The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had earlier conducted a Pan India Surveillance on Spices between November 2024 and February 2025. This study covered 13 spice commodities to check their safety, quality, labeling requirements, and to identify regions prone to adulteration and non compliance.
Objective
This nationwide enforcement drive aims to strengthen consumer safety, curb adulteration, and ensure that spices available in the Indian market are of the highest quality and standard. The results of this surveillance showed several violations, including problems with quality parameters, contamination, microbial count, and labeling issues.
Upcoming Enforcement Drive
Based on these findings, FSSAI has decided to launch a nationwide enforcement drive on spices from October 1 to October 31, 2025. The purpose of this drive is to ensure compliance with the standards under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.
The drive will specifically focus on the following spices, both in whole and powdered form:
- Black Pepper
- Cardamom
- Chilli
- Cinnamon (Dalchini)
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Turmeric
Scope of the Drive
The enforcement drive will focus only on manufacturing units, ensuring that compliance is checked right at the production stage. During the drive, sampling and inspections will be conducted strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, along with its Rules and Regulations. All collected samples will be sent to NABL-accredited laboratories, which have the complete scope to test and verify all parameters specified for the targeted spices.
Reporting and Monitoring
- All States/UT Commissioners of Food Safety and FSSAI Regional Directors must ensure timely execution of the drive.
- Data on inspections, sampling, and results must be uploaded on FoSCoS / FoSCoRIS.
- A consolidated report in the prescribed format (Annexure A & B) must be shared with FSSAI by November 20, 2025, through the official email: enforcement1@fssai.gov.in.
Formats for Reporting
- Annexure A: Details of total samples tested and their outcomes (compliant, non compliant, unsafe, substandard, misbranded, or others).
- Annexure B: Detailed breakdown of non compliant samples, including reasons such as unsafe contamination, substandard quality, misbranding, misleading claims, or presence of extraneous matter.
Date : 6 to 10 October 2025 (5 Days)
Time : 7 PM to 9:30 PM
Fee : Rs. 4,720
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