'Illegal Parallel System': Maharashtra Takes Top Food Safety Body To Court

The Maharashtra government has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutional validity of FSSAI rules, accusing the central body of usurping state powers. The petition was filed through the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, who has been widely praised over his crackdown on unsafe food handling and storage by big brands.

The state claims FSSAI created an illegal parallel system by appointing "Central Food Safety Officers" and stripping state commissioners of their licensing and enforcement rights under the 2006 law.

FSSAI is short for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It consolidated many laws and orders that had until then handled food-related issues across ministries and departments.

The petition opposed an FSSAI order in May 2023 that barred state officers from inspecting centrally licensed companies and centralised all businesses through the website of FoSCoS or Food Safety Compliance System.

FoSCoS is an enhanced version of the Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS) which was launched in 2012 to issue FSSAI licenses and registration across India.

Maharashtra has also challenged a notification that came out in March this year that raised turnover limits without a public consultation. The state demanded the scrapping of what it called "unconstitutional rules", a stay on the inspection ban and the return of the licensing database to the state's control.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh C Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna will hear the petition.

Some of the functions of the FSSAI include framing of regulations to lay down standards and guidelines in relation to food and specifying appropriate systems of enforcing these standards.

It lays down mechanisms and guidelines for accreditation of certification bodies engaged in certification of food safety management systems for businesses. It makes procedures and guidelines for accreditation of laboratories.

In a wider role, the FSSAI gives scientific advice and technical support to the central government and state governments in matters of framing policy and rules in areas which have a direct or indirect bearing on food safety and nutrition.