Is FSSAI a statutory body?

FSSAI is an autonomous statutory body that is responsible for maintaining food safety in India. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare administers the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

What does FSSAI stand for?

FSSAI full form is Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. It was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. It takes care of food-related safety and regulation in India.

FSSAI is responsible for regulating the food manufacture, distribution, storage and sale, and import to make sure the safety and availability of food for human consumption.

What is the composition of FSSAI?

The FSSAI includes a chairperson and 22 members. One-third of the members must be women. The central government appoints the chairperson of FSSAI.

What is FSSAI and its role?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the aim of developing science-based food standards for the storage, manufacture, import and sale of food to make sure the food is healthy for human consumption.

What are the three types of FSSAI License?

The three types of FSSAI licenses include FSSAI Basic Registration, State License, and Central License. However, the license is granted based on the food manufacturing capacity limit and turnover.

What is FSSAI license?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India License is mandatory for any business in India that deals with stores, manufactures or distributes food items. There are different types of licenses as well, based on the size and nature of the company.

Is FSSAI license is mandatory for small business in India?

Yes, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) license is required for starting even small food businesses in India.

Why FSSAI license is needed?

The FSSAI License helps the government to safeguard consumer health. Every food business in India is required to obtain the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India registration.

How to get FSSAI license?

FSSAI license can be obtained online by filling and submitting the FSSAI registration form. The first form is for application for registration, and the second one is for the State and Central license on the FoSCos portal.

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Food Safety and Standards Authority of India | FSSAI UPSC

By Balaji

Updated on: February 17th, 2023

FSSAI stands for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. It is a statutory body under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. FSSAI Maintain food safety and standards. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare administers FSSAI. The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 establishes the framework for developing food safety and regulations in India. In this article, we have covered all the facts and information related to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

The Indian Polity and Governance sections of the UPSC Syllabus mention FSSAI. That’s why it becomes extremely crucial for the candidates to have in-depth knowledge about the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Table of content

1. What is FSSAI?
2. Composition of FSSAI
3. Functions of FSSAI
4. FSSAI Act 2006
5. Initiatives By Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
6. Challenges for FSSAI
7. FSSAI UPSC
8. FSSAI UPSC Sample Questions

What is FSSAI?

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) was established in 2008 with the purpose of monitoring the food quality and hygiene in India. The FSSAI has been functioning since 2011, and ever since, it has been responsible for the management of food safety in India.

The headquarters of FSSAI is located in New Delhi, and it has 6 regional offices as well in Mumbai, Cochin, Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati, and Chennai. As we have mentioned above, FSSAI was established as per the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. We have mentioned some key points related to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India below.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India – Key Points
Establishment	5th August 2011
Headquatered	New Delhi
Administered under	Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Act	Food Safety & Standards Act 2006

Composition of FSSAI

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is composed of a Chairperson and 22 members. One-third of the FSSAI must be women.

Central Government appoints the chairperson of FSSAI.
Apart from that, there are scientists and researchers testing the quality of food.

Functions of FSSAI

The functions of FSSAI are as follows:

FSSAI sets up guidelines and rules for all food manufacturing companies in India.
It grants a license to pursue any food-related business. The owners need to have a license and certificate from FSSAI.
Inspection is done for the manufacturing and food-producing companies to ensure they meet the guidelines.
FSSAI spreads awareness about the importance of hygienic and safe consumption of foods.
It also maintains records and data of all the registered organizations.
FSSAI updates the government regarding any safety-related threats and violations of rules.

FSSAI Act 2006

FSSAI Act consolidates various acts that were related to handling food-related issues earlier in various departments and ministries, such as

Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
Meat Food Products Order, 1973
Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992

A few acts were implemented as well, but the Government passed the FSSAI Act 2006 that combined all the acts related to the handling of food-related issues in India.

Initiatives By Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

FSSAI has taken a few initiatives for food safety and standards. Below we have mentioned some important initiatives:

Eat Right India- This initiative aims to provide quality food to everyone.
Heart Attack Rewind- This initiative by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India aims to eliminate trans fat in India by 2022.
Diet4Life- this is another initiative by FSSAI to spread awareness about metabolic disorders.
Save Food, Share Food, Share Joy- This initiative is to encourage people to donate food instead of wasting it.

Challenges for FSSAI

There are various challenges that need to be addressed by FSSAI, such as:

Setting proper laboratories for the testing of food quality,
Having skilled and qualified people to test and approve the food manufactured.
Getting funds for establishing advanced technologies
Re-evaluating the terms and regulations as per international standards
Making sure every food manufacturing business owner has a proper license.

FSSAI UPSC

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India topic is a part of the UPSC Syllabus. That’s why candidates preparing for the upcoming UPSC Exam must give importance to this topic. Here we have covered FSSAI UPSC notes that would be extremely helpful for the UPSC aspirants during their preparation. Apart from the notes, candidates can also rely on the UPSC books and other study materials for covering this topic.

FSSAI UPSC Sample Questions

Question: Which of the following statement is/are correct with respect to FSSAI

It is an autonomous body
It comes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Select the correct answer using the code given below

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 and 2

Answer: (c)

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