Food Safety Mitra is an individual who undergoes training and is certified by FSSAI to perform activities on behalf of food business operators concerning implementing the FSS Act, Rules, and Regulations.

What is the food safety scheme in India?

17 Oct 2019 2 min read

Recently, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the Food Safety Mitra (FSM) scheme to mark the occasion of World Food Day.

The theme for the day was ‘Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World’. ‘Eat Right Jacket’ and ‘Eat Right Jhola’ initiatives were also launched to strengthen the food safety administration and to scale up the Eat Right India movement. The Food Safety Mitra scheme aims to support small and medium-scale food businesses so as to comply with the food safety laws and will facilitate them with the licensing and registration process, hygiene ratings and training programme.

The FSMs would undergo training and certification that will be conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in order to get paid by food businesses for their services. The scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth (particularly with food and nutrition background).

The Eat Right Jacket is a jacket that has a smart design to hold technological devices like tablets/smartphones, a QR code and a Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag for identification and tracking, which will be used by the field staff.

The use of technology would bring in the efficiency, professionalism, and transparency in food safety administration.

The Eat Right Jhola is a reusable cloth bag that is expected to replace plastic bags for shopping purpose in various retail chains. FSSAI has partnered with the Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch the training course.

Source: PIB

Who regulates food safety in India?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954,Fruit Products Order, 1955, Meat Food Products Order,1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.

The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command. To this effect, the Act establishes an independent statutory Authority – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India with head office at Delhi.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the State Food Safety Authorities shall enforce various provisions of the Act. Establishment of the Authority Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI. The Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have already been appointed by Government of India.

The Chairperson is in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. FSSAI has been mandated by the FSS Act, 2006 for performing the following functions:

Framing of Regulations to lay down the Standards and guidelines in relation to articles of food and specifying appropriate system of enforcing various standards thus notified. Laying down mechanisms and guidelines for accreditation of certification bodies engaged in certification of food safety management system for food businesses. Laying down procedure and guidelines for accreditation of laboratories and notification of the accredited laboratories. To provide scientific advice and technical support to Central Government and State Governments in the matters of framing the policy and rules in areas which have a direct or indirect bearing of food safety and nutrition. Collect and collate data regarding food consumption, incidence and prevalence of biological risk, contaminants in food, residues of various, contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system. Creating an information network across the country so that the public, consumers, Panchayats etc receive rapid, reliable and objective information about food safety and issues of concern. Provide training programmes for persons who are involved or intend to get involved in food businesses. Contribute to the development of international technical standards for food, sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards. Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.

Can I sell home cooked food in India?

How to sell homemade food online in India Are you a great home chef? You are in luck because with Curryish, you can now start delivering homemade food just like any other restaurant. We take care of everything from support, website to delivery with no upfront fee. So here is how you get started. 1. Get basic FSSAI registration Anyone in India requires a basic FSSAI registration to sell homemade food for upto 12 lakh per annum in revenue. You can get one through the government portal here: https://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in, This can take upto a month though. 3. Create a menu Once you are approved on Curryish, a team member will contact you with credentials to the dashboard where you can create a menu, set your schedule and track your orders. You can checkout our existing chefs for inspiration here: https://curryish.in/chefs 4. Start Marketing Listing on Curryish will get you in front of 10000+ users on our platform but our best chefs continue to market on their own to bring more orders using their direct link. We recommend having a public instagram page for your kitchen. Hit up our team for more marketing tips that you can implement yourself 🙂 5. Serve Amazing Experieneces After all, even then best marketing fails if you are not delivering tasty & healthy high quality meals. Use feedback from customers to constantly improve and get better! And thats about it- congrats and good luck on your entrepreneurial journey 🙂

Is home kitchen legal in India?

Home Chefs/Kitchens In Residential Apartment – Legal / Illegal? Respected Lawyers, I am a home chef currently operating from medium size residential complex in Bangalore. In year 2020, Few home chefs and I started delivering home cooked food to society residents when covid started in India and all restaurants were under a lockdown. We also provided meals to covid affected families during peak wave of corona. Today we have eventually grown into areas of providing daily meals on regular basis. We have FSSAI license for Home Chef/Kitchen. We prepare meals in our own flat in residential apartment and deliver to residents within the same society. Our buyers are extremely happy due to high quality and hyegenic food we provide. Since 2 days – few people within the society and people running businesses outside of complex are trying to stop all home chefs like me to stop operating food preparation and deliveries citing various reasons. Can you please help me with the legality of the same? 1. Is it illegal to operate food delivery business this like this? Which licenses/permissions are required? 2. How can I make it legal in case it is illegal? 3. What should I do to secure and operate my small business without any legal hassles or challenges from society association? – How can I work around those and do the legally right thing to protect my venture? 4. Some of the chefs are tenants and some are owners. Do home chefs who are tenants need any additional permissions? Thanks in advance for your replies! Looking forward for your replies that way our women initiative and enterprise can be saved and can be run successfully without any legal challenges or hassles. Asked 2 years ago in Property Law Religion: Other First answer received in 30 minutes, Lawyers are available now to answer your questions. You need following licences

• 2) obtain licences as mentioned herein above
• 3) tenants need in addition permission from landlord

In the absence of other NOCs/licenses apart from FSSAI, Will there be any penalties for past activities? Asked 2 years ago Don’t disclose that you have been running home kitchen for last 18 months

If the other residents object to your commercial activity in a residential complex, you cannot carry on with it. Better to look for some other place in a commercial area. Now, it is pointless to worry about penalty for your past activity.

1. Dear Client,
2. It is essential to avail a few licenses in order to set up a Home-Chef Service.
3. However, these permissions vary from state to state.

1. You would require written permission with respect to the provisions of the Shop Act.2. A License from the Food and Health Department.3. A green-signal license from the Fire Brigade Department of the state.4. Police permission.5. Most importantly, the Society’s NOC.

• There may or may not be penalties for past activities.
• However, it is advisable to consult a lawyer who can represent you if there are any unforeseen circumstances arising out of such a situation.
• Thank you.

1. The few people who are trying to stop you from doing this business from home are not the authority to do so, as the society has not objected to this and are very well aware of this business, you don’t pay heed to such petty people who are doing it out of jealousy.2.

1. A licence is mandatory for units with sales above Rs 12 lakh and just a registration will do if the revenue is below that amount.
2. Business owners have to go to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) website to register.3.
3. Since you have a license for this you need not worry, if at all the society is issuing a legal notice about this then you can handle it legally demanding the society to produce the authority to instruct you to stop this, which can be challenged in court of law as per law.4.

One common permission or license in the name of common chef would be enough.

No doubt the society has to provide NOC which you should have obtained long ago when you initially started this business, even now you can writ a formal letter asking them to provide no objection for this, no penalties can be levied on this because there is no provision in law for this.

Dear Sir, My answers are as follows: 1. Is it illegal to operate food delivery business this like this? Which licenses/permissions are required? Ans: It is purely legal since you are licensed under FSSAI and no other license is required but you may get registered as hotel or Restaurant under local Government like municipality etc.2.

How can I make it legal in case it is illegal? Ans: You may approach High Court directly and make it legal and saying that a direction may be issued to concerned departments and executing members of Association not to stop you from supplying the food.3. What should I do to secure and operate my small business without any legal hassles or challenges from society association? – How can I work around those and do the legally right thing to protect my venture? Ans: You have to file a writ petition and get an order.4.

Some of the chefs are tenants and some are owners. Do home chefs who are tenants need any additional permissions? Ans: You may form yourself into Association or similar to that and fight unitedly.

1.As per rules of housing society, No commercial use of property in housing society, – Other side, A fixed area can be legally used for commercial purpose limited to official use only, i.e. can be used for services by resident advocates, chartered accountants, doctors,tutorials, dance and yoga classes.

– Further, one can use the flat for commercial purpose provided, no production or manufacturing activity is conducted and the commercial use shall be completely professional in nature, and it should not cause nuisance to other dwellers of the society, but, approvals from the housing society are required.2.

Take permission from the apartment association and the local authority for running the same.

Yes in absence there may be

: Home Chefs/Kitchens In Residential Apartment – Legal / Illegal?

Is it legal to sell food from home in India?

Starting a Home-Based Food Business: Complete Guide For Success In this blog, we go over the idea of starting a food business from home for the benefit of readers who are interested. Since the lockdown began, many people have started selling food items that they have made at home, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

• However, since then, very few of these businesses have been registered.
• Therefore, according to the FSSAI, selling homemade food items without a license or registration is punishable by a fine of up to 5 lakh rupees and up to 6 months in jail.
• Businesses with sales below Rs.12 lakh must register with the FSSAI, while those with sales of Rs.12 lakh or more must obtain a license.

If you want to bake and cook, you might want to consider launching a food business from your home. By starting a home-based online food business, you can use your passion to make some good side income. However, just like starting any other type of business, starting a home-based food business requires extensive planning and research.

What is the cost of food Licence in India?

Fee Structure

How many types of food license are there in India?

FSSAI in India issues the following three types of license: Central License. State License. Basic Registration.

How do you check food safety?

Clean: Wash your hands and surfaces often. –

Germs that cause food poisoning can survive in many places and spread around your kitchen. for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm or cold water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating.

Always wash hands after handling uncooked meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, flour, or eggs.

Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item. Rinse fresh under running water.

to ready-to-eat food unless you keep them separate.

When grocery shopping, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from other foods. Keep raw or marinating meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from all other foods in the refrigerator. Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood in sealed containers or wrap them securely so the juices don’t leak onto other foods. Use one cutting board or plate for raw meat, poultry, and seafood and a separate cutting board or plate for produce, bread, and other foods that won’t be cooked. Raw chicken is ready to cook and doesn’t need to be washed first. Washing these foods can spread germs to other foods, the sink, and the counter and make you sick. If you choose to wash chicken, do so as safely as possible ().

Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature gets high enough to kill germs that can make you sick. The only way to tell if food is safely cooked is to use a food thermometer. You can’t tell if food is safely cooked by checking its color and texture (except for seafood). Use a food thermometer to ensure foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature. Learn how to in different food to get an accurate reading.

Whole cuts of beef, veal, lamb, and pork, including fresh ham: 145°F (then allow the meat to rest for 3 minutes before carving or eating) Fish with fins: 145°F or cook until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork Ground meats, such as beef and pork: 160°F All poultry, including ground chicken and turkey: 165°F Leftovers and casseroles: 165°F

Check this chart for a, including shellfish and precooked ham. Microwave food thoroughly: Follow recommended cooking and standing times. Letting food sit for a few minutes after microwaving allows cold spots to absorb heat from hotter areas and cook more completely.

Know your, Check inside the door, owner’s manual, or manufacturer’s website. If your microwave is high wattage (800 watts or more), use the minimum cooking time recommended. If it is low wattage (300–500 watts), use the maximum cooking time recommended. When reheating, use a food thermometer to make sure that microwaved food reaches 165°F.

Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the “Danger Zone” between 40°F and 140°F.

Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below and your freezer at 0°F or below, and know when to, If your refrigerator doesn’t have a built-in thermometer, keep an appliance thermometer inside it to check the temperature. Package warm or hot food into several clean, shallow containers and then refrigerate. It is okay to put small portions of hot food in the refrigerator since they will chill faster. Refrigerate perishable food (meat, seafood, dairy, cut fruit, some vegetables, and cooked leftovers) within 2 hours. If the food is exposed to temperatures above 90°F, like a hot car or picnic, refrigerate it within 1 hour. Thaw frozen food safely in the refrigerator, in, or in the microwave. Never thaw food on the counter because bacteria multiply quickly in the parts of the food that reach room temperature.

Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the “Danger Zone” between 40°F and 140°F. Never leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F). : Four Simple Steps to Food Safety

What are mandatory food laws in India?

Introduction

The Food Industry is one of the largest industries in India. The agriculture sector has played a vital role in uplifting the Indian economy as India has a huge potential for agriculture owing to its geographical location. Over the past few years India has also witnessed an increase in the productivity of the Food and Beverage Industry.

The activities relatedto food industry includes production, processing and distribution. These activities play a crucial role in the food chain which intensifies the importance of food laws in India,The laws on food include a collection of laws and regulations which govern the food production, its distribution and consumption.

These laws aim to protect the consumers and provide effective management of the food industry. It further ensures food safety which is considered as a core aspect for a healthy life and a healthy living. The food policies in India are framed under a protocol of standards adopted by the international organizations of which India is a member.

Food Safety and Need of Food Laws

Food is the very crucial aspects for our energy and well-being. Food Safety is one of the important elements which helps to maintain the nutrition level of our body. It ensures higher standards of food without any hazardous and harmful elements, Safe and healthy food can lead to the growth of the human health and can protect the consumers from various diseases.

It is important to maintain food safety at every stage. Hence, the higher standard of food should be maintained from production till the stage of consumption. Food Laws were implemented for two reasons – 1) Regulation of specification of food and 2) Regulation of hygienic condition of processing/manufacturing.

Food Laws help to raise the standard of living of the consumers and provide a proper legal framework for permitting food licenses and criteria for obatining such permissions. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution,1950 provides every citizen for the right to healthy and safe food.

Laws regulating Food Industry in India

Till date, several laws have been enacted and implemented in India governing the food processing industry. Food Safety laws have gone through significant changes since many years. The FSSAI has played a notable role in bringing about a revolution to the Food Safety Standards in India.

In the year 2001, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in People’s Union of Civil Liberties v. Union of India (UOI) and Anr which catered to the issue of “hunger amidst plenty” in India. A writ petition was filed by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) with the concern of death due to starvation despite abundant availability of food in stock.

It also stressed on enforcement of “Right to Food” as a part of Right of Life which is guaranteed under Funfamental Rights of the Indian Constitution. The Court, in this case, directed several actions ensuring access to food by all thereby uphodling the right to food as a fundamental right.

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (37 of 1954) The Fruit Products Order, 1955. The Meat Food Products Order, 1973 The Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947 The Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1998. The Solvent Extracted Oil, De oiled Meal, and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967 The Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 Any other order issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (10 of 1955)

The Food Safety and Standards Act,2006 consolidates various Acts and Orders that deals with food-related issues in various Ministries and Departments. The role of any regulatory body cannot be read in isolation but in view that between people’s health and safety of life stands a watchdog carrying its function to uphold the fundamental rights of every individual.

The FSS Act,2006 consolidates various acts and order that handle food-related issues in various Ministries and implement the act through food control authorities in various states. FSSA establishes a national regulatory body, Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) as an authority for food safety and quality in India. The FSSAI also regulates and monitor the manufacturing, processing, storage, distribution, sale and import of food to ensure proper consumption of food. The authority is also responsible to contribute to spreading awareness about food safety and framing of regulations to lay down standards and guidelines concerning various aspects of maintaining high standards of food. Apart from the mandate provided in the FSS Act, 2006, the authority is also responsible to coordinate with state government and local authority and promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.

Along with the FSS Act,Rules and Regulations, following are the provision under various laws which deals with food safety : a) Indian Penal Code, 1860 :

Section 272 and 273 of IPC deals with Food Adulteration. This section states, ” Whoever adulterates any article of food or drink, to make such article noxious as food or drink, intending to sell such article as food or drink, or knowing it to be likely that the same will be sold as food or drink, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both,” However, under the FSS Act, the penalty for selling misbranded or sub-standard food at present is between Rs.3,00,000 to Rs.5,00,000. Whereas, the punishment for unsafe food that resulting in death is life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,00,000 and that for unsafe food resulting in grievous injury or death-like situation is an imprisonment of 6 years and a fine of Rs.5,00,000. In consequence to the Judgement passed by the Supreme Court in Swami Achyutanand Tirth & Ors.v. Union of India & Ors the Law Commission of India was directed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to examine the amendment to section 272 of IPC. The Law Commission Report precisely described the existing framework on food safety laws in India and how they have changed, not too long ago to meet the increasing demands of food regulations keeping in view the best practices followed in the world all over. It suggested amendment of the section to the extent of incorporating huge compensation aspect for victims of adulterated food. b) Legal Metrology Act, 2009: 1. The Act is enacted to enforce the standards of weights and measures, to regulate trade and commerce in weights, measures and other goods which are sold or distributed by weights, measures and number.2. The legal framework of the act also focuses on ensuring public guarantee from the security and accuracy of weights and measurements.3. The act requires the manufacturing, packing and selling or importing the commodities in the prescribed manner and non-compliance of rules under the act will attract penalties.4. The Act also established the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 for regulating the pre-packaged commodities in India and also provides regulations relating to labelling.

c) The Insecticides Act, 1968

The Act was enacted to regulate the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of insecticides and to prevent risk to human beings. This Act has been specifically enacted to ensure availability of quality, safe and efficacious pesticides to the agricultural community of India. It governs the quality and permissible amount of pesticides which can be used in agriculture.

d) The Environment Protection Act, 1986

The Act was enacted with the main objective to provide the protection and improvement of environment. The Act also incorporated the rules for the manufacture, use, import and storage of hazardous microorganism, substances and cells used as foodstuff. As a special feature, the Act also made compulsory for every food plant discharging waste into the mainstream to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the respective State Pollution Board.

e) Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Amendment Act, 1984

The Act facilitates export trade through quality control and inspection before the products are sold to international buyers.

f) Consumer Protection Act, 2019

The Act was enacted to protect the interests of the consumers and establish a mechanism to provide remedy to the consumers. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was amended in 2019 to overcome the problems in the earlier act and to cope up with the technological advancement. The Act is also important for the food business operators as they need to be aware of the rights of its consumers under the existing framework of consumer law and comply with all the other laws.

g) Voluntary Standards and Certification

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) formulates Indian Standards in the food processing industry by prescribing standards relating to raw material and their quality, hygienand requirements for packaging and labelling. The Agricultural Products (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937 provides Grade Standards relating to agricultural and allied activities which are governed by Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI). These are specifically called as “Agmarks” standards.

Constitutional Framework

A country’s constitution plays a fundamental role in the realization of the right to food as a constitution is the supreme law of the land and the sources of all political power within a nation. The constitutionality of every law and act of Government is one of the most important political principles of democracies.

The Constitution of India also imposes a primary duty on the Government to improve the public health. Hence, lies the need to enact and implement various laws to regulate the food sector of India. The Directive Principles of the State Policy under the India Constitution also imposes various obligation on the state to improve the nutrition level and standard of living of the people.

The Indian constitution also provides the provisions relating to the right to food and it is considered as a fundamental right under the purview of article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It is also important to consider that Right to food is inherent to a life with dignity and Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees a fundamental right to life and personal liberty and provides that it should be read with Articles 39(a) and 47 to understand the nature of the obligation of the State to ensure the effective realization of this right.

• The decision of Supreme Court of India in the case of Kishen Pattnayak & another v.
• State of Orissa and People’s Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India and others have recognized the right to food under the right to life stipulated in article 21 of the India Constitution, with reference also to the Directive Principles of State policy concerning nutrition, contained in article 47 of the Indian Constitution.

Hence, the state must provide the food which can raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of the people. The Supreme Court in the landmark case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India stated: ” Right to life enshrined in Article 21 means something more than animal instinct and includes the right to live with human dignity, it would include all these aspects which would make life meaningful, complete and living,” In another case, the SC held that the need for a decent and civilized life includes the right to food, water and decent environment.

International Perspective

The human right to adequate food has been recognized in different international instruments, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

• It is important to note that the establishment and ratification of the international instruments are not sufficient.
• The implementation of these instruments through appropriate legislation is eually important.
• The International Food Security Treaty (IFST) is another international document which aims to place the human right of freedom from hunger under the protection of enforceable international law.

Besides the existing covenants, the International Food Security Treaty also stresses importance on the right to be free from hunger and makes an obligation to the member countries to establish their national laws to achieve the aims and objectives of the treaty.

• India is also a member of various international treaties which recognizes right to food thereby raisings the standard of living of people.
• The Government of India has also undertaken many reforms to enhance and ensure social safety and improve the nutritional level of the people.
• The Government has launched schemes such as the National Food Security Act,2013, the National Nutrition Strategy and the National Nutrition Mission, which aims at promoting convergent approaches that reflect the multidimensional nature of food and nutrition insecurity and addressesinequalities related to gender, age, disability, income, caste and region.

Through these efforts, the government is endeavouring to achieve the standards set by the international law and also move towards the targets of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and protect the social and economic interest of the people.

Conclusion

Food safety is the utmost responsibility of every nation. Food laws and policies play a very crucial role in regulating the food industry. It is also important that the laws should be updated with the changing circumstances in the food industry and with the pace of technological development.

For example, the inclusion of e-commerce in the Consumer Protection Act,2019 has broadened the scope of the Act which now makes it easier for the consumers to bring effective actions against the violators. It is very essential for the government to ensure an adequate supply of essential commodities in the market and avoid shortage in the market.

More importantly, proper implementation of laws and upgrading the laws with the changing situations and international standards will help us to make the legal framework of food industry better to attain the aim of food safety in India. Sequence of Events :

Contributed by Adv. Chirag Dave, Adv. Deepali Kasrekar, Adv. Manashi M

What is the international food code?

International Food Code

The International Food Code (IFC) is a code which uniquely identifies foods from national (FCDBs) around the world. It has also become popular among suppliers and manufacturers to uniquely identify their food products (see “Use on barcodes and numeric systems” below).

Is Haccp certification mandatory in India?

IndiaHACCP Certification Scheme Under the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and registration of Food Businesses), Regulations 2011, while prescribing hygiene and sanitary conditions as a pre requisite to both registration and licensing of FBOs, it is also stated that the FBOs encouraged to go for implementation of HACCP.

The regulations states: “These are the basic – compulsory requirements for ensuring safety of the food manufactured in any premise and FBOs shall continuously try to improve the sanitary and hygienic conditions at the premises with a goal of attaining India HACCP standards within a – previously determined period” Codex Alimentarius Commission has published CAC/RCP -1 1969 – Recommended Code of Practice – General Principles of Food Hygiene, describing the controls recognized internationally as essential for safety and suitability of food, while HACCP is recommended for ensuring enhanced food safety.

The Codex General Practice of Food Hygiene (GPFH) is applicable across the food chain and is so written that each industry has to interpret and apply it. Since the Codex GPFH and HACCP document is a guidance document and hence not amenable to auditing or certification, the Indian industry is having to resort to foreign HACCP based food safety standards for demonstrating compliance to HACCP like Dutch HACCP, SQF etc.

In keeping with the intent of FSSAI for promoting food safety by FBOs, Quality Council of India with multi-stakeholder participation has developed an IndiaHACCP Certification Scheme, for enabling third party verification of compliance by FBOs through a voluntary certification initiative. The IndiaHACCP Certification Scheme is based on the international best practices and global standards to ensure internationally acceptable certification.This Scheme would not only help provide assurance that food is suitable for human consumption but also maintain confidence in internationally traded food.

It would also provide Indian FBOs an alternative to foreign certifications and outgo of foreign exchange. Thus, FBOs are encouraged to implement IndiaHACCP in their operations and take certification from certification bodies approved under this scheme.

Jack Gloop