This Indian State Retained The Top Spot In The Food Safety Index

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu & Kashmir have emerged as the top three performers in the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) 2024, as announced by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Friday. Kerala claimed the top spot, while Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir secured the second and third positions, respectively. Additionally, Gujarat and Nagaland received special mentions and acknowledgements. 

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The SFSI serves as a benchmarking framework, both quantitative and qualitative, to assess the performance of States and Union Territories across various food safety parameters. These parameters include human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing infrastructure and surveillance, training and capacity building, and consumer empowerment.

The FSSAI's report highlighted Kerala's impressive achievements, noting that the state exceeded 100% of its inspection targets for FY24, enhanced its food testing infrastructure, and conducted special drives to increase the number of licensed holders and registrations, among other accomplishments.

In contrast, Tamil Nadu was commended for having a "significant number of full-time designated food safety officers" and establishing both the State-Level Advisory Committee and District-Level Advisory Committee, which conducted meetings as planned, according to the FSSAI.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Union Health Minister JP Nadda stated that the FSSAI is focused on harmonizing food safety standards with international benchmarks and aligning Maximum Residue Limits for pesticides with global Codex standards.

He emphasized the importance of a stringent food safety standard and a flexible regulatory framework to address emerging food trends such as plant-based proteins, insect protein, and lab-grown meat. Addressing concerns raised by reports on "alarming levels of microplastics" in food chains, Nadda highlighted India's efforts to develop eco-friendly packaging to curb environmental damage. He also stressed the global importance of adopting organic farming to reduce the risks posed by pesticide residues in food.

“The rapid globalisation, technological advancement and evolving consumer preferences are reshaping our food systems at an unprecedented pace. We face a complex area of challenge from persistent food-borne illness and emerging concerns such as nutraceutical safety, novel foods and microplastics in our food chain while striving for sustainability,” Nadda said.

In a Facebook post, Kerala's health minister Veena George wrote, "Kerala achieves historic achievement in food security at national level. Kerala holds the first position for the second consecutive year at the national level in the Food Security Index. Kerala got the first place in the food safety index of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Kerala won the first place last year for the first time in history. Kerala retained the first place for the second consecutive year through strong activities."

"Food Safety Inspection, Sample Collection, Sample Testing, Prosecution Cases, Number of L-accredited labs, excellence of testing in labs, functioning of mobile labs, training and awareness activities etc have brought Kerala to the first position in the National Food Safety Index. This achievement is a recognition for the excellent work done by Kerala in the field of food security. Congratulations to all the employees of the Food Safety Department who worked alongside and worked to achieve this achievement.”