |                                              8.71 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                 |                       258 |                                                     11 |                                              4.26 |
|        4 | Assam                             |                       602 |                                                     99 |                                             16.45 |
|        5 | Bihar                             |                      2935 |                                                     92 |                                              3.13 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                        |                       473 |                                                     64 |                                             13.53 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                      |                      1468 |                                                     96 |                                              6.54 |
|        8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli& Daman&Diu |                       164 |                                                     10 |                                              6.1  |
|        9 | Delhi                             |                      3133 |                                                    255 |                                              8.14 |
|       10 | Goa                               |                       699 |                                                    103 |                                             14.74 |
|       11 | Gujarat                           |                     14562 |                                                    978 |                                              6.72 |
|       12 | Haryana                           |                      4445 |                                                   1425 |                                             32.06 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                  |                      2720 |                                                    729 |                                             26.8  |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir                    |                     13502 |                                                   1195 |                                              8.85 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                         |                       943 |                                                    370 |                                             39.24 |
|       16 | Karnataka                         |                      3416 |                                                    322 |                                              9.43 |
|       17 | Kerala                            |                      8533 |                                                   1362 |                                             15.96 |
|       18 | Ladakh                            |                       220 |                                                      6 |                                              2.73 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                       |                         0 |                                                      0 |                                              0    |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                    |                     12507 |                                                   2092 |                                             16.73 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                       |                     11077 |                                                   1340 |                                             12.1  |
|       22 | Manipur                           |                       169 |                                                      4 |                                              2.37 |
|       23 | Meghalaya                         |                       409 |                                                     41 |                                             10.02 |
|       24 | Mizoram                           |                       140 |                                                      0 |                                              0    |
|       25 | Nagaland                          |                       109 |                                                      6 |                                              5.5  |
|       26 | Orissa                            |                      1368 |                                                    367 |                                             26.83 |
|       27 | Puducherry                        |                         0 |                                                      0 |                                              0    |
|       28 | Punjab                            |                      8179 |                                                   1724 |                                             21.08 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                         |                     13184 |                                                   3965 |                                             30.07 |
|       30 | Sikkim                            |                       279 |                                                      0 |                                              0    |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                        |                     24188 |                                                   7924 |                                             32.76 |
|       32 | Telangana                         |                      4809 |                                                    894 |                                             18.59 |
|       33 | Tripura                           |                        31 |                                                      8 |                                             25.81 |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh                     |                     30140 |                                                  18108 |                                             60.08 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                       |                      1839 |                                                    342 |                                             18.6  |
|       36 | West Bengal                       |                      6203 |                                                    334 |                                              5.38 |

Annexure-IV Details of enforcement samples analysed and found non-conforming during the year 2021-22

|   S. No. | State/UT                          |   No. of Samples Analysed No. of samples found Non- Conforming |   during the year |   Percentage of Samples found non- conforming (%) |
|----------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman And Nicobar Islands       |                                                            850 |                 4 |                                              0.47 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                    |                                                           5290 |               533 |                                             10.08 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                 |                                                            108 |                 2 |                                              1.85 |
|        4 | Assam                             |                                                            520 |                66 |                                             12.69 |
|        5 | Bihar                             |                                                            555 |                17 |                                              3.06 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                        |                                                            388 |                28 |                                              7.22 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                      |                                                           1436 |               180 |                                             12.53 |
|        8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli& Daman&Diu |                                                            234 |                 0 |                                              0    |
|        9 | Delhi                             |                                                           1956 |               218 |                                             11.15 |
|       10 | Goa                               |                                                            200 |                14 |                                              7    |
|       11 | Gujarat                           |                                                          13663 |               824 |                                              6.03 |
|       12 | Haryana                           |                                                           4235 |              1182 |                                             27.91 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                  |                                                           1745 |               308 |                                             17.65 |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir                    |                                                           8109 |              1735 |                                             21.4  |
|       15 | Jharkhand                         |                                                            175 |                85 |                                             48.57 |
|       16 | Karnataka                         |                                                           5844 |               150 |                                              2.57 |
|       17 | Kerala                            |                                                           7855 |               925 |                                             11.78 |
|       18 | Ladakh                            |                                                             47 |                19 |                                             40.43 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                       |                                                              0 |                 0 |                                              0    |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                    |                                                          16059 |              2900 |                                             18.06 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                       |                                                           9580 |              1454 |                                             15.18 |
|       22 | Manipur                           |                                                            236 |                 3 |                                              1.27 |
|       23 | Meghalaya                         |                                                             70 |                 5 |                                              7.14 |
|       24 | Mizoram                           |                                                              0 |                 0 |                                              0    |
|       25 | Nagaland                          |                                                            127 |                14 |                                             11.02 |
|       26 | Orissa                            |                                                           1168 |               260 |                                             22.26 |
|       27 | Puducherry                        |                                                              5 |                 2 |                                              0    |
|       28 | Punjab                            |                                                           6768 |              1059 |                                             15.65 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                         |                                                          10386 |              2891 |                                             27.84 |
|       30 | Sikkim                            |                                                             66 |                 5 |                                              7.58 |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                        |                                                          16363 |              3778 |                                             23.09 |
|       32 | Telangana                         |                                                           3077 |               353 |                                             11.47 |
|       33 | Tripura                           |                                                             31 |                 0 |                                              0    |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh                     |                                                          21987 |             13153 |                                             59.82 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                       |                                                           2511 |               560 |                                             22.3  |
|       36 | West Bengal                       |                                                           2701 |               207 |                                              7.66 |