In order to monitor the potential adulteration of sweets during the Diwali festival, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has instructed over 4,000 state-level officers to enhance their scrutiny of sweet vendors and producers nationwide.
In India, milk is the most frequently adulterated product, and since most sweets are crafted using dairy ingredients, they are often affected as well.
“Usually, consumption of sweets goes up during Diwali festival. We have directed our officers in the states and Union territories to intensify the surveillance of sweets to check on adulteration,” FSSAI CEO G Kamala Vardhana Rao told media on the sidelines of the Eat Right Summit.
State food safety officials have been tasked with the responsibility of conducting shop inspections and gathering samples to assess product quality. Additionally, they have been instructed to take appropriate measures against individuals or businesses found to be in violation of quality standards.
Meanwhile, the FSSAI has increased the number of surveillance samples to 1 lakh this year, and this will increase to 7 lakh next year, he added.
To check the quality of milk and milk products, Rao shared that a national survey is underway jointly by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Quality Council of India.
The survey, which will collect about 10,000 samples, will be completed in a month, he added.
