Significant Update

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is planning a centralised food surveillance system to strengthen food safety monitoring, improve traceability, and speed up regulatory action across the country.

Under the proposed framework, FSSAI will bring surveillance sampling under a national mechanism and appoint neutral third-party agencies through a bidding process to collect food samples from markets for testing. Approved laboratories will upload test reports to a central database. If authorities identify unsafe or non-compliant food samples, the system will automatically generate digital alerts containing batch and product details and send them to the respective state food safety commissioners for quicker enforcement action.

Greater Focus on Organised Supply Chains

As part of the new surveillance model, FSSAI plans to source 50% of surveillance samples from large organised supply chains to improve traceability and monitoring efficiency. The regulator will also directly pay laboratories under the proposed system, aiming to standardise surveillance practices, strengthen accountability, and streamline coordination between testing facilities and enforcement authorities.

Digital Recall and Compliance Systems Already in Place

FSSAI has already introduced several digital reforms to improve food safety compliance and monitoring. On April 25, 2026, the regulator launched the Food Recall functionality on the FoSCoS platform to digitally monitor food withdrawals and issue food safety alerts. FoSCoS, or the Food Safety Compliance System, handles food business licensing, renewals, registrations, and product approvals. FSSAI rolled out FoSCoS 2.0 on February 20, 2026, as a fully digital compliance platform.

Nearly Four Lakh Inspections Conducted in FY 2025-26

During FY 2025-26, food safety authorities conducted 3,97,009 inspections across food establishments and tested 1,65,747 food samples. Authorities found 17.16% of the tested samples non-conforming. The violations led to 23,580 adjudication cases and 1,756 criminal convictions. During the same period, FSSAI also integrated more than 10 lakh street food vendors into the formal food safety framework to improve hygiene practices and regulatory compliance in the street food sector.

Changes to Licensing and Food Labelling

FSSAI amended its licensing regulations on March 10, 2026, making food licences and registrations perpetually valid under a risk-based inspection system. The regulator has also introduced front-of-pack nutrition labelling rules requiring packaged food products to display a star rating system. Food manufacturers must update packaging artwork to comply with the new labelling norms by September 2026.

Source: Mint