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FSSAI Orders Strict Festive Food Safety Checks and Mobile Lab Testing
- •FSSAI has directed states and Union Territories to step up surveillance and enforcement against adulterated and unsafe food ahead of the festive season.
- •The directive focuses heavily on high-demand festive categories including dairy products, sweets, snacks, edible oils, beverages, and ghee.
- •Food Safety Officers will conduct targeted inspections, collect samples, and pay special attention to known food hotspots and sensitive locations.
- •Mobile food-testing laboratories will be strategically deployed in prominent markets to enable quick on-the-spot testing during the rush.
- •Enforcement data, including inspections and sampling outcomes, must be recorded in real time on the FoSCoS and FoSCoRIS portals.
Key Questions Answered
The FSSAI has ordered food safety authorities across states and Union Territories to intensify surveillance, inspections, and on-the-spot testing, targeting categories like dairy products, sweets, snacks, and edible oils. Officials are instructed to focus on adulteration hotspots, deploy mobile food-testing laboratories known as Food Safety on Wheels in prominent markets, and record all inspection data in real time on FoSCoS/FoSCoRIS.
The FSSAI recently banned the sale of Nestle's "Low Fat Dairy Whitener" after a sample collected from The Lalit hotel in New Delhi's Connaught Place was declared unsafe and substandard. Meanwhile, Nestle maintained that its product was safe for consumption and fully complied with applicable regulatory requirements.
A food vending unit in Govindpura, Manimajra was shut down because it was found operating without proper FSSAI registration and under unhygienic conditions. Authorities discovered severe sanitation lapses, including improperly stored food, dirty utensils, and an unhygienic washing area.
