Govt plans crackdown on organic food with false claims

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The food regulator—Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI)—has directed all its food testing laboratories to upgrade and optimise their facilities and procedures to handle accurate organic food testing. This follows reports of false claims by some firms even as the government plans to promote organic food. Organic tea, pulses, oil and jaggery powder are the most popular, followed by milk products.

Food experts said that the organic food market in India is a niche market that is expected to grow in the coming years. They said that due to a large number of food adulteration incidents, the demand for organic food is increasing in India. “It has been decided by the government to promote organic products in India by encouraging and strengthening cooperative societies.

The success of this depends on reliable testing to ensure their authenticity of the organic products. Therefore, all food testing laboratories need to optimize their facilities and procedures to handle organic testing efficiently and accurately," said FSSAI in a communication it all notified laboratories. The food regulator has directed all food testing laboratories to review their current capabilities and take steps to enhance the infrastructure and scope of testing for organic products.

All food testing labs have been asked to make an application to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) for recognition of the laboratory for testing organic products. The domestic organic food market reached $1.27 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $4.60 billion by 2028. Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson did not elicit a response till press time.