Lok Sabha Question No. 1142 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-05
Subject: Incidence of Food Adulteration
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Yaduveer Wadiyar

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRY OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1142 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH DECEMBER, 2025

## INCIDENCE OF FOOD ADULTERATION

## 1142. SHRI YADUVEER WADIYAR:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the growing instances of food adulteration and deceptive use of palm oil in the manufacturing of edible products such as ghee, bakery items and confectionery, often without clear labelling or disclosure to consumers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has conducted any recent nationwide survey or inspection drive to identify the extent of such adulteration and misleading practices in the edible oil and processed food sectors;
- (c) if so, the details thereof including the number of violations detected, enforcement actions taken and penalties imposed during the last three years; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to introduce stricter labelling norms, traceability mechanisms and consumer awareness campaigns to prevent deceptive blending and misbranding of palm oil-based food products and if so, the details thereof?

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

(a) to (c): Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is mandated to lay 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. FSSAI is fully committed to ensure the availability of safe food products including refined oils to the consumers across the country.

Palm oil is a standardized product under Sub-regulation 2.2.1(19) of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011 notified by FSSAI.

Regular surveillance drives, monitoring, regulatory inspection and random sampling of various food products including checks for use of artificial fruit ripening agents are conducted throughout the year by the officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/ UTs and Regional offices of FSSAI to check compliance with the quality and safety parameters including testing for unapproved artificial fruit ripening agents in food products as laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Regulations made thereunder.

In the event of any violations, strict regulatory actions are enforced against the offenders in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Details of enforcement actions & penalties raised are as follows :-

|   Financial Year |   No of samples analysed |   No of Samples found non -conforming | No of cases launched   |
|------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|------------------------|
|            18597 |                     4628 |                                  3382 | 2022-23                |
|            13819 |                     1952 |                                  1653 | 2023-24                |
|            13772 |                     1840 |                                  1544 | 2024-25                |

(d): Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 contains labelling provisions relating to false, misleading or deceptive labelling or labelling is likely to create an erroneous impression, covering all the food products including Palm oil. It is mandatory to provide the 'Class title' as name of the specific edible oil such as mustard oil, groundnut oil, etc., where 'Edible vegetable oil' is added as ingredients in the food products. Further, every package containing an admixture of edible oils shall carry a label declaration in bold capital letter immediately below its brand name or trade name on the front of pack and also provide the format, font size of the label declaration.

In addition, the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulations, 2011 prohibits the sale of any Multi source edible vegetable oil containing Mustard Oil.

FSSAI has implemented following initiatives to raise awareness about food safety among consumers, the food industry, and citizens:-

- i. Website and Social Media : FSSAI's website and Social Media pages provide accessible information on Standards/Regulations/Advisories related to Food Safety and on
2. detecting food adulterants at home, offering practical tips for consumers. Social media campaign '#NoToAdulteration' is carried out to educate people about adulteration and promote food safety consciousness and healthy eating habits across citizen.
- ii. Adulteration Videos: FSSAI has produced a series of videos that visually demonstrate methods for identifying adulteration in commonly used foods. These are available on the FSSAI YouTube channel and promoted on various other media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook time to time and are showcased at various public events and campaigns.
- iii. Resources like the DART Book offer simple tests for detecting food adulterants at home.
- iv. Food Safety Magic Box : This educational toolkit is designed for school students, teachers and parents, containing easy-to-use tests for detecting food adulteration through an interactive and engaging way for students to learn about food safety.
- v. Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs) or mobile food testing laboratories are deployed to reach remote areas and for conducting food testing and raising awareness.
- vi. Food Safety Guidebook for Teachers/Students : The lesson plan booklet provides with the detailed information of how to conduct the different test on food adulteration. These tests are mapped across the curriculum of the particular grade.

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