State Food Safety Index: Tamil Nadu tops food safety index

What is the News?

The Union Health Minister has released the 4th State Food Safety Index.

What is the State Food Safety Index?

Started in: 2018-19

Prepared by: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) 

Aim: To measure the performance of states on parameters of Food Safety with the aim of creating a competitive and positive change in India’s food safety ecosystem.

Parameters: The five parameters include: 1) Compliance, 2) Human Resources and Institutional Data, 3) Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance, 4) Training & Capacity Building and 5) Consumer Empowerment.

Significance: The Index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model that provides an objective framework for evaluating food safety across all States/UTs.

What are the key findings of the index?

Larger States: Tamil Nadu has topped followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Smaller States: Goa stood first followed by Manipur and Sikkim.

Union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh secured first, second and third rank respectively.

Other Initiatives launched

AyurvedaAahar logo: It is a logo which contains the initials of Ayurveda and Ahara, the first in Devanagari and the second in English with five leaves symbolizing five elements of nature. This logo will help in the easy identification of ayurvedic foods.

Source: The post is based on the article “Tamil Nadu tops food safety index” published in The Hindu on 8th June 2022.