What is FSSAI? What are its functions?

What is FSSAI? 

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act). 
• FSSAI is an autonomous body. The administrative ministry for FSSAI is the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. 
• FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety. 
• FSSAI headquartered in New Delhi 

Important provisions of The Food Safety and Standard (FSS) Act 2006: 

• The Act consolidated various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. For ex.  

• • Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954, 
  • Fruit Products Order , 1955,  
  • Meat Food Products Order,1973, 
  • Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947, 
  • Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order 1988,  
  • Solvent Extracted Oil,  
  • De-Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967,  
  • Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc 

• The Act aims to establish a single reference point for all matters and also establishes FSSAI and State Food safety authorities to laydown science-based standards relating to food safety and standards in India.  

 What are the functions performed by FSSAI? 

• For functional purposes FSSAI has divided into two committees 

1. 1. Scientific Committee – To look into the matters related to food standards 
   2. Central advisory Committee – To look into the matters related to Compliance and Inspections 

• FSSAI has launched many online initiatives to improve Food Standards and Safety in India  

1. 1. Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) to replace existing
      Food Licensing and Registration System
   2. RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil) initiative – Under this Total Polar Compounds(TPC) of Vegetable oil is limited to 25 percent. Beyond which the vegetable oil shall be collected and converted into Bio Diesel 
   3. infoLnet (Indian Food Library Network) – It is a network of Indian Food laboratories connected to a centralised network for effective management. 
   4. Apart from these FSSAI also launched initiatives such as Eat Right India, Save food Share food etc. 

• FSSAI also involved in many collaborative efforts such as  

• • Jaivik Bharat Portal: It is the regulatory portal on Organic Food in India. It was jointly developed by FSSAI, APEDA and PGS-India. 
  • Food Fortification Resouce Centre has been established by FSSAI with the help of TATA trusts. 

• FSSAI is the National Codex Contact Point of India (NCCP), which maintains Codex Alimentarius Commission‘s (CAC) standard in India. 

What is CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION? 

• It is an international food standards body established jointly by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)in 1963 with the objective of protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in food trade all over the world. 
• Currently the Codex Alimentarius Commission has 189 Codex Members made up of 188 Member Countries and 1 Member Organization (The European Union). India became the member of Codex Alimentarius in 1964. 
• In India National Codex Committee was constituted by FSSAI.