Food Safety And Standards Authority Of India (FSSAI)
The Government established Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 vide notification no. S. O. 2165 (e) dated September 5, 2008. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the established authority under the fFood Safety and Standards Act, 2006, is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety. Apart from FSSAI in India, a three-tier system is also in vogue for ensuring food quality and food safety. They are:
- Government of India;
- State/ut governments;
- Local bodies.
Composition Of The Food Safety And Standards Authority Of India
The food authority consists of a chairperson and 22 other members.
There are members representing the ministries of agriculture, commerce, consumer affairs, food processing, health, legislative affairs, small scale industries; two representatives from food industry; two representative from consumer organizations; three eminent food technologists or scientists; five members to represent the states and the union territories on rotation basis; two persons to represent farmers organizations and one person to represent retailers organizations.
Functions Of FSSAI Under Section 16
Section 16 of the act lays down the functions and duties of the food authority. Some of them are as following:
- 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.
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