This article is more than 2 years old.

December 20, 2017 This article is more than 2 years old.

The country’s top food regulator is under the scanner.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), responsible for regulating and monitoring food safety, has been rapped over ill-equipped food laboratories and for following poor testing standards.

An audit report (pdf) by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in parliament on Dec. 19 has raised several concerns over clearances and testing of food, the lack of equipment, and a shortage of staff across various testing labs affiliated with the FSSAI. It has also questioned the lack of guidelines and procedures to regulate the use of certain food items. “The audit revealed systemic inefficiencies, including delays and deficiencies in the framing of various regulations and standards,” the CAG report said.

Established in 2011 under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, the FSSAI is part of India’s ministry of health and family welfare. Its primary function is to lay down scientific standards for food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import. It works through a network of state and referral food laboratories.

In its audit, the CAG scrutinised the FSSAI’s functioning between August 2011 and March 2016, looking into 53 districts and 20 state laboratories, along with facilities in eight ports.

Here are some of the key findings from the report: