Food safety poses huge challenge in India

New Delhi: In recent months, a number of cases have been reported where food vendors were allegedly seen contaminating the food while preparing it in several cities of India.

An incident came to surface in September 2024 in Saharanpur where a hotel staff member was arrested after a video emerged showing him spitting on rotis during preparation. Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, a juice vendor and his 15-year-old assistant were detained for allegedly mixing urine into fruit juices. Authorities reportedly discovered a plastic container filled with urine at their stall.

These incidents have led to hygiene and health concerns, and raised the bigger issue of food safety in India. Violations of food safety standards need to be checked and deterrence imposed. After it was found that food vendors were involved in contaminating food with their unsavoury actions, the Uttar Pradesh government planned to penalise spitting in food with imprisonment up to 10 years, a punishment usually reserved for heinous crimes such as attempted murder or rape.

Contaminating food with human waste represents the most severe form of food contamination. Other forms are biological contamination that occurs when harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi, infect the food. Food can also get contaminated due to pesticides, heavy metals, food additives, improper storage, food spoilage, improper cooking temperatures and so on.

In India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is tasked with ensuring food safety and quality. It establishes scientific standards for food products, regulates their production, storage, distribution, and sale, and enforces food safety laws. FSSAI’s primary goal is to protect public health by ensuring that the food people consume is safe, nutritious, and free from harmful substances. Besides, it works to raise awareness, backs research, and implements food safety policies across the country.

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 helps FSSAI to set down science-based standards for food and regulate its manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import. The food regulatory body rolled out a Food Classification System (FCS) based on the Food Safety and Standards Guidelines, 2011. This system includes 17 primary food classifications, along with a class '99' for substances that are added to food. Not just food categories, FSSAI also lays down standards for contaminants, additives, and labelling requirements.

India reels under a host of foodborne illnesses, with an estimated 100 million cases reported annually, leading to an average of 120,000 deaths, according to some studies. A 2022 review by the FSSAI revealed a marked rise in food adulteration cases over the years, up from 15% in 2012 to 28% in 2019. Inadequate hygiene and sanitation practices in food handling and preparation are key factors contributing to foodborne illnesses. Poor handling in street food stalls, markets, and even large-scale food manufacturing units is a huge problem.

Most food manufacturing and processing facilities are ill-equipped due to resource crunch. Hence, it is important that the required resources should be provided to maintain food hygiene and so that contamination does not occur. FSSAI has set standards and they are in place. However, whether they are being enforced in different regions is difficult to monitor and check.

It is also difficult to trace from where a particular food product originated as the supply chain in India is very vast and fragmented. The absence of standardised recordkeeping adds to the problem of traceability of food from farms to processing centers. Intentional food fraud, including ingredient substitution and product mislabelling, poses another grave challenge. Food safety sector also needs sufficient trained personnel -- food inspectors and staff in processing plants.

A lot of people are still not aware about proper hygiene standards and the inherent risks of eating contaminated food. Raising awareness of food safety is imperative to ensure hygiene comes at the top of consumer's priority. Safe food shouldn't be seen as some kind of luxury, but a necessity for physical as well as mental well-being.

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Public awareness and interest in food safety has grown among the masses in the last few years. People are getting more and more concerned about what they eat -- its quality and hygiene. This has come from a sense of wellness, which has been largely promoted by the social media. Social media is at the heart of food safety in India. This is not to downplay the fact that FSSAI has also increased its enforcement mechanism. In 2021, FSSAI's Eat Right India programme was acknowledged as one of 10 initiatives by the Rockefeller Foundation for its innovative approach to addressing food safety challenges. The programme has effectively trained and deployed over 300,000 food safety supervisors to assess various establishments.

Technology is also playing a vital part in boosting food safety in India. Blockchain and Internet of Things have improved monitoring, traceability, and compliance with standards. Digital platforms, mobile apps, and data analytics are helping track food production, processing, and distribution, ensuring that food products follow safety standards.