The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI unveiled the 5th State Food Safety Index (SFSI) on June 7th, 2023 on the occasion of he World Food Safety Day.
- It evaluates the performance of states and union territories across six different aspects of food safety.
Key points
- Kerala has secured the first position in the national food safety index of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
- Jammu and Kashmir has maintained its first rank in the Union Territory (UT) category in Food Safety Index 2022-23.
- The food safety index, at the national level, is determined on the basis of enforcement activities such as food safety checks, sample collection, sample examination prosecution cases, number of NABL-recognised food safety labs in the State, efficiency and expertise of labs, FoSTaC training received by the food safety laboratory staff, State-level implementation of FSSAI’s Eat Right initiatives, and food safety awareness efforts of the department.
- The release of this index coincided with the interactive session.
- Launched in 2018-19, the SFSI aims to foster healthy competition and catalyze positive change in the food safety ecosystem throughout the country, ultimately ensuring the provision of safe and wholesome food to all residents.
- The Union Health Minister honored the winners of the Eat Right Challenge for Districts – Phase II.
- These districts showcased outstanding efforts in implementing plans to improve the food environment and raise awareness about food safety. Remarkably, most of the districts with exceptional results were located in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
- Out of the 260 participating districts, 31 successfully achieved a score of 75% or higher.
