Food safety drive: FSSAI issues 10,047 notices, seals 314 businesses in 2 months

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in collaboration with state food safety authorities, has inspected more than 56,000 food establishments across the country over two months, seizing food products worth Rs 81.80 crore and suspending over 1,100 licences amid intensified efforts to curb food adulteration during the festive season.

The nationwide inspection drive, conducted between September 1 and November 5, covered 56,431 food establishments across states and Union Territories. According to figures shared by FSSAI on social media, authorities issued 10,047 improvement notices over substandard practices, suspended 1,133 licences and cancelled another 52. As many as 314 establishments were also sealed, while 410 prosecutions were initiated.

The number of improvement notices is significant. Nearly 18 per cent of the establishments inspected received notices, meaning roughly one in six businesses faced action over practices that required improvement. The figure raises questions about the level of compliance with food safety standards across establishments handling and selling food products.

Over 3,279 tonnes of food products seized

The enforcement drive also resulted in the seizure of 3,279.57 metric tonnes of food products, estimated to be worth Rs 81.80 crore.

The seized products included a wide range of everyday and festive food items, such as edible oils, milk, paneer, sweets, khoya, ghee, ice creams, chocolates, namkeen, bakery products, packaged foods and festive gift hampers.

The regulator also collected 43,939 food samples during the exercise. Of these, 23,648 had been analysed, with 2,273 found to be non-compliant with prescribed food safety standards. This means that nearly 9.6 per cent of the samples analysed so far failed to meet the required standards. However, more than 20,000 collected samples were yet to be analysed when the figures were reported.

While FSSAI has shared the overall enforcement figures, it has not publicly identified the brands or businesses associated with the seized products. The absence of names has also drawn attention on social media, where a user responding to the regulator's post sought details of the brands involved.

Paneer, milk products under increased scrutiny

The nationwide figures come amid heightened vigilance over food adulteration during the festive season, when demand for sweets, khoya, paneer, ghee and other milk-based products rises sharply.

Recent enforcement actions reported by FSSAI and state food safety departments illustrate the scale of the problem.

In Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, food safety officials recently intercepted a commercial vehicle carrying 2,500 kg of suspicious paneer, estimated to be worth Rs 5.05 lakh. The consignment was being transported from Rajasthan. Officials found that the paneer was being carried under unhygienic conditions and ordered its destruction. Samples were collected and sent to a laboratory for testing, with further action against those responsible to follow after the results.

In another recent action in Madhya Pradesh, the state's Food Safety Department reported that testing of 6,107 food samples had led to the seizure of 35,181 kg of adulterated food. The department said it had also collected 4,850 samples of milk, mawa, edible oils and other food products as part of its intensified inspection exercise.

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These incidents are among the enforcement updates regularly shared by FSSAI on its social media platforms, highlighting raids, seizures and action taken by state authorities. They also point to the particular attention being given to milk and milk products, which are widely used in sweets prepared and sold during the festive period.