Every year, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) releases the annual report on the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) which assesses the performance of states in various aspects of Food Safety to encourage positive competition among states for ensuring safe food for all. The report uses a score of 60 as a criterion for ranking states and UTs in 2023-24 and only 3 states and 1 UT have managed to attain this benchmark.
The world-renowned Tirupati Laddu, a sacred offering at the Sri Venkateshwara Temple is at the centre of a political storm in Andhra Pradesh. Following allegations by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that traces of animal fat such as beef tallow, fish oil, and lard were found with the ghee used to prepare these laddus during the previous YSR Congress Party regime, the state has launched a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the claims. The matter has also reached the Supreme Court, which has now constituted an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations about the use of adulterated ghee for the preparation of laddus offered as prasadam at Tirumala Tirupati Temple.
This incident has sparked a wider conversation about food safety, quality, and adulteration. If these consecrated laddus, sold in the millions each month, are subject to questions about their safety, what does it say about the safety of other foods consumed outside?
As the global population increases, consumers are depending on food that they have not personally cultivated. This reliance creates uncertainty about the conditions under which food is grown, processed, stored, and transported, making trust essential between consumers and all stakeholders involved—from producers and processors to packagers and traders. In this context, the government plays a crucial role in the effective implementation of food safety measures and regulatory controls to ensure compliance with established standards. Some of the measures include conducting regular testing of food samples for contaminants and performing routine inspections of food production facilities. For instance, the recent inspections by the Food Safety Department of Telangana observed lapses in hygiene and safety regulations in several of Hyderabad’s most popular and well-regarded restaurants, highlighting the need for stricter compliance.
Download clean and standardized dataset related to state and indicator-wise Food Safety Index Scores only on Dataful.
FSSAI releases annual report on State Food Safety Index
Every year, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) releases the annual report on State Food Safety Index (SFSI) which assesses the performance of states in various aspects of Food Safety to encourage positive competition among states for ensuring safe food for all. Though Section 16(2)(g) of the 2006 FSS Act mandates that the FSSAI conduct a survey of enforcement and administration of the Act, it was only in 2019 that FSSAI started releasing the Index.
Parameters under five significant categories are considered for calculating the Index. These are Human Resources and Institutional Data, Compliance, Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training & Capacity Building, and Consumer Empowerment. An additional 10% weightage is assigned to the improvement in the rankings of States/UTs based on the State Food Safety Index from the previous year. This sixth parameter was included since the 2022-23 report.
It should be noted that slight modifications are being made to the weightage assigned for the each of these parameters in each of the years. For instance, in 2019-20, ‘Food Testing- Infrastructure and Surveillance’ was given 20% weightage, which dropped to 17% in 2022-23 and again increased to 36% in 2023-24. This parameter is now being given the highest weightage among the five major categories, unlike in the previous years when compliance was given the highest weight. Meanwhile, consumer empowerment was given a weightage of 20% in 2019-20, and 18% in 2022-23, is now being given only 9%.
A detailed explainer by Factly on the different parameters considered for the index, and the validation of the data is available here. The weightage given to each of the parameters in the 2023-24 report is as follows:
Unlike in previous years, the latest report does not categorise the states into large and smaller ones. Nonetheless, we continue to use the categorization, as given below, for easier comparison.
Kerala retained its first position in 2023-24 while Tamil Nadu continues to be in the top 3
Among the large states, Kerala received the highest score with a total of 73.75, securing the first position for the second time in consecutive years. Tamil Nadu, which overtook Gujarat to become the best-performing among large states in 2021-22, came second this time with a score of 67, down from 82 in 2021-22. Gujarat came third with a score of 61.75.
Among the small states, Goa had the highest score with 52.75 in 2023-24, followed by Nagaland with 44.25. In the report, Nagaland has been given special acknowledgement among the northeastern states as the hilly state showed overall improvement in the food testing infrastructure, despite the difficulty in availability of required manpower, transportation cost of samples, and laboratory. Overall, the state showed significant progress in improving the food safety ecosystem compared to the previous year, as per the report.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest score among UTs. It is the only UT whose score falls in the top 10 when all states and UTs are included in the comparison.
Scores have declined continuously in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
On the other hand, the scores have continuously declined in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand in the last three to four assessments, among large states. Though states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Assam, and Chhattisgarh recorded continuous decline until 2022-23, there has been marginal improvement in their scores in 2023-24. Following a drop in score by nearly 40 points from 60 in 2018-19 to 20.5 in 2022-23, Bihar’s score in 2023-24 has improved to 36.5. Jharkhand has replaced Bihar as the worst-performing state, with a score of 26.5. Andhra Pradesh had the second-lowest score, with 27. These two states are the only ones among large states with a score below 30. Telangana (35.75) and Chhattisgarh (30.75) are also among the poor-performing states.
Among smaller states, the score continuously declined for Manipur, and Sikkim. Manipur’s score dropped by 43 between 2018-19 and 2023-24 while that of Sikkim dropped by 12. The UTs of Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Puducherry have fallen steeply over the years. Puducherry’s score fell from 35.5 in 2018-19 to 12.5 in 2023-24.
Poor scores are a matter of concern
Irrespective of the weightage assigned to different parameters, the food safety index score is low for most states and UTs. The report uses a score of 60 as a criterion for ranking states and UTs in 2023-24 and only 3 states and 1 UT have managed to attain this benchmark. This is alarming given the potential public health risks associated with food safety. The low scores also undermine consumer trust in food safety as it indicates stagnation or decline in efforts to enhance food safety practices, non-compliance to regulations and necessitating reassessment and investment in infrastructure, training, and consumer education.
Foodborne illnesses cause lakhs of fatalities and billions of dollars of economic loss annually
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are about 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers, that are caused by consuming unsafe food, and some of these can be fatal. Foodborne illnesses usually are infectious or toxic in nature and often not visible to the plain eye. These are caused by organisms like bacteria, viruses, or parasites or by toxic chemical substances that enter the body through food and water. Such foodborne diseases affect 1 in 10 people worldwide each year. According to its estimates, 600 million people fall ill after eating contaminated food and about 4.2 lakh people lose their lives every year. Of this, children under 5 years of age constitute about 40%, with 1,25,000 deaths every year. The 2019 World Bank report on the economic burden of the foodborne diseases observed that USD 110 billion is lost each year in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
Furthermore, poor quality food significantly hampers development efforts. In terms of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), poor quality food directly impacts SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). High-quality, nutritious food, can enhance food security, improve health outcomes, and foster sustainable practices that support a healthier planet and society. Addressing the quality of food is thus integral to achieving a range of interconnected goals.