Discuss the evolution of food safety regulation in India from the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. How has the regulatory architecture been refined through subordinate legislation in recent years?

Q. Discuss the evolution of food safety regulation in India from the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. How has the regulatory architecture been refined through subordinate legislation in recent years? (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's food regulation has travelled from a fragmented, adulteration-centric and punitive regime under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 to an integrated, science-based framework under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, now being calibrated through delegated legislation.

Phase I: Fragmentation under PFA, 1954 - Multiplicity of laws: PFA coexisted with commodity-specific orders — Fruit Products Order (1955), Meat Food Products Order, Milk and Milk Products Order — administered by different ministries, causing overlapping and inconsistent standards. - Narrow mandate: emphasis on detecting adulteration and prosecution, rather than preventing hazards across the farm-to-fork chain.

Phase II: Consolidation under FSS Act, 2006 - Single statute, single regulator: eight earlier laws were subsumed and the FSSAI was created under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a science-based standard-setting and surveillance body [1]. - Shift to self-compliance: mandatory licensing/registration of Food Business Operators (FBOs), risk-based standards, and graded penalties replaced pure policing.

Phase III: Refinement through subordinate legislation - The FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 created the three-tier architecture — Registration, State licence, Central licence — by scale and turnover [3]. - 2026 reforms: registration threshold raised from ₹12 lakh to ₹1.5 crore turnover and State licensing up to ₹50 crore; perpetual validity of licences approved; street vendors registered under the Street Vendors Act, 2014 treated as deemed registered [4]. - Amendment Regulations, 2026 (notified 10 March and 23 June 2026) confine record-keeping and FIFO/FEFO stock rotation to manufacturing FBOs, exempting retailers — a move towards risk-proportionate regulation [2][3]. - Capacity remains the weak link: the Parliamentary Standing Committee (2018) flagged unlicensed businesses, absence of a food business database, only 13 of 62 State laboratories accredited, and acute staff shortages [1].

The trajectory thus marks a shift from punitive adulteration control to facilitative, risk-graded regulation. Consolidating these gains requires matching eased entry norms with investment in laboratory accreditation, surveillance and manpower, so that ease of doing business strengthens rather than dilutes the citizen's right to safe food under Article 21 and SDG-2 and SDG-3.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. Functioning of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India — Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare (2018), PRS summary — FSSAI's creation under MoHFW; laboratory accreditation, licensing and staffing gaps 2. MoHFW Notifies Amendments to FSSAI Licensing and Registration Regulations to Enhance Ease of Doing Business, PIB (June 2026) — record-keeping and FIFO/FEFO confined to manufacturing FBOs 3. Amendments to the FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 — FSSAI — 2011 licensing architecture; amendment dates 10 March and 23 June 2026 4. Union Health Ministry Approves Major Regulatory Reforms to Promote Ease of Doing Business and Strengthen Food Safety Framework, PIB — revised turnover thresholds, perpetual licence validity, deemed registration of street vendors