Ahead of the upcoming Navratri and Diwali celebrations, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a nationwide directive instructing state enforcement machinery to intensify surveillance, inspections, and sampling to prevent food adulteration.
In an official advisory issued by Executive Director (CS) Dr. Amit Sharma to Commissioners of Food Safety across all States/UTs and FSSAI Regional Directors, the regulator highlighted the sharp rise in demand for sweets, savouries, edible oils, and dairy items during the festive period.
”With the onset of upcoming Navratri and Diwali festival, the demand for sweets, savouries, beverages, edible oil and milk & milk products (such as ghee, khoya, paneer, etc.) and other food items witnesses a significant surge across the country,” the official directive noted.
To safeguard public health against counterfeit and substandard products, FSSAI has ordered enforcement officials—including Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers—to conduct targeted sampling and inspections in identified sensitive areas and commercial hotspots:
- Focus Commodities: Heightened monitoring will target milk and dairy products (ghee, khoya, paneer), sweets, namkeen, papad/fryums, edible oils, beverages, and region-specific festival staples such as kuttu atta and singhada atta.
- Deployment of Mobile Labs: The directive mandates the strategic deployment of ‘Food Safety on Wheels’ (FSWs) in major market hubs to enable real-time, on-the-spot food testing, build consumer awareness, and bolster market confidence.
- Real-Time Digital Tracking: Authorities have been instructed to mandatorily record all inspection data, sample collections, and testing outcomes on the FoSCoS / FoSCoRIS digital platforms in real time.
Terming the directive as “MOST IMPORTANT,” FSSAI urged state authorities to maintain high vigilance to ensure consumers receive safe, adulteration-free, and quality food throughout the festive season.