There is a decrease in the violation of cases related to soft drinks in the last couple years. Stating this in lok sabha on December 19, Union Health Minister, J P Nadda said the State Food Safety Officers have sent 47 samples of soft drinks for analysis during 2014-15 and found no violation of cases so far.
The minister further said that during 2013-14, the Food Safety Officers sent 257 samples for analysis. Out of which they found 11 cases of violation and had launched prosecutions in 8 cases.
J P Nadda said, “Regular surveillance, monitoring and sampling of food product are undertaken by State/Union Territories Governments under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and rules & regulations made thereunder. Random samples of food items are drawn by the State Food Safety Officers and sent to the laboratories recognized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for analysis. In cases, where samples are found to be not conforming to the provisions of the Act and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder, penal action is initiated against the offenders.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has formulated Indian Standards on Carbonated Beverages, IS 2346: 1992 which specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and testing carbonated beverages. These include the following:
a) Types of Carbonated Beverages
b) List of ingredients that may be used
c) Hygienic conditions
d) Description of the product
e) Chemical and microbiological requirements
f) Requirements of packing
g) Requirements for marking/labelling
h) Sampling
Further, the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 indicate the ingredients permitted/not permitted in carbonated beverages. As per the information received from the State/UT Governments, the number of samples of soft drink analyzed, number of violations made and the number of cases where prosecution has been launched under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is as under:
| Year | No. of Samples Analysed | Violation Cases | Prosecution Launched |
| 2011 – 2012 | 201 | 9 | 9 |
| 2012 – 2013 | 272 | 27 | 27 |
| 2013 – 2014 | 257 | 11 | 8 |
| 2014 – 2015 | 47 | 0 | 0 |