The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) – the
country's apex food regulator – has commenced the testing of samples of
packaged drinking water from different sources across India for various
microbiological and chemical components. It is also working on the
preparation of a database of the quality of packaged drinking water.
The Authority has taken these steps following a letter by health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urging it to ensure checking of units manufacturing packaged drinking water. The minister apprised the body of a spate of complaints about the quality of packaged drinking water being supplied to consumers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
A senior FSSAI official said, “We have directed the food safety commissioners to test the quality of packaged drinking water and make the results available to us. The work has already begun. It is expected to take a while to complete. Only then we will comment on the issue.”
“FSSAI, however, will prepare the database upon the completion of the tests. The authority has also decided that the state food safety officers should conduct sampling of the packaged water at regular intervals. However, the duration of the sample collection will be set only after the results of the first phase of sampling are declared,” he added.
He further informed that the FSSAI had hired a legal firm to deal with the legal cases that come to the fore while implementing the regulations, and added that as far as the number of cases filed was concerned, no data was currently available.
“The Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, has a provision to set up tribunals for cases related to food safety and the process has, in fact, begun in the states. Currently the cases are filed in regular courts, but once the tribunals are set up, the hearings will take place in the tribunals,” he stated.
The Authority has taken these steps following a letter by health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urging it to ensure checking of units manufacturing packaged drinking water. The minister apprised the body of a spate of complaints about the quality of packaged drinking water being supplied to consumers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
A senior FSSAI official said, “We have directed the food safety commissioners to test the quality of packaged drinking water and make the results available to us. The work has already begun. It is expected to take a while to complete. Only then we will comment on the issue.”
“FSSAI, however, will prepare the database upon the completion of the tests. The authority has also decided that the state food safety officers should conduct sampling of the packaged water at regular intervals. However, the duration of the sample collection will be set only after the results of the first phase of sampling are declared,” he added.
He further informed that the FSSAI had hired a legal firm to deal with the legal cases that come to the fore while implementing the regulations, and added that as far as the number of cases filed was concerned, no data was currently available.
“The Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, has a provision to set up tribunals for cases related to food safety and the process has, in fact, begun in the states. Currently the cases are filed in regular courts, but once the tribunals are set up, the hearings will take place in the tribunals,” he stated.
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