Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006: Punishment for Unsafe Food in Milk and Milk Products

The adulteration of food is a subject in the Concurrent list of the Constitution. Prior to 1954, there were several state laws to regulate the quality of the food. However, there was variance in the provisions of different states and this posed problems in trade between different provinces. The need for a Central legislation was felt. Thus, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 was enacted by the Union legislature to tackle the problem of food adulteration which was rampant in the country. This Act was in operation until it was repealed in 2006 by the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. Along with it, several orders such as the Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992, the Fruit Products Order, 1955, the Meat Food Products Order, 1973, etc. also got repealed by the 2006 Act. There were several defects in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Thus, to remove those defects and consolidate the laws relating to food safety and standards, the Parliament enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (hereafter referred to as ‘FSSA’). This Act repealed all the other laws in force relating to the quality of food. Section 91 of the Act empowers the Central Government to make rules under the Act. Some of these rules enacted by the Government which regulates the standard of food products are: Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulation, 2011, Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation, 2011, Food Safety and Standards (Laboratory and Sampling Analysis) Regulation, 2011, Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011