FSSAI Data on Food Sample Testing speaks about the Extent of Food Adulteration

According to FSSAI guidelines, food adulteration amounts to intentionally or unintentionally debasing the quality of food that is offered for sale by adding inferior substances or substituting them with inferior substances or removing some valuable ingredient.

Section 3 (a) of Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 has defined Adulterant as; any material which is or could be employed for making the food unsafe or sub-standard or misbranded or containing extraneous matter.

• Substandard food that does not meet standards as laid down in the Regulations but which may not really be unsafe, like when milk is diluted with water.
• Misbranded foods that make false claims on package labels or in advertisements.
• Foods that contain extraneous matter such as non-permitted ingredients and additives like colors and flavors.
• Foods that contain pesticides above the limits specified in the Regulations
• Unhygienically processed food

Consumers pay the price for food adulteration 

In India most of the adulteration is carried out for financial gains or because of lack of awareness or carelessness in processing, storing, transportation and marketing foods according to hygienic requirements. Ultimately, it is the consumers who have to pay the price for adulteration as they either pay a higher price for substandard food or they suffer because adulteration affects their health. If worse comes to worse the consumer can even pay with his life because of consuming highly contaminated foods.

To ensure the safety of consumers, the FSSAI has laid down norms for food safety. Food Safety Officers (FSOs) are always vigilant and do not hesitate to collect food samples for testing if they come across complaints or suspect food to have been adulterated. With technological advancement, portable food adulterant testing kits are now easily available which facilitate on-the-spot food testing. FSOs have begun to book adulterants right on the spot especially for foods that are consumed on a daily basis like milk, vegetable, spices etc. Food samples are also sent to the various laboratories for testing.

Why is food sampling done?

Food sampling is a process by which food is tested to check if food is safe and does not contain any adulterants or meeting the food safety guidelines. Testing ascertains that only permitted additives have been used in the food and that pesticides residues are at acceptable levels. Samples are also inspected to see that label declaration are as per regulations and that the declared nutrients are present are at levels claimed on labels. The food sample is subjected to chemical analysis in an FSSAI recognized laboratory or in a referral laboratory. To ensure food safety and quality, the FSSAI takes food samples from time to time for testing & analyses in the laboratories. The following table shows the number of samples that have been examined since 2011 for the whole of India. The table indicates how many samples were found to be adulterated and how many prosecutions have been launched and amount of penalties levied.

According to the ‘Annual Laboratory Testing Report 2011 – 2012’, the maximum samples 13,095, were examined from Maharashtra out of which 1,266 samples were found to be adulterated or misbranded. This was followed by Uttar Pradesh where 9,687 samples were examined but the number of samples found to be adulterated or misbranded was almost three times that of Maharashtra at 3360 samples. In third place was Tamil Nadu for the number of samples collected 7,394 though only 624 samples were found to be adulterated. In Uttar Pradesh prosecutions were launched against 5,026 people as against Maharashtra‘s 677. Surprisingly in Tamil Nadu, no prosecutions were launched despite the fact that the number of samples found to be adulterated was so high.

However, in 2013-2014 the trend has somewhat reversed, Uttar Pradesh still remained at the top of the table with 13,554 samples that were analyzed by a laboratory out of which 4,275 samples were found to be adulterated or misbranded. Out of the 2,930 civil and criminal cases filed 409 had convictions and penalties amounted to Rs.4, 47, 84, 400. This was followed by Gujarat where out of the 11,111samples sent 10,495 were analyzed and 900 cases were found to be adulterated or misbranded and penalties amounted to only Rs.1,90,000 as there were only 341 civil and 16 criminal convictions.

In 2014-15 so far only 14 states have sent in their annual laboratory reports and out of these Madhya Pradesh has exceeded other states as 9,131 samples were analyzed from the state and 1,412 of these samples were found adulterated or misbranded. This was followed by Maharashtra where out of 6,985 samples tested 1,162 tested positive for adulteration or misbranding. However, the penalties invited in Maharashtra were higher at Rs.1, 65, 41, 499 as compared to Rs.43, 28, 000 in Madhya Pradesh. 

The penalty for Food Adulteration

According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 there are stringent laws that have been laid down for the punishment if food is found to be adulterated. There are also heavy penalties imposed and also imprisonment which depends on the severity of adulteration.

Penalty/Punishment for unsafe food (Section 59 of FSS Act, 2006)

• For adulteration that causes death, there is Imprisonment of minimum imprisonment of 7 years to life imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs.10 lakhs
• For grievous harm caused by unsafe food intake, there is imprisonment which may extend to six years and a fine of up to Rs.5 lakh
• For non-grievous injury/harm, there is imprisonment for up to one year and a maximum fine of Rs.3 lakh
• For unsafe food which causes no injury, an imprisonment which may extend up to six months and a maximum fine of one lakh rupees.

The penalty for Misbranded Food (Section 52 of FSS Act, 2006) 

• For misbranding, there is a fine of up to Rs.3 lakh

The penalty for Sub-Standard Food (Section 51 of FSS Act, 2006) 

• For Sub-Standard Food article, there is a fine of up to Rs.5 lakh

The penalty for food containing extraneous matter (Section 54 of FSS Act, 2006) 

• For food containing extraneous matter, the FBO is liable to a fine of up to Rs.1 lakh

Despite the food safety regulations adulteration of food continues to be on the rise in India. Though Food Safety Officers are always vigilant and the number of food samples collected for testing has increased over the years and punishment and penalties are given to the guilty, adulteration continues unstopped. It falls on consumers to ensure their own safety. They must buy food articles from reliable shops and choose those items that have an FSSAI license number, BIS or AGMARK certification on the labels. When eating out they must avoid those places that do not prepare foods hygienically or where establishments are in a place that can cause food to be contaminated easily. The government can also play a proactive role by spreading awareness through media, TV, and radio.