The Operational Dynamics of FSSAI: Challenges and Strategic Actions

India’s food ecosystem is vast, complex, and enormously difficult to regulate. With over a billion consumers, millions of food business operators ranging from large manufacturers to roadside vendors, and an increasingly globalized supply chain, the task of keeping food safe falls squarely on one statutory body – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, FSSAI functions as the country’s apex food regulator, consolidating what was once a fragmented regulatory framework spread across multiple ministries into a single, unified authority. But how does FSSAI actually work on the ground? What has it achieved, where does it struggle, and what strategic actions is it taking to bridge those gaps?

The core functions of FSSAI: what the authority actually does 🔗

FSSAI’s operational mandate is multi-dimensional. It frames science-based standards for food products, additives, contaminants, and residues. It issues licenses and registrations to all Food Business Operators (FBOs) across the country. It monitors and enforces compliance through state Food Safety Officers, accredits food testing laboratories, and runs consumer awareness programmes. Each of these functions is interconnected – weak performance in one area cascades into problems elsewhere.

At the licensing end, every FBO – whether a large dairy company or a small street food cart – must register or obtain a license based on their annual turnover and scale of operations. This process is now managed through the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS), FSSAI’s single-window digital platform that streamlines licensing, registration, and compliance management for food businesses. The FoSCoS portal has also been made available in regional languages to improve accessibility for businesses across India’s linguistically diverse landscape.

Standard setting: the science at the centre 🔗

One of FSSAI’s primary responsibilities is developing food safety standards – the permissible levels of additives, contaminants, pesticide residues, and microbiological parameters across hundreds of food product categories. This is not a one-time exercise. Standards must evolve in step with scientific advances, new food products entering the market, and shifts in public health priorities.

The challenge here is scale. India has an extraordinarily diverse food culture, with regional products and ingredients that may not have any precedent in international regulatory frameworks. Formulating standards that are both scientifically rigorous and practically applicable to this diversity takes time. Stakeholder consultations with industry bodies, scientists, and consumer groups add further layers of complexity. As a result, standard formulation has often lagged behind market realities, leaving some food categories in a regulatory grey zone.

Despite this, FSSAI has made measurable progress. It has established a Scientific Panel on Food Safety and Nutrition to conduct risk assessments and provide technical advice on food safety matters. The authority also actively participates in the Codex Alimentarius Commission – the international food standards body jointly managed by the FAO and WHO – to anchor its domestic standard-setting in globally accepted science.

International harmonization: aligning with Codex 🔗

The Codex Alimentarius, or “Food Code,” is a collection of internationally recognized standards that serve as the global benchmark for food safety under WTO agreements. India has been a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission since 1964, and FSSAI has steadily worked toward aligning domestic standards with Codex norms – while adapting them to Indian consumption patterns and local contexts.

This harmonization effort carries significant practical implications. When Indian food exports are found non-compliant with international standards – as happened when Singapore and Hong Kong flagged excessive pesticide levels in certain Indian spices – it underscores the urgency of bringing domestic standards up to international benchmarks. FSSAI’s response to such incidents has included convening expert committees, engaging with the Codex regional architecture, and pushing for greater Asian representation in global standard-setting processes.

In 2024, FSSAI hosted a Regional Conclave that brought together Codex contact points from ten Asian countries to discuss harmonizing food safety standards. The event explored proposals including a joint risk assessment centre and investments in AI-based assessment tools – signals that FSSAI is positioning India not just as a rule-follower but as an active shaper of global food safety norms.

The testing laboratory challenge 🔗

Food safety standards are meaningless without the infrastructure to test compliance. This is where one of FSSAI’s most significant operational gaps becomes visible. Food testing in India relies on a network of NABL-accredited, FSSAI-notified laboratories. As of December 2024, FSSAI had 218 such laboratories with valid accreditation, with an additional 24 whose accreditation had expired or was under suspension.

The distribution of these labs is starkly uneven. Eastern India – covering West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, the northeastern states, and several union territories – has historically had far fewer accredited labs than northern, southern, or western regions. This geographic imbalance means that food samples collected in remote areas often face significant delays in reaching testing facilities, which can compromise the integrity of results and slow down enforcement action.

Mobile food testing laboratories 🔗

To address the lab infrastructure gap in underserved regions, FSSAI has deployed Mobile Food Testing Laboratories (MFTLs). These units can travel to remote areas, conduct rapid field testing, and support surveillance operations where fixed laboratory infrastructure is absent. FSSAI has been showcasing MFTLs at its regional and branch offices as part of a broader strategy to expand testing reach without waiting for permanent infrastructure to catch up.

Additionally, FSSAI has approved over 65 rapid food testing kits and devices for use in field conditions. These kits allow Food Safety Officers to conduct preliminary checks for common adulterants on-site – a critical capability given that India processes approximately 4,000 samples per survey cycle, with collection and delivery to designated labs expected within four days of pickup.

Licensing compliance: an incomplete picture 🔗

Getting every food business operator under the licensing and registration framework remains an elusive goal. India’s food sector includes millions of informal vendors, small manufacturers, home-based processors, and seasonal operators – many of whom are either unaware of licensing requirements or find the compliance process too burdensome. Reports of restaurants listed on major food delivery apps operating without valid FSSAI licenses highlight how the compliance gap extends even into organized sectors.

The FoSCoS portal has digitized and simplified the licensing process considerably. However, digital access alone cannot resolve compliance gaps among small vendors and rural operators who may lack internet connectivity or literacy. FSSAI has attempted to bridge this through the Food Safety Mitra programme, which has registered over 62,000 trained individuals to provide last-mile compliance support to food businesses in remote areas – essentially a field force helping small operators navigate registration, documentation, and food safety requirements.

Manufacturers who do obtain licenses are subject to ongoing obligations. Under Condition of License No. 12 of the FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, all food manufacturers must conduct testing of relevant chemical and microbiological contaminants at least once every six months and submit results through the FoSCoS portal. Failure to comply can result in fines, license suspension, or product recalls.

Consumer awareness: from campaigns to digital ecosystems 🔗

FSSAI has invested significantly in consumer-facing communication – recognizing that regulatory effectiveness ultimately depends on informed citizens who demand safe food and report violations. The flagship initiative in this space is the Eat Right India movement, launched in 2018, which operates on three pillars: Eat Safe, Eat Healthy, and Eat Sustainable.

The campaign has earned international recognition, including acknowledgment from the Rockefeller Foundation as one of the top visionaries for the ‘Food Systems Vision Prize’ in 2021. As of 2025, 284 Eat Right Stations and 249 Clean Street Food Hubs have been certified under this initiative, and several sub-programmes span schools, workplaces, railway stations, and places of worship.

On the digital side, FSSAI’s Food Safety Connect mobile application creates a real-time channel connecting consumers, inspectors, and food businesses for instant reporting and compliance tracking. Consumers can also use this platform to verify the authenticity of an FBO’s license – a practical tool to check whether the restaurant or store they patronize is actually registered. FSSAI also actively uses social media to disseminate scientifically accurate information on food safety, hygiene practices, and healthy eating habits, extending its reach well beyond traditional regulatory communication channels.

Stakeholder engagement and enforcement gaps 🔗

Effective food safety regulation requires buy-in from multiple stakeholders – industry, state governments, food safety officers, consumers, and civil society. FSSAI facilitates this through its Central Advisory Committee (CAC), which includes representatives from industry, consumer groups, and government ministries. The CAC meets regularly to discuss emerging food safety challenges, from pesticide levels in agricultural produce to the regulation of e-commerce food businesses.

However, enforcement remains structurally weak. Under the FSS Act, the primary enforcement responsibility lies with State Governments and their Food Safety Commissioners – not with FSSAI directly. This creates significant variation in how food safety rules are actually applied across states. The State Food Safety Index (SFSI), released annually by FSSAI, ranks states and union territories on five parameters including food testing infrastructure, compliance, and consumer empowerment – and acts as a performance accountability mechanism. Yet index rankings cannot substitute for adequate manpower, resources, and political will at the state level.

State-wise testing data from 2024-25 shows that nearly 20% of food samples tested nationally failed to meet required safety standards, with Uttar Pradesh reporting a particularly high failure rate of 52.8%. These figures reflect both the persistence of adulteration in India’s food supply and the gaps in enforcement that allow unsafe products to circulate in the market.

The road ahead: technology, transparency, and trust 🔗

FSSAI’s strategic direction points increasingly toward technology. The authority is exploring AI-based tools for risk assessment, blockchain for supply chain traceability, and IoT-based monitoring systems for real-time food safety oversight. In 2024, it also launched a Microplastics Research Initiative in collaboration with CSIR and ICAR institutes to establish standard protocols for detecting and assessing microplastic contamination in food – an emerging concern that current regulatory frameworks do not yet fully address.

Transparency is another area under focus. The Food Import Rejection Alert (FIRA) portal, now live, allows stakeholders to track alerts on rejected food imports in real time – improving accountability and helping domestic industries understand the standards required for global market access. These steps, taken together, reflect an authority that is aware of its gaps and actively working to close them, even as the scale and complexity of India’s food ecosystem continues to pose formidable regulatory challenges.

What do you think? Given that food safety enforcement in India is primarily a state subject, should FSSAI be granted stronger direct enforcement powers to ensure uniform compliance across the country? And with millions of unlicensed food businesses still operating outside the regulatory net, can digital tools and programmes like the Food Safety Mitra genuinely achieve last-mile reach – or does the problem require a fundamentally different regulatory approach?

References

1. https://www.fssai.gov.in/
2. https://foodsafety.institute/food-toxicology-public-health/national-food-safety-guidelines-codex-fssai/
3. https://www.fao.org/food-safety/food-control-systems/codex-alimentarius/en
4. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/news-and-events/news-details/en/c/1711014/
5. https://www.legalitysimplified.com/fssai-publishes-latest-list-of-accredited-food-testing-laboratories-2/
6. https://corporate.cyrilamarchandblogs.com/2024/07/beyond-the-basket-analysing-underlying-challenges-for-indias-e-fbos-part-1/
7. https://envirocarelabs.com/six-monthly-lab-testing-report-guide/
8. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?NoteId=154849&ModuleId=3&reg=3&lang=2
9. https://eatrightindia.gov.in/EatRightChallenge3/aboutChallenge
10. https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/food-safety-and-standards-authority-of-india-fssai-challenges-and-way-forward