Srinagar, July 17: The Food Safety Department of Jammu & Kashmir on Friday claimed to have intensified its enforcement and surveillance activities across the Union Territory, conducting 95 inspections and collecting 48 food samples as part of an ongoing drive to ensure compliance with food safety standards.
According to an official statement, the inspections were carried out across all districts of Jammu & Kashmir to check whether food products available in the market comply with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The department said 48 samples were collected for laboratory analysis to assess quality, safety and compliance with prescribed standards. Samples were also gathered for scrutiny of labelling requirements to identify misleading claims and misbranded products.
The sampled items included edible oils, spices, honey, cereal products, milk and milk products, sugar, sweets and confectionery, and prepared foods.
Officials said laboratory testing would determine whether the products conform to prescribed standards and that legal action would be initiated against food business operators found violating food safety regulations.
The department also urged consumers to check manufacturing and expiry dates, verify proper labelling and purchase food items only from licensed businesses. Consumers were asked to report suspected cases of adulteration or unsafe food through the department’s helpline and email services.
Questions over enforcement effectiveness
While the department has highlighted the scale of inspections and sampling, consumer groups and sections of the public have repeatedly raised concerns over the lack of publicly available data on convictions, penalties and successful prosecutions arising from such drives.
Food safety inspections and sample collection are routinely reported by authorities, but details on how many samples fail laboratory tests, how many cases result in prosecution, the penalties imposed on violators, and whether repeat offenders are effectively deterred are often not made public in a consolidated manner.
Public health advocates have argued that transparency regarding enforcement outcomes is critical to building consumer confidence. They say that inspection figures alone provide limited insight into the effectiveness of regulatory action unless accompanied by data on violations detected, convictions secured, products recalled, and corrective measures taken.
The Food Safety Department, however, maintains that legal action is initiated wherever laboratory analysis establishes violations of food safety laws.
