States must act on food safety index

The State Food Safety Index for 2021-22, developed by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has given a comparative picture of the level of food safety in different states of the country. The index was released on Tuesday, which was World Food Safety Day, observed every year to raise awareness about the need for safe and uncontaminated food. It also aims to draw attention to the links between food security, sustainable development, and public health. The motto this year was “Safer Food, Better Health”. The FSSAI’s index has tracked the performance of states on various parameters of food safety over the last four years, and this year’s index is its fourth edition. There are separate indices for big and small states and for Union Territories.

Tamil Nadu topped the index this year, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra. Gujarat had topped the list in the last two years. Among the smaller states, Goa stood first and among the UTs, Jammu & Kashmir stood first. Karnataka is placed in the ninth position. The performance is measured on five parameters — human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing infrastructure and surveillance, training and capacity-building, and consumer empowerment. Each of the parameters concerns an important aspect of food safety. The FSSAI has described compliance as the most important of them, carrying 30 per cent weightage, while others have 20 per cent or 10 per cent weightage. Compliance covers a range of issues, from licensing and registration of food businesses to inspections and attending to consumer grievances. Karnataka’s ranking has gone down by three positions in the last three years. Its position is quite high on the compliance parameter and is the same as Tamil Nadu’s. But its performance is low in all other categories. The state should work on these parameters to improve its overall ranking next year.

The FSSAI has underlined the need for food safety with its campaigns and publications. It is important to ensure the safety and quality of food at every stage in the food chain with the focus on hygiene, nutrition, diversity and sustainability. It is also necessary to promote local and regional foods and to ensure that there is no adulteration at any level. In a large country like India, food quality, safety standards and performance can vary widely. An index can capture only very generalised performances approximated to averages. Even within a state, there will be wide variations between places and regions. But the index provides some pointers that should help states to compare their performance with others and improve it. Their strengths and weaknesses on individual parameters should prompt them to take necessary action in those areas.