Lok Sabha Question No. 2725 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-19
Subject: Quality Standards in FPI
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Asked by: Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadiya

## GOVERNMENTOF INDIA MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2725

ANSWER ON 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## QUALITY STANDARDS IN FPI

## 2725.   SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA :

Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:

- (a)       whether maintaining food safety and quality standards is a major challenge for small sector Food Processing Industries (FPIs) leading to various food related diseases; and
- (b)       if so, the steps that have been taken by the Government to provide food security and maintain proper quality standards of food products in small food processing sectors?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (KM. SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

- (a) As  per  the  provisions  of  Food  Safety  and  Standards  (FSS)  Act,  2006,  every  Food Business  Operator  (FBO)/Food  Processing  Industries(FPIs)  including  petty  food  business operators  is  required  to  obtain  license/registration  for  carrying  out  food  businesses.  These FBOs/(FPIs) are required to comply the respective hygiene standards as per law. In this regard, the Government of India has formulated Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) under  the  Ministry  of  Health  and  Family  Welfare  (MoH&FW)  and  the  licence  to  these industries are issued on the compliance of standards maintained by FSSAI.
- (b) Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) launched a pan India scheme called 'Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises', in partnership with the State/  UT  Governments  under  Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  Abhiyan  which  aims  to  enhance  the competitiveness of existing  individual  micro-enterprises  in  the  unorganized  segment  of  the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector and support Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.

Under the scheme, 2,00,000 micro food processing units will be directly assisted with credit linked subsidy. Adequate supportive common infrastructure and institutional architecture will be supported to accelerate the growth of the sector.

FSSAI, MoH&FW has taken the following steps to facilitate small food processing sector to maintain proper quality standards of their food products:

- (i) FSSAI is providing training to these FBOs regularly for the manufacturing units under its Food Safety Training Certification (FoSTaC) programme.
- (ii) FSSAI has created a network of mobile food testing laboratories commonly known as Food Safety on Wheels or FSW to cater to the testing need of the FBOs even in the remotest part of the country.
- (iii) FSSAI  conducts  periodic  Pan-India  Surveillance  of  Food  products  for  both  the organised and un-organised sectors especially on staple foods and commodities that are prone to adulteration
- (iv) FSSAI has facilitated rapid food testing methods to reduce the screening time of the food  products  at  the  field  level  and  accelerate  surveillance  as  well  as  monitoring activities.

In addition, the Bureau of Indian Standards under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and  Public  Distribution has  also  published  various  Indian  Standards,  which  prescribe  food hygiene and safety practices to be followed by different food businesses, namely  - IS 2491 [Food hygiene - General principles - Code of practice], IS 4303 (Part 1) [Code of hygienic conditions for fish industry: Part 1 Pre-processing stage], IS 4303 (Part 2) [Code of hygienic conditions for fish industry: Part 2 Canning stage], IS 5839 [Food Hygiene - Code of practice for  manufacture  storage  and  sale  of  ice  cream], IS  7005  [Code  for  hygienic  conditions  for production,  processing,  transportation  and  distribution  of milk], IS  14216  [Spices  and Condiments  Processing  Units  -  Code  of  Hygiene  Practices], IS  14134  [Code  for  hygienic practices  for  units  for  processing  and  handling  of  quick  frozen  foods], IS  14135 [Code  for hygienic practices for processing and handling of dehydrated fruits and vegetables including edible fungi], IS 15000 [Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) - Requirements for any organization in the food chain], etc.

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