The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a strict advisory directing all enforcement teams to follow environmentally compliant procedures for the proper disposal of rejected, expired, or seized food items. This action is critical for upholding the highest standards of food safety, protecting human health, and preventing misuse within the supply chain and environmental harm. The advisory was issued in response to recent reports of instances where seized and rejected food items were improperly disposed of by being dumped directly into rivers and other natural water bodies.
The FSSAI has reiterated its earlier directives (dated 21.12.2020) and ordered all Food Safety Officers (FSOs) and enforcement teams to follow the updated procedures to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.
Strict Prohibition and Approved Methods
The advisory establishes a strict prohibition against environmentally harmful practices while outlining authorized alternatives, to be followed in coordination with local municipal or statutory bodies:
- Prohibition: It is strictly prohibited to dispose of seized, rejected, or expired food items, including their packaging, into rivers, lakes, natural water bodies, or open lands under any circumstances.
- Incineration: Authorized incinerators compliant with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms must be used, ensuring complete combustion and maintaining records of the facility utilized.
- Landfill: Disposal is permitted only in designated sanitary landfills equipped with leachate control.
- Composting: Biodegradable waste should be segregated and processed through composting or anaerobically digested through certified facilities.
Procedural Safeguards and Monitoring
The directive introduces mandatory procedural safeguards to ensure accountability and track disposal activities:
The disposal process must be supervised by the concerned FSO or an officer authorized by the Designated Officer (DO). Crucially, disposals should be conducted under video documentation in the presence of two independent witnesses.
A certificate confirming the disposal must be submitted by the supervising officer to the DO, with copies forwarded to the concerned Commissioner of Food Safety and the concerned Food Business Operator (FBO).
Every Designated Officer must identify suitable facilities for incineration, manuring, or composting and furnish a list of these approved locations to the Commissioner of Food Safety of the concerned State/UT.
States/UTs are required to submit monthly disposal compliance reports to FSSAI by the 5th of the following month, flagging any deviations observed.