The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is tasked with setting science-based standards for food articles, and regulating how they’re manufactured, stored, distributed, sold and imported, all to make sure people have access to safe, wholesome food. Enforcing the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, isn’t something FSSAI does alone though; it’s a shared responsibility between the Central Government and the States.
To keep food and food products safe through proper testing, FSSAI has notified 259 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) to analyse food samples, along with 24 Referral Food Laboratories that handle appeal samples specifically.
Upgrading Labs and Rolling Out Mobile Testing Vans
The SoFTeL scheme, short for Strengthening of Food Testing System in the Country, is an FSSAI initiative built to upgrade state food laboratories, set up microbiology facilities, and deploy mobile food testing vans, including the Mobile Food Testing Laboratory (MFTL) component. Through this scheme, 47 State Food Testing Laboratories have had structural upgrades with advanced analytical equipment, and 34 specialised microbiology laboratories have come up to catch chemical, heavy metal and biological contaminants.
The MFTLs, branded “Food Safety on Wheels” (FSW), give the widest possible reach for food testing, training, and awareness efforts, particularly in villages, towns and remote areas that would otherwise be hard to cover. As things stand, 305 FSWs are currently operating across 35 States and Union Territories.
Simple Kits That Bring Testing Within Reach
The “Magic Box” is a compact, easy-to-use kit built around simple, rapid test methods that can detect common adulterants across seven different food commodities. It’s meant to help identify adulteration in everyday items like milk, spices, oils, and grains.
The Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART) book goes further, covering 44 tests that anyone can run at home using water and basic solutions like tincture of iodine, applied to products such as milk and milk products, oils and fats, sugar and confectionery, food grains and their derivatives, and spices and condiments. It also includes sensory evaluation tests to help verify whether a product is genuine, and it uses pictures to show the difference between pure and adulterated food.
Portable Devices Speeding Up Field-Level Screening
Rapid Analytical Food Testing (RAFT) Kits take this a step further still. They’re advanced, portable, handheld devices that don’t need sophisticated lab equipment or conventional reagents to run a test. So far, 88 of these RAFT kits have been approved. By cutting down the time it takes to screen food products out in the field, they help speed up surveillance and monitoring work more broadly.
Key Takeaway: India is strengthening its food safety ecosystem through a combination of accredited laboratories, upgraded testing infrastructure, mobile food testing facilities, and rapid field-level detection technologies. Alongside the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, initiatives such as the SoFTeL scheme, Food Safety on Wheels, the Magic Box, the DART handbook, and RAFT kits are expanding access to food testing, improving surveillance, and enabling quicker detection of adulteration and contaminants.
Together, these measures aim to enhance food quality monitoring, strengthen regulatory enforcement, and ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food across the country.
M.C.Q.
Question 1: The SoFTeL scheme launched by FSSAI primarily aims to:
- A. Promote food exports from India
- B. Strengthen the country’s food testing infrastructure through laboratory upgradation and mobile testing facilities
- C. Provide subsidies to food processing industries
- D. Certify organic food products for export
Question 2: Which of the following statements regarding India’s food testing ecosystem is correct?
- A. RAFT Kits are large laboratory instruments that require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure.
- B. DART is a digital portal for licensing food businesses.
- C. Food Safety on Wheels (FSW) consists of Mobile Food Testing Laboratories used for testing and awareness activities.
- D. Referral Food Laboratories are responsible for licensing food manufacturers.
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