NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to widely invite members of the public to come forward and get any food item tested for any unsafe ingredients after it emerged that not a single complaint has been filed with country’s top food regulator under a special act introduced 11 years back.
As per the section 40 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, if food purchased by a person is established as adulterated, the cost of getting it tested is reimbursed.
“However, in a recent FSSAI audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India it emerged that there has not been a single complaint received under the act and therefore we have decided to widely advertise the provision,” a senior official in the Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare told this newspaper.
He added that most consumers refrain from getting food products tested for adulteration fearing high costs of the process.
"Any individual can get suspicious food products tested at FSSAI laboratories, but since it's a time-consuming procedure, most people shy away from doing so,” he also said.
The process costs Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000, depending on the food product. But, the regulatory body has a provision under which the regulatory body will gladly reimburse the testing fees to the consumer," an official said.
Section 40 of the FSSCI Act states, "If the report of the food analyst shows that the article of food is not in compliance with the Act or the rules or regulations made there under, the purchaser shall be entitled to get refund of the fees paid by him under this section.”
Sources in the FSSAI said that thousands of food analyses are done at its labs every month. “But, none of them are done because of complaints by the consumers on adulterated food product—that participation from public is required to enhance food safety standards in the country,”
The act also says that if the food product is deemed in contravention of the provisions of the FSSAI act, the product seller stands to lose his or her licence or be fined.
In a report tabled in the parliament last week, CAG had pulled up FSSAI for issuing licences to food business operators without complete documents and questioned it on the quality of testing with most state labs not being accredited by India’s top accreditation agency.
The audit report had also said the food regulator also failed to ensure that unsafe foods are not imported to the country.