Speech of MOS (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION for the “6th NATIONAL FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY SUMMIT” to be held on 28th September 2011 at New Delhi.


I must congratulate the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for organizing its 6th Annual Food Safety and Quality Summit. I have been informed that CII’s Institute of Quality has been actively promoting food safety and quality movement in Food Processing Industry since 2001 and they cover wide range of promotional activities involving awareness, training and counseling, sharing best practices and special projects with the Government.

Government of India has been aware of the importance of food safety and quality rather it has been the top priority for the Government. A serious initiative in this direction is the setting up of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Rules had been notified in May 2011 and has come into force on the 5th August, 2011. This will ensure a proper Food Surveillance System of all foods manufactured in the country as well as those which are brought into the country through various ports of India. For the Industry, it will be beneficial, being a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards by moving from the multi-level, multi-departmental to a single line of regulatory command. For the consumer, it will raise the standards of quality of foods in the market by proper enforcement as well as stringent testing of foodstuff. However, a lot needs to be done to increase the awareness of food safety among the public.

In the past few decades, the increase in the movement of people as well as food across natural borders has changed the patterns of food production and consumption. For example, certain foods eaten after cooking in a certain region may be consumed in its raw form in another region. The expansion in the food trade has facilitated increased availability of food across borders but has also given rise to concerns about food safety.

Traceability plays an important role in the food chain. The ability to trace and keep track of a particular food material through all stages of production from the field to the consumer is crucial in the food chain. Considerable changes are taking place in the field of traceability. Simple hand written and printed labels are being replaced by machine-readable identification such as barcodes and radio-frequency tags. Traceability is also heavily reliant on the amount of information carried in the system. A robust mechanism has to be put in place to facilitate the collection and authentication of all information shared throughout the chain. Effective labeling and legislation will also be highly beneficial to the consumer.

An estimated three million people in developed and developing countries die every year from food and water borne diseases. Frequent occurrences of such diseases could escalate into a food safety emergency situation. Irradiation of food is an important modern food safety tool in fighting food borne illness, however, it is not a substitute for good sanitation and hygiene practices in the process house. Scientific studies have shown that irradiation does not significantly change the nutrient content, flavor and texture of food. It is proven that irradiation of food is effective in destroying harmful bacteria in food, including E-Coli and Salmonella. A lot has still to be done in the field of irradiation such as monitoring of the radiation levels, regulation of radiation procedures and labeling, but most of all getting the public to accept irradiated food.

I must wish success to the Summit and exhort it to come up with a strategic plan of action which will help the nation in strengthening the food security arrangements which must include the capacity building in management of national food stock piles as well as scaling up the community based food security initiatives. This Summit should also come up with recommendations for strengthening integrated food security information systems as well as identify and address issues related to food security. Another outcome of the Summit should be establishing a national emergency prevention system for food safety on the lines of such established international systems so that we can avoid any food safety emergencies.

The increasing geographical spread of food production, processing and consumption chain opens up vulnerabilities at multiple points. Therefore, food safety events at any point in the chain no longer have only a limited local impact but may have world wide effect. That is why it has become even more necessary to award any food safety emergencies which can cause global concern regardless of the source. The Summit may also think on climate change and its likely effect on the occurrence of food safety hazards. We need to develop the framework of the horizon scanning and early warning system for likely food safety threats. While we may emphasis the prevention of emergencies, we must have in place a system for rapid response in case of event occurrence.

Lastly I wish all the best to all the stakeholders in the Summit for coming up with practical recommendations for ensuring national food safety and quality.

Jai Hind