Lok Sabha Question No. 2149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: Prevention of Food Adulteration
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRY OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2149 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH DECEMBER, 2025

## PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION

## 2149. SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL:

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

- (a) whether incidents of food adulteration are increasing in the country and the number of cases registered during the last five years, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any recent studies/surveys on food adulteration in the country and if so, the details thereof, including major findings;
- (c) whether the Government has taken strict enforcement measures/actions against offenders involved in food adulteration, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether adequate food testing laboratories are available across the country to detect adulteration and if so, the details thereof along with the number of functional labs;
- (e) whether the Government provides platforms for consumers to report cases of food adulteration in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether the Government has implemented strategies to prevent adulteration at the production, processing and retail stages, if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) whether new policies/regulations/technologies have been introduced to minimise adulteration in essential food items, if so, the details thereof?

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

- (a) to (g): 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. Regular surveillance drives, monitoring, regulatory inspection and random sampling of various food products 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 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 for last 5 Years.

| Details of number of Food Samples tested for last 5 Years.   | Details of number of Food Samples tested for last 5 Years.   | Details of number of Food Samples tested for last 5 Years.   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Year                                                         | No. of Samples Analysed                                      | No. of Samples found non- conforming                         |
| 2024-25                                                      | 170535                                                       | 34388                                                        |
| 2023-24                                                      | 170513                                                       | 33808                                                        |
| 2022-23                                                      | 1,77,511                                                     | 44,626                                                       |
| 2021-22                                                      | 1,44,345                                                     | 32,934                                                       |
| 2020-21                                                      | 1,07,829                                                     | 28,347                                                       |

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
-  246 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.

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