Food Safety Index 2021: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala Lead The Ranking

The Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr Mansukh Mandaviya have released the FSSAI's 3rd State Food Safety Index 2021 to measure states' performance across five food safety parameters.

(Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) or FSSAI is a self-governing statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act,2006 (FSS Act). The Ministry of Health and Welfare is the administrative head of FSSAI. The headquarters are situated in Delhi. The seven critical processes of FSSAI are setting food product standards, developing safe food practices, licensing food businesses, ensuring compliance through inspections, testing food standards, training and building capacity and citizens outreach.

Gujarat Ranked Number 1

The Food Index Ranking 2021 is divided into three parts - Larger States(20), Smaller States(7) and Union Territories(8). In the Index Ranking for the Larger States, Gujarat is ranked Number 1st, Kerala is ranked 2nd, and Tamil Nadu 3rd and the last three ranks in this category goes to Bihar (20) Andhra Pradesh (19), and Rajasthan (18). In the Smaller States category, Goa is ranked number 1, followed by Meghalaya (2) and Manipur (3), and last is Tripura (7). In the Union Territory category, Jammu and Kashmir is number (1), followed by Andaman and Nicobar Island (2) and Delhi (3) the last one is Lakshadweep (8).

Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel congratulated the state Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) and the state health department for this outstanding achievement. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya handed over the award and certificate to Gujarat in a ceremony in New Delhi. Besides this,19 Mobile Food Testing vans(Food Safety on Wheels) were also launched to supplement the country's food safety ecosystem reported Times of India.

How Is FSI Calculated

The Food Safety Index 2021 measures the performance of States and UTs on five significant parameters of food safety:Human Resources and Institutional Data (with 20% weightage): These parameters measure the availability of officers like Food safety and designated officers, facility of adjudications and appellate tribunals, functioning of state/district level Steering Committees, pending of cases and their monitoring participation in Central Advisory Committee meetings of the Foof Authority.

One of the most important parameters, compliance (with 30% weightage), which measures overall coverage of food businesses in licensing and registration equivalent with size and population of the State/UT's, special drives, camps organised, yearly increase, promptness and effectiveness in the issue of state licenses/registrations and monitoring of expired licenses. The parameter of Infrastructure and Surveillance (with 20% weightage), measures the availability of adequate food testing infrastructure with the trained workforce in the States and UT's for testing food samples.

The parameter of training and capacity building (with 10% weightage) focuses on regulatory staff laboratory personnel's training and capacity building. Consumer empowerment (with 20% weightage), another parameter, measures states-UT's in consumer empowering initiatives FSSAI like Food Fortification, Eat Right Campus, BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God), Hygiene Rating of Restaurants, RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil), Clean street food hubs etc., state initiative activities for creating consumer awareness are also considered.

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