FSSAI - SPaCe

Last date of Submission is 10th January, 2026

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-01	Food additives, Flavourings, Processing aids & Materials in contact with food
SP-02	Pesticides Residues
SP-03	Antibiotic Residues
SP-04	Genetically Modified Organisms and Foods
SP-05	Functional foods, Nutraceuticals, Dietetic Products and Other similar products
SP-06	Biological Hazards
SP-07	Contaminants in the Food Chain
SP-08	Labelling and Claims/Advertisements
SP-09	Method of Sampling and Analysis
SP-10	Fish and Fisheries Products
SP-11	Cereals, Pulses & Legume and their products (including Bakery)

SP Nos.	Name of Scientific Panel
SP-12	Fruits & Vegetables
SP-13	Meat & Meat Products, poultry
SP-14	Milk & Milk Products
SP-15	Oils &Fats
SP-16	Sweets, Confectionery, Sweeteners Sugar &Honey
SP-17	Water & Beverages
SP-18	Nutrition and Fortification
SP-19	Spices and Culinary Herbs
SP-20	Packaging
SP-21	Alcoholic Beverages

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 10th January, 2026

General:

Please use only working email address for SignUp. After SignUp, an email with the unique password will be sent to the registered email address.
An application can be modified multiple times after login and only latest changes will be stored. No modification is permissible after the final submission of application.
You may write to sci-committee@fssai.gov.in for queries / assistance. Please ensure that the Application Id is indicated in the email.

For members who are / have been in any SP / SC:

Even if you are currently a member of any SP or independent member in SC, you still need to apply on this portal to be considered for membership for the period 2026 to 2029.
Also note that, the Search-cum-Selection Committee (SSC) at its discretion may recommend members based on their experience & credibility and relax the eligibility criteria with reasons recorded in writing.