FSSAI
Definition
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, established under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 as the central food regulatory body, replacing the PFA 1954. Operates national referral laboratories, approves analytical methods, and sets maximum limits for contaminants and adulterants in food sold in India.
- Full name
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
- Established under
- Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
- Replaced
- Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
- Functions
- Method approval, national referral labs, contaminant limits
Common questions
How did FSSAI change food adulteration regulation compared to the earlier PFA regime?+
The PFA Act operated through a fragmented set of state rules and prescriptive standards. FSSAI consolidated regulation under one central authority with science-based risk assessment, standardised analytical methods, and licensing across the food supply chain, aligning India's system more closely with international food safety frameworks.
What role does FSSAI play when a forensic food-adulteration case goes to court in India?+
Its notified and referral laboratories perform or confirm the analysis that establishes adulteration under the FSS Act, and its published maximum limits and approved methods provide the regulatory benchmark that expert witnesses and prosecutors rely on to show a sample is non-compliant.
Related terms
- ATR-FTIR
- Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy: a non-destructive mid-infrared method that analyses a single drop of milk pressed against an ATR crystal....
- Bromocresol Green (BCG) Test
- A colorimetric rapid test for surfactant detergents in milk: BCG at pH 4 partitions into surfactant micelles, shifting from yellow to blue-green...
- Codex Alimentarius
- The FAO/WHO joint food standards programme that sets international reference limits. Its 2012 action levels for melamine (2.5 mg/kg in infant formula,...
- Cryoscopy
- Measurement of milk freezing-point depression (AOAC 961.07). Pure bovine milk freezes at -0.530 to -0.560°C; added water raises (makes less negative) the...
- Diacetyl Monoxime (DAM) Test
- A FSSAI-approved colorimetric rapid test for urea: urea reacts with DAM under acidic conditions to produce a yellow-to-orange chromophore readable at 540...
- Kjeldahl Method
- The reference method for protein determination in food: sulphuric acid digestion converts all nitrogen to ammonium sulfate, which is titrated after distillation....
- LC-MS/MS MRM
- Liquid chromatography with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The most sensitive confirmatory method for melamine (primary MRM...
- Melamine
- 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine (C3H6N6), a nitrogen-rich compound (66.7% N by mass) used industrially in resins and laminates, illegally added to milk and dairy products...
- Melamine-Cyanuric Acid Co-Crystal
- A 1:1 insoluble complex formed when melamine and cyanuric acid co-occur in acidic renal urine. The co-crystal precipitates inside renal tubules, causing...