FSSAI - SPaCe

Corrigendum | Last date extended till 24th November, 2022

Overview of the Food Authority

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, is a statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. The Food Authority’s major scientific arms are the Scientific Committee (SC) and Scientific Panels (SP). Both of these bodies provide necessary scientific opinion and assist in development of standards through a well-defined process. In addition to these two statutory scientific entities, the Food Authority has also established some non- statutory bodies which interface with the SC and SPs.

Scientific Committee (SC)

The Scientific Committee (SC) is constituted by the Food Authority under Section 14 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act). SC is a statutory body consisting of six independent experts (nominated by the Food Authority and not belonging to any of the SPs) and Chairpersons of all the SP’s, as Members. Currently, it has a strength of 27 Members. The SC, acts as the link between SPs and the Food Authority. SC mainly examines the recommendations made by each of the panel and further recommends for approval by the Food Authority. This is the highest body that is responsible for providing scientific opinion to the Food Authority.

Scientific Panels (SPs)

The SPs are constituted by the Food Authority under Section 13 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act) for the purpose of developing standards, and also to provide scientific opinion/inputs to the Food Authority, as and when sought. The Food Authority can establish as many SPs as it deems necessary. The FSS Act clearly provides the term, number of Members, and eligibility criteria for selection of Members of SPs. Currently, there are a total of 21 SPs covering aspects related to particular food commodities (called the vertical panels; e.g., milk and milk products) and aspects that span across different commodities (referred to as horizontal panels; e.g., pesticides residues in food commodities). List of SPs is provided below :

SP Nos.	Name of Scientific Panel	SP Nos.	Name of Scientific Panel
SP-01	Food additives, Flavourings, Processing aids & Materials in contact with food	SP-12	Fruits & Vegetables
SP-02	Pesticides Residues	SP-13	Meat & Meat Products, poultry
SP-03	Antibiotic Residues	SP-14	Milk & Milk Products
SP-04	Genetically Modified Organisms and Foods	SP-15	Oils &Fats
SP-05	Functional foods, Nutraceuticals, Dietetic Products and Other similar products	SP-16	Sweets, Confectionery, Sweeteners Sugar &Honey
SP-06	Biological Hazards	SP-17	Water & Beverages
SP-07	Contaminants in the Food Chain	SP-18	Nutrition and Fortification
SP-08	Labelling and Claims/Advertisements	SP-19	Spices and Culinary Herbs
SP-09	Method of Sampling and Analysis	SP-20	Packaging
SP-10	Fish and Fisheries Products	SP-21	Alcoholic Beverages
SP-11	Cereals, Pulses & Legume and their products (including Bakery)

Major responsibilities of the members of SC/SPs

The Members form the foundation of both these bodies. The decisions/ recommendations / opinion of SPs or SC are based on scientific consensus; and, each member, of the SPs or SC, play a significant role in finalization of such opinion / input/ recommendation. The major responsibilities, though not limited to, of members of SPs/SC are the following–

be familiar with the rules, regulations of FSSAI and relevant national & international regulations in subject areas of concerned; also familiarize with the system of working with FSSAI and provide opinion/discussion points backed by relevant scientific literature.
be available to attend the scheduled Panel meeting (physical / virtual) for the complete duration of time; and, also to provide an opinion electronically, as and when required.
not to engage and/or to have engaged in activities which could give rise to a conflict of interest on any item on the agenda of the concerned SP / SC; this includes any change that occurs before or during the meeting or work itself and through the period up to the finalization or completion of the activity concerned.

Points to note

Last Date 24th November, 2022

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