FSSAI to launch a new regulatory platform

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is all set to launch its ‘One Nation One Food Law’ initiative. The regulator is leveraging technology for uniform implementation of norms for testing and sampling by various States and labs.

 

This step is primarily being taken in a bid to bring in consistency in enforcing food safety regulations and standards across States.

 

While there is one food law that outlines standards and procedures for various food products, States have different approaches to implementing these regulations due to legacy issues or infrastructure-related challenges.

 

Under this initiative, FSSAI is launching the Food Safety Compliance through Regular Inspections and Sampling (FoSCoRIS) platform.

 

This is an online platform that food safety officers will use to verify compliance of safety standards by food businesses. Food safety officers will require a hand-held device with Internet connectivity.

 

This platform will ensure that uniform matrices are used to conduct tests and sample collections. The entire inspection outcome will be available on the cloud through this platform with time stamps. This will hopefully bring transparency in the process as data related to inspection, sampling and test results will be seamlessly shared by the officials.

 

A Food Safety Officers Manual will also be released outlining the procedures and practices that must be followed during sampling and inspection. The 200-page manual also outlines code of ethics that food safety officers should follow during inspection and sampling.