Food safety regulations in India & FSSAI, NAMASTE Program, Dark Matter and LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment

(General Studies II – Governance section – Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies. Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.)

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body which plays a crucial role in ensuring safe and wholesome food for Indian consumers. However, recent controversies surrounding food products have raised concerns about the adequacy of FSSAI’s functioning.
• FSSAI was established in 2008 under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 under the administration of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
• The FSSAI regulates the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food articles, while also establishing standards to ensure food safety.
• The FSSAI comprises a chairperson and twenty-two members, out of which one-third are to be women. The chairperson of FSSAI is appointed by the Central Government.

Powers –

• Framing and enforcing regulations on food safety and standards.
• Licensing and registration of food businesses.
• Laying down procedures for analysis of food samples.
• Recalling or prohibiting the sale of unsafe food and imposing penalties for violations.

Shortcomings of FSSAI –

• Implementation Gap: Despite strong legal backing, FSSAI faces challenges in implementation due to:
• Limited Manpower: There is an acute shortage of licensing and enforcement officers in the states, which severely affects food safety measures.
• Laboratory Infrastructure: Inadequate infrastructure and capacity for timely and efficient food testing.
• Consumer Awareness: Low level of awareness among consumers about their rights and FSSAI regulations.
• Scientific Approach: Concerns exist regarding the scientific basis for setting certain standards and dealing with emerging food technologies.
• Industry Influence: Potential for industry influence on regulatory decision-making, hindering strict enforcement.
• Furthermore, the number of products listed under FSSAI is very low in India as compared to other countries.

Solutions for Strengthening FSSAI –

• Capacity Building: Increased manpower for inspections, training programs for inspectors, and collaboration with state agencies.
• Strengthening Labs: Upgrading laboratories with advanced technology and expanding their reach for faster and more reliable testing.
• Consumer Awareness Campaigns: Public awareness initiatives to educate consumers about FSSAI regulations and help them to make informed choices.
• Robust Science-based Standards: FSSAI should adopt a more scientific approach to setting food safety standards considering global best practices.
• Transparency and Accountability: Enhanced transparency in decision-making and stricter penalties for violators to deter malpractices.

Ensuring food safety is paramount for protecting public health and fostering consumer trust. A robust food safety framework is crucial for achieving promoting economic growth and ensuring sustainable development, aligning with the global agenda of food security and safety.

• In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the government is enumerating workers involved in hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning across urban areas in India.
• Data collected from over 3,000 urban local bodies (ULBs) in 29 states and union territories has revealed significant socio-economic insights about these workers.
• Demographics of Workers: 91.9% of the 38,000 profiled workers belong to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or Other Backward Class (OBC) communities.
• NAMASTE Programme Objectives:
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the NAMASTE program to mechanise sewer work and eliminate hazardous cleaning.
• NAMASTE replaces the Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS).
• The program targets all sewer and septic tank workers, including drivers, helpers, machine operators, and cleaners.
• The goal is to profile all workers, provide safety training and equipment, and offer capital subsidies to support these workers in becoming sanitation entrepreneurs i.e. sanipreneurs.
• Some states, such as Tamil Nadu and Odisha, run independent programs and do not report data under the NAMASTE program.
• Under the SRMS scheme, 58,098 identified workers received a one-time cash transfer of ₹40,000 along with skills training or loans for another profession.

Dig Deeper: Read about the National Commission of Safai Karamcharis and its mandate.

• A recent study suggests that pollen may have contributed to the extinction of mammoths by disrupting their sense of smell, which affected their ability to find food and locate group members.
• Anemophilous plants, such as birch and hickory, produce pollen that often causes allergic reactions.
• Grass pollen can trigger hay fever, a common seasonal allergy.
• Palynology is the scientific study of pollen and its interactions with the environment.
• Pollen plays a crucial role in the reproduction of seed-producing plants.

Dig Deeper: Read about Anemophilous Plants.

• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, located 1.5 km underground in South Dakota, announced in the latest results, the most stringent restrictions on the potential identity of dark matter particles.
• Although they didn’t pinpoint the particle’s identity, they provided clues about what it could not be.
• Dark Matter and Its Role
• Dark matter is an invisible substance responsible for most of the universe’s mass, contributing 85%, while stars, gas, and planets contribute 15%.
• It does not interact with photons and remains stable for at least 14 billion years, the estimated age of the universe.
• Scientists have theorized that dark matter particles might occasionally interact with atomic nuclei, scattering in detectable ways.

LZ Experiment:

• It aims to detect dark matter, but efforts have not yielded a direct detection of dark matter.
• The key experiment involves placing a large chunk of metal underground to detect dark matter particles interacting with nuclei in the material.
• The experiment aims to measure two variables: the mass of the dark matter particle and the rate at which it interacts with nuclei (scattering cross-section).
• Cross-section measurements indicate how easily particles pass through different materials, with dark matter showing extremely low interaction rates.
• It uses tonnes of liquid xenon or argon.
• With increased sensitivity to energy transfer, the “Neutrino fog” complicates the detection of dark matter, as distinguishing between dark matter and neutrino signals becomes increasingly difficult.

Dig Deeper: Compare it with Dark Energy.