FSSAI uses risk-based inspections as regulators cannot test every food product.
Companies conduct periodic self-testing, while states handle inspections and enforcement.
Independent sampling, laboratories and audits provide safeguards against food safety violations.
Food safety affects everything from packaged products on supermarket shelves to meals served in restaurants and ingredients sold in local markets. However, ensuring that every item produced and sold across a country as large as India meets safety standards presents a significant regulatory challenge.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for setting food standards and coordinating the country's food-safety framework.
However, it cannot physically inspect every product or food business. The system instead relies on a combination of regulatory standards, state-level enforcement, laboratory testing, risk-based inspections and compliance measures undertaken by food businesses themselves.
FSSAI CEO Rajit Punhani recently explained the limits of direct regulatory inspection. “Each and every product is not possible for us or the state government to inspect each and every product,” Punhani said while talking to ANI, explaining that FSSAI therefore uses a risk-based inspection system.
According to Punhani, companies normally conduct their own testing every six months and send reports to the regulator. He described the approach as “trust-based governance”, saying the system expects significant self-regulation by food businesses.
What FSSAI Do?
According to a Ministry of Health and Family Welfare release issued on March 13, FSSAI is mandated to lay down science-based standards for food and regulate its manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food.
The implementation and enforcement of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, however, is a shared responsibility between the Centre and the states.
While FSSAI lays down standards and coordinates the overall regulatory framework, State Food Safety Authorities are primarily responsible for field-level enforcement. Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers work under the Commissioners of Food Safety in states and Union Territories.
The Ministry said 2,997 Food Safety Officers and 668 Designated Officers were working across states and Union Territories.
How Risk-based Inspection Work?
FSSAI has developed a Risk Based Inspection System, under which the frequency of inspection is determined according to the risk associated with a food business.
According to FSSAI's March 27 FAQs on the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, the computer-assisted system considers inputs including an FBO's compliance history during enforcement, surveillance, self-compliance testing and third-party audits.
The system is intended to reduce repeated inspections of compliant food businesses while targeting repeat non-compliant businesses. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said annual inspections are required for food categories identified as high-risk.
Government data showed that FSSAI conducted 11,904 risk-based inspections in 2022-23, 18,098 in 2023-24 and 26,267 in 2024-25 — more than 56,000 over three years.
Who Tests The Food?
The system does not rely entirely on companies testing their own products.
According to the Ministry, FSSAI has notified 252 food-testing laboratories for analysing food samples, along with 24 Referral Food Laboratories for appellate samples.
It has also supported mobile food-testing laboratories, known as Food Safety on Wheels. The Ministry said 305 such units were deployed across 35 states and Union Territories for on-the-spot testing of adulteration in various food commodities.
The government also said more than 5.18 lakh enforcement food samples had been analysed across states and Union Territories.
For general manufacturing Food Business Operators holding a Central Licence, the Ministry said third-party audits by FSSAI-empanelled agencies are mandatory once a year.
FSSAI describes third-party audits as a mechanism to strengthen surveillance and encourage compliance, although satisfactory audits can lead to less frequent regulatory inspections. Regulatory sampling, however, remains separate from such audits.
Can Companies Report Only Compliant Results?
This is where the question of self-regulation becomes important. Punhani said companies normally conduct periodic testing and send reports to the regulator, while FSSAI's risk-based inspection system considers self-compliance testing as one of several inputs.
However, the official framework also considers enforcement history, surveillance and third-party audits.
The Ministry said action against non-compliant Food Business Operators can include Improvement Notices under Section 32 of the FSS Act, suspension or cancellation of licences, penalties, adjudication proceedings and prosecution, depending on the nature and gravity of violations.
An NDTV report published in June quoted nearly one in every six food samples tested in FY26 failed safety and quality checks. The report also pointed to government data showing persistent concerns over food-safety compliance.
The figures underline the challenge facing India's food-safety system. FSSAI cannot inspect every product, and the regulatory framework therefore combines company compliance, risk-based inspections, state-level enforcement, laboratory testing, surveillance and third-party audits.
