There are 166 Food Testing Laboratories under the purview of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for testing food products as per standards prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules / Regulations, 2011.
Sharing this information the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in Lok Sabha on May 6 said that out of these 166 laboratories, 72 laboratories are State/ Public Food laboratories functioning under the State / Union Territory Government; 12 laboratories are Referral Laboratories notified by FSSAI for the purpose of referral testing under FSS Act, 2006 / Rules & Regulations, 2011; 82 laboratories are NABL accredited private laboratories notified by FSSAI.
FSSAI has issued regulations including the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 and the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 which prescribe the quality and safety standards for food products.
Further, FSSAI has also informed that penalty for possessing adulterant has been prescribed in Section 57 of the Food Safety & Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. Regular surveillance, monitoring & sampling of food products is being undertaken by State / UT Governments under FSS Act, 2006. In cases where samples are found to be not conforming to the provisions of the Act and Rules and Regulations made thereunder, penal action is initiated against the offender.
FSSAI has informed that Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labeling) Regulations, 2011 have been notified under the FSS Act, 2006. These regulations prescribe the requirement/ contents to be mentioned on the label of food products.