NEW DELHI: The centre on Friday said that over 1,500 spices samples that were analysed in the last two years were found to be sub-standard.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, informed the Lok Sabha, that as many as 23,898 samples of spices were analysed by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Of the over 23,000 samples – 11,979 in 2022-23 and 11,919 in 2023-24 - as many as 1,241 were found to be unsafe.
While in 2022-23, 534 spice samples were found to be unsafe, the next year, 707 spice samples were found to be unsafe.
Of the total samples, 743 were found to be sub-standard in 2022-23, and in 2023-24, 816 spice samples were found to be substandard – taking the figure to 1,559.
The minister said FSSAI is fully committed to ensuring the availability of safe food products to the consumers across the country.
Towards this, FSSAI through state/union territories and its regional offices conduct regular surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of various food products including spices to check compliance with the quality and safety parameters and other requirements as laid down under Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, and regulations made thereunder.
In cases where food samples are found to be non-conforming, penal action is taken against the defaulting Food Business Operators as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, Rules and Regulations.
The minister further said that FSSAI has prescribed the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) of pesticides on food commodities including spices under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulation, 2011. Fixation of MRLs for food commodities is a dynamic process. In September 2024, FSSAI issued a comprehensive (revised and new inclusion) draft notification for the MRLs of Pesticides for food commodities.
The minister said FSSAI formulates the country-specific standards of food articles on the basis of risk assessment and scientific advice provided by the Scientific Panels and Scientific Committee constituted under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. These standards are harmonized with internationally accepted Codex standards.
FSSAI has also come up with Risk Based Inspection System (RBIS), wherein the Food Businesses dealing in nine High Risk Food categories (specified under the RBIS) are mandatorily required to undergo annual inspections.
Further, a minimum sampling target of 25 samples per Food Safety Officer per month, has been fixed to prioritize enforcement activities, he added.