Fines Imposed by FSSAI not enough to Curtail Sale of Highly Unsafe Food Products in India

Addressing the occurrence of food adulteration incidents, fines imposed by FSSAI are not enough. Licenses of businesses need to be cancelled in the first offense. In order to curtail future sale of adulterated and highly unsafe food, stringent rules must be set in place. Current rules state that a license o is bound to be cancelled if a consumer dies after consuming sub-standard food. A very extreme case but most food businesses are not poisoning their consumers but using sub standard quality that might have a long term health impact.

Fines Imposed by FSSAI not Adequate, Severe Action must be Formulated 

Numerous food companies in India manipulate the quality of the food by addition of certain chemicals not allowed by FSSAI. The fine imposed by FSSAI does not justify the harm sub standard food products cause people. However, the fine does not necessarily mean rectification rather it is a warning from the officials. Thereby, bearing in mind the safety of the consumers a severe action must be put into place.

Accordingly, issuing the notice to seal the premises is one such measure. These sub-standard businesses must be sealed for the well-being and health safety of Consumers. It must also be noted that these businesses must remain closed until all the restorative actions are completed to meet the standards of FSSAI. Supporting these agendas are several cases that occurred in the recent past.

Concerns Raised due to the Case in Ernakulam

In the past six months, 24% of the total samples taken for food checks were below standards. Only a rectification notice and fines of Rs 8.08 lakh and Rs 4.2 lakh was imposed as a penalty against food businesses selling sub-standard food products. Similarly, in Odisha, the fine amount was raised to Rs 1 lakh against Rs 500 in the past.

Despite listing colors that are permitted by the Food Safety Department, vendors have ignored the guidelines. Thereby, the use of synthetic color has raised questions regarding their sanity and standard. Hence all 681 organizations that were issued notice must be sealed so that such unethical practices don’t happen in future.

Following the Bust of Sub-standard Food Several Measures Implemented

Bearing in mind the safety of the consumers, few measures are being orchestrated across the nation. In Gujarat, officials finalized a law for restaurants to remove obstruction that restricts the view of the kitchen. Alternatively, in case of walls that cannot be replaced by glass partitions, the owners must remove the “No Admission” sign. This action was brought into force to increase the transparency by Hemant Koshiya, Food and Drugs Control Administration. Further, this would encourage the vendors to obey the cleanliness and food safety guidelines.

In conclusion, FSSAI need to stringent rules as health safety of children is at stake. Long term repercussions of consuming sub standard food are enormous and government needs to intervene to protect the citizens of this country.