Lok Sabha Question No. 4604 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Violations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Dr. Mohammad Jawed, Adv. Adoor Prakash, Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Shri Karti P Chidambaram, Shri K C Venugopal

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRY OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4604 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 th MARCH, 2026

## VIOLATIONS UNDER THE FOOD SAFETYAND STANDARDS ACT, 2006

## 4604. SHRI K C VENUGOPAL:

SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA:

SHRI KARTI P CHIDAMBARAM:

ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

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

- (a) the number of cases in which penalties were imposed and punishments were awarded for non-conformance under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, year-wise since 2020;
- (b) the year-wise details of Food Business Operators (FBOs) penalised or punished since 2020 under the categories of substandard food, misbranded food, food containing extraneous
- matter and unsafe food; and
- (c) whether the Government has carried out any awareness campaigns to prevent such
- violations and improve compliance with food safety standards 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. The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is a shared responsibility between the Central and State Governments.

Surveillance drives, monitoring, regulatory inspection and random sampling of various food products are conducted 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 in food products as laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Regulations made thereunder. If any violations are observed, strict regulatory actions have been enforced against the offenders in accordance with the provisions of FSS Act. Details of number of Food Samples tested and penalized for last 5 Years as under: -

| Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.      | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   | Details of Enforcement for last 5 Years.   |
|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| Year                                       | No. of Samples                             | No. of Samples found non-confo             | Non-Conforming Samples                     | Non-Conforming Samples                     | Non-Conforming Samples                        | Civil Cases                                | Civil Cases                                | Criminal Cases                             | Criminal Cases                             |
| Year                                       | Analysed                                   | rming                                      | Unsafe                                     | Sub Standar d                              | Labelling defects/ Misleading/ Miscellaneo us | Decided with Penalty                       | Penalties Raised (Cr Rs.)                  | No. of Convictio ns                        | Penalties Raised (Cr Rs.)                  |
| 2024- 25                                   | 170535                                     | 34388                                      | 7945                                       | 22516                                      | 3931                                          | 30142                                      | 35.74                                      | 1265                                       | 3.03                                       |
| 2023- 24                                   | 170513                                     | 33808                                      | 6782                                       | 22603                                      | 4423                                          | 29586                                      | 74.12                                      | 1161                                       | 2.67                                       |
| 2022- 23                                   | 1,77,511                                   | 44,626                                     | 6,579                                      | 21,917                                     | 16,130                                        | 28,464                                     | 33.23                                      | 1188                                       | 2.75                                       |
| 2021- 22                                   | 1,44,345                                   | 32,934                                     | 4,890                                      | 16,582                                     | 11,462                                        | 19,437                                     | 53.39                                      | 671                                        | 1.38                                       |
| 2020- 21                                   | 1,07,829                                   | 28,347                                     | 5,220                                      | 13,394                                     | 9,733                                         | 14,817                                     | 49.92                                      | 506                                        | 0.83                                       |

Further, FSSAI has taken following strategies specially to address the concern of adulteration in the food value chain:-

-  FSSAI has implemented Risk Based Inspections System [RBIS] to prioritize the inspections of the premises of the high risk Food Business Operators (FBOs). FSSAI has provided a platform on the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) portal, where on successful registration of a complaint by the consumer, State Food Safety Department/Regional offices depending on the jurisdiction take up the cases as per the provisions laid under the FSS Act, 2006
-  252 laboratories have been notified by FSSAI for primary testing of food and 24 Referral Laboratories.
-  FSSAI has also provided Mobile Food Testing Laboratory (MFTL) referred to as 'Food Safety on wheels' (FSW) to States/UTs for on spot testing of adulteration in various food commodities. So far, 305 MFTLs have been procured & deployed by States/UTs against the funds provided by FSSAI for 541 MFTLs.
-  Food Safety Magic Boxes, meticulously facilitate the detection of adulteration in food. It consists of reliable "quick screening tests" that a common person can perform at the household level.
-  FSSAI published DART Booklet i.e., 'Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test' which covers more than 50 quick tests for different categories of foods.
-  FSSAI under its Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme, provides training to persons involved in food businesses and food handling. The objective of this programme is to enhance the availability of skilled and trained manpower in the food industry, promote an improved environment of self-compliance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and its Rules and Regulations, encourage responsible practices among food businesses and bring about behavioural change while inculcating a strong culture of food safety across the country.

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