CEO, FSSAI urges States/UTS to strengthen consumer grievance mechanism and highlight enforcement actions

The Chief Executive Officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Shri Rajit Punhani has asked States and UTS to ensure that consumer grievances related to food safety are addressed on priority and fortnightly reviews are conducted. Shri Punhani issued the directive to Commissioners of Food Safety (CFS) of States/UTs while addressing the 48th meeting of the Central Advisory Committee (CAC) held at FDA Bhawan, New Delhi, on October 14th, 2025.

CEO, FSSAI said that addressing consumer complaints related to food safety with high priority will be a crucial step in boosting consumer confidence and public awareness. To monitor this commitment, the CEO has asked States/UTS to monitor the status of redressal fortnightly. Furthermore, Shri Punhani directed all States and UTS to share details of their enforcement activities and the actions taken against non-compliant food businesses on a daily basis. He said that this is not only essential to enhance consumer confidence and public awareness but also to foster greater accountability across the entire food safety network.

In a separate but related directive aimed at improving the scientific rigor of food safety, the CEO instructed all States and UTS to ensure the efficient utilization of installed High-End Equipment (HEE) and to obtain NABL accreditation for their food laboratories. This step is critical for ensuring greater reliability, uniformity, and scientific robustness in food sample testing nationwide.

Further, the meeting deliberated on simplifying processes and regulations related to Licencing/Registration with respect to key regulatory matters. The meeting also deliberated the role of data-driven decision-making, laid special emphasis on focusing Centralized Surveillance Mechanisms, underlining the need for coordinated joint efforts between FSSAI and State authorities to generate credible national-level insights on food safety.

Over 70 officials actively participated in the meeting, including Commissioners of Food Safety (CFS), representatives from States and UTS, senior FSSAI officials and members from the food industry, agriculture sector, laboratories and research bodies.