Food Safety body to check quality of milk, honey

Food safety body FSSAI is collecting samples of milk and honey sold in the market to check quality of these two food items after it received consumer complaints.

“FSSAI has set up an expert panel to review the existing standards to simplify and streamline the quality norms,” shared Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI on the side line of CII’s Food Safety and Quality summit.

"Surveillance is a big area. We are taking up surveillance in few commodities. As we speak the surveillance on honey and milk is going on," Agarwal said, adding that it would be done in more products, going forward.

"We have been receiving complaints in milk and honey. So, we are collecting samples of these two commodities," added Agarwal.

Earlier addressing the event, Agarwal said FSSAI has accelerated the pace of standard settings in the country.

"Substantive work has been done and some of the work that remains to be done is in advance stages. We should probably have most of the standards that are perhaps needed to ensure safe food in the next few months," Agarwal said.

The regulator has recently set standards for fortification of six food items as well as for nutraceuticals and health supplements.

He said the panel comprising various stakeholders to review the present standards will submit its suggestions and the same will be considered by the scientific committee.

According to Agarwal, FSSAI has done reasonable work in setting standards for food products in the last five years of operations, but he expressed concern about the enforcement of food quality standards.