Food is the basic need of humans and everyone should get quality foods at an affordable price. But with the rise of the food industry in the Indian economy, adulteration and additives in the food started just to gain profit. So, to stop such activities in the food industries, FSSAI was established.
About FSSAI
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is an autonomous body established under the FSS Act, 2006. The prime aim of FSSAI is to monitor the food business and take necessary actions to stop the adulteration of foods.
With the formation of FSSAI, many food-related laws come under one umbrella scheme, such as the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954; vegetable and Oil Control, 1947; and many more. Now, FSSAI is the sole body to regulate and monitor food, milk, and allied products business and it also ensures the quality standards of the food products.
Why was there a need for FSSAI?
Understanding food safety laws and preventing the production of bad food qualities, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formed FSSAI. Earlier, in our country, many food laws were under the control of different Government agencies, so it was quite difficult to monitor and evaluate the output of food industries.
Apart from that, the distribution of food licenses was becoming very much challenging, so there was a need for such a body that can manage food standards as well as can distribute the food license to the legit one.
Role of FSSAI
Understanding food safety laws, the Government has given many powers to this body. FSSAI plays a key role in the food industry by checking the food quality, food packaging, formulation of new laws, and execution of the same. Here, a few points are listed that describe the functions of FSSAI.
- To frame the regulations to keep the standards of food.
- Issuing food certification and license to the food businesses.
- Execution of food safety laws in the food industries.
- Inspection in the food industries and imposing penalties to the one who breach the food safety laws.
FSS Act Guidance
The Food Safety and Standards Act has framed some guidelines that need to be followed by the food industries. As per the Act, there should not be any insecticides in the food, and it should be contaminant-free. Here, the contaminants cover, toxic, heavy, and light metals, pesticides, harmful chemicals, and many more.
The Act prohibits foods that are harmful to the human body and the same applies to the imported food products. It means, the foreign companies who want to export food-related goods in India have to obey the FSS Act.
Significance of FSSAI Registration
If you are planning to run a food business, then you must go for the FSSAI Registration to get a food license. There are 3 types of FSSAI licenses, depending upon the size of the business and they are Basic FSSAI License, State FSSAI License, and Central FSSAI License.
For the food businesses whose annual turnover is below 2 lakh, a basic FSSAI License is applicable to them. However, if the business turnover lies in the range of 12 lakh-20 crores, then for such a food business, a State FSSAI License is necessary. The Central FSSAI License is applied for businesses whose annual turnover is more than Rs.20 crores.
If you require any kind of guidance related to the FSSAI Registration, please feel free to contact our business advisors at 8881-069-069.
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