Food transcends its biological function as fuel for the human body. It is a cornerstone of cultural identity, emotional connection, and a historical narration of humankind's development. This inherent importance necessitates a universal framework for ensuring food safety and establishing consistent standards. Recognizing this criticality, the Government of India enacted the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. The FSS Act established the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) as a statutory body entrusted with the security and safety of food.

Before the FSS Act, several laws regulated food creating confusion across the spectrum- from consumers to manufacturers, leading to hampered development of the food industry. Thus, the FSS Act was adopted to replace the then-existing laws [1] to bring about scientific development of the food industry by fixing standards to ensure safe & wholesome food for the people. Further, the FSS Act decentralized its enforcement to state governments and panchayat raj/municipal bodies.

FSSAI, under the FSS Act, to ensure food safety and quality set standards to regulate the food industry under a licensing regime. It has comprehensive powers to conduct inspections & audits and impose penalties including imprisonment, fines, license suspension or revocation, and product recalls.

Therefore, a proper and clear comprehension of the Act becomes crucial. The Act contains definitions of some essential terms, necessitating their understanding to read and interpret the Act along with rules/regulations thereof. The defined terms are as follows:

‘Food’ includes any substance intended for human consumption or used during the food's manufacturing, preparation, or treatment, except as provided [2].

‘Consumer’ refers to persons and families purchasing and receiving food for personal needs.

‘Contaminant’ is any (unwanted) substance present in the food due to contamination at any stage of the Food Business, whether added to it or not. It excludes insect fragments, rodent hairs, and other extraneous matter.

‘Extraneous Matter’ includes any matter in food carried from raw materials or packaging or manufacturing process systems or added to it, but such matter does not make the food unsafe.

‘Hazard’ refers to an agent (biological, chemical, or physical) in food or the condition of food creating the potential to cause an adverse health effect.

‘Food Business’ covers all undertakings involved in activities related to food. Includes private or public undertaking, whether for profit or not. Activities include any stage of manufacture, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution, import, food and catering services, and sale of food or food ingredients.

‘Food Business Operator’ is the person carrying/owning the Food Business and responsible for compliance with the FSS Act.

‘Manufacture’ refers to any process/conversion/adoption of ingredients to an article of food, including ancillary sub-processes.

‘Manufacturer’ includes those indulged in manufacturing (‘Manufacture’ as defined above) of food for sale and includes those who pack and/or label food for sale after obtaining the same from 3rd party manufacturers.

Misbranded, Sub-standard, and Unsafe Food: These terms classify food that fails to comply with the applicable law, leading to potential legal actions based on the severity of the violation. While each of these terms requires detailed analysis which will be covered separately, for general understanding the terms can be crystalized as below:

O ‘Misbranded Food’ refers to the defects of appearance or labelling of the food, including those of imitation or misrepresentation. However, the safety of the food may not be an issue.

O ‘Sub-standard Food’ refers to food articles which do not comply with the standards prescribed by the FSSAI but do not render the food unsafe.

O ‘Unsafe Food’, as the name suggests, is an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected making it injurious to health. It is important to note that Misbranded or Sub-standard Food may also be classified as Unsafe Food.

While understating these terms helps and aids the consumer(s) to benefit from the knowledge by making informed choices in the spirit of Caveat Emptor, FBOs can discharge their responsibilities and the Food Businesses can employ pre-emptive safeguards to protect against legal repercussions and costs.

The Legal Culinary Delight:

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (“The Act”) was enacted to repeal several laws, which were used to govern and regulate the food and food industry creating confusion. The goal was to scientifically develop the food industry by prescribing standards to ensure safe and wholesome food under a statutory body. The Act created and tasked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”) to ensure food safety and quality. FSSAI regulates the Food Business under a licencing regime with powers to take punitive actions. To interpret and read The Act, understanding the following definitions becomes crucial:

Food refers to any substance intended for human consumption. A business engaging in any way with a food product is a Food Business. The person responsible for compliance owning or carrying out the said business is a Food Business Operator.

Manufacture refers to the conversion of ingredients to articles of food and a person engaged in such a process is a Manufacturer, including persons engaging in procuring food articles and then packaging and/or labelling them for sale. A Consumer is a person/family buying a food product for personal needs.

A Contaminant is an unwanted substance resulting from contamination at a stage of food production, whether added to it or not. Extraneous Matter refers to any matter carried over or added to the food product. Hazard refers to any agent or condition of food that causes an adverse health effect.

Misbranded, Sub-standard and Unsafe Food is used to define food products with noncompliance with the law as below:

1. The FSS Act repeals and replaces the following statutes, which are provided in the Second Schedule as per Section 97 of the FSS Act:
   1. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954;
   2. The Fruit Products Order, 1955;
   3. The Meat Food Products Order, 1973;
   4. The Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947;
   5. The Edible Oil Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1998;
   6. The Solvent Extracted Oil, De-Oiled Meal, and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967;
   7. The Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992; and
   8. Any other order issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 relating to food.
2. Animal feed, drugs and medicinal products, cosmetics, narcotic or psychotropic substances, live animals (unless prepared or processed for marketing for human consumption) and/or plants (before harvest) are not included as “Food”.