Maintaining Food Processing Quality Standards in India Amid FSSAI Crackdown

India’s food-processing industry is subject to an increasingly comprehensive food-safety and quality compliance framework. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has intensified enforcement against major food brands, unbranded food products, and other food businesses, with regulatory scrutiny extending beyond the quality of finished products to manufacturing processes, storage, hygiene, labelling, advertising, and other operational controls.

The FSSAI is not the only authority responsible for food safety enforcement in India. State food-safety authorities also investigate violations and enforce food-safety requirements within their respective jurisdictions.

FSSAI enforcement on food processing businesses in 2026

On 22 August 2026, FSSAI announced recent enforcement action involving 150 notices issued to food companies, 20 notices issued to five-star hotels, and more than 30 notices issued to restaurant businesses. The enforcement action also included product seizures and suspension of food licenses at several establishments.

The action covered food business operators across different sectors for alleged non-compliance with food safety requirements and applicable regulations. Companies named in the reported action included Nestlé India, Mondelez India, Abbott India, Danone India, Coca-Cola India, PepsiCo India, and Diageo, among others.

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India’s food and beverage sector offers growth opportunities but also presents evolving regulatory and operational risks.

Products were also reportedly seized from several beverage companies. The reported action included FSSAI’s direction to beverage businesses to remove the descriptor “energy drinks” from certain product labels.

These developments are relevant to food-processing businesses because the regulatory framework applies throughout the food chain, including manufacturing, processing, storage, distribution, sale, and import.

What constitutes FSSAI non-compliance?

For a food processing business in India, FSSAI non-compliance may arise where the business fails to meet the requirements of the FSS Act, applicable rules, or food-safety regulations.

Examples include:

• Manufacturing or processing sub-standard food
• Producing food under unhygienic or unsanitary conditions
• Using or possessing adulterants
• Selling food that does not meet the required nature, substance, or quality
• Placing misbranded food on the market
• Publishing misleading food advertisements or claims
• Failing to comply with directions issued by a food safety officer
• Operating a food business without the required licence
• Manufacturing, storing, distributing, or selling unsafe food.

The FSS Act provides separate penalties for these categories rather than applying a single standard penalty to all forms of non-compliance.

ALSO READ: FSSAI Crackdown on Food Claims: Why Brands Should Review Labels, Names, and Marketing

FSSAI food quality matrix and quality checks

FSSAI uses an inspection and compliance framework based on the Kind of Business (KoB). Food safety officers assess the requirements applicable to the specific food-processing activity using the relevant inspection checklist.

These checklists are based on the requirements under Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, along with subsequent regulatory orders.

FSSAI enforcement actions for food-safety non-compliance

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act) provides the principal legal framework for regulating the manufacture, processing, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food in India.

Non-compliance can result in monetary penalties, imprisonment for serious offences, product seizure or destruction, improvement notices, suspension or cancellation of licences, product recalls, prohibition orders, and prosecution. The action taken depends on the nature and severity of the contravention.

Food businesses should also distinguish between the FSSAI’s regulatory framework and enforcement by state food-safety authorities. Food safety officers, designated officers, and state commissioners of food safety exercise sizeable enforcement functions under the FSS Act.

Key FSSAI penalties applicable to food processing units

Selling food that does not meet the required quality — Section 50

Section 50 applies where food sold does not comply with the FSS Act or applicable regulations or does not correspond with the nature, substance, or quality demanded by the purchaser.

The penalty can extend to INR 500,000. For petty food businesses covered by Section 31(2), the penalty cannot exceed INR 25,000.

Manufacturing or selling sub-standard food — Section 51

Section 51 applies to food that does not meet prescribed standards but is not thereby rendered unsafe.

A person who manufactures for sale, stores, sells, distributes, or imports substandard food may face a penalty of up to INR 500,000.

For manufacturers, this makes product specifications and quality-control procedures particularly important. Food may be sub-standard without necessarily meeting the legal threshold for unsafe food.

Misbranded food — Section 52

Section 52 covers the manufacture, storage, sale, distribution, or import of misbranded food.

The penalty may extend to INR 300,000. In addition to the monetary penalty, the adjudicating officer may direct the business to take corrective measures or order the concerned food to be destroyed.

Misbranding may arise from inaccurate or misleading information concerning a food product, including certain representations made through labels and packaging.

Misleading food advertisements — Section 53

Section 53 applies where a person publishes, or participates in publishing, an advertisement that falsely describes food, is likely to mislead consumers regarding its nature, substance, or quality, or provides a false guarantee.

The penalty can extend to INR 1 million.

For processed-food manufacturers, claims concerning product composition, quality, nutritional characteristics, health benefits, or other product attributes therefore require careful compliance review.

Food containing extraneous matter — Section 54

Section 54 applies where food contains extraneous matter.

A person who manufactures for sale, stores, sells, distributes, or imports food containing such matter may face a penalty of up to INR 100,000.

For food-processing facilities, controls over raw materials, production equipment, packaging materials, handling practices, and contamination risks are therefore important to prevent foreign matter from entering finished products.

Failure to follow a food safety officer’s direction — Section 55

A food business operator or importer that, without reasonable grounds, fails to comply with requirements, directions, orders, or applicable provisions communicated by a food safety officer may face a penalty of up to INR 200,000.

Unhygienic or unsanitary food processing — Section 56

Section 56 specifically addresses manufacturing or processing carried out under unhygienic or unsanitary conditions.

The penalty may extend to INR 100,000.

For food-processing facilities, compliance should cover production-area sanitation, equipment hygiene, employee hygiene, pest control, waste management, storage conditions, and measures to prevent contamination and cross-contamination.

Possession of adulterants — Section 57

Section 57 establishes penalties for importing, manufacturing for sale, storing, selling, or distributing adulterants.

The penalty depends on whether the adulterant is injurious to health. Furthermore, the Act also specifies that merely holding an adulterant on behalf of another person is not, by itself, a defence.

Penalties for unsafe food — Section 59

Unsafe food represents a significantly more serious category of non-compliance. Section 59 establishes penalties based on the consequences arising from the unsafe food.

The statutory penalty increases substantially where unsafe food causes injury or death.

Other offences and regulatory penalties

The FSS Act also establishes penalties for conduct that can interfere with food-safety enforcement.

1. Interfering with seized food or materials: Removing, retaining, or tampering with food, equipment, packaging, labels, advertising material, or other items seized under the Act without the Food Safety Officer’s permission can result in imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of up to INR 200,000.
2. Providing false information: Knowingly providing false or misleading information or documents in connection with a requirement or direction under the Act can result in imprisonment of up to three months and a fine of up to INR 200,000.
3. Operating a food business without a licence: Section 31 generally requires a food business to operate under the applicable licence, subject to the registration framework for specified petty food businesses.

Repeat offences and licence consequences

FSSAI enforcement actions beyond monetary penalties

FSSAI enforcement does not consist solely of imposing fines. Authorities have several mechanisms for investigating and addressing food safety risks.

1. Inspection, sampling and seizure
2. Improvement notices
3. Prohibition orders
4. Emergency prohibition orders

Corporate liability for food-safety violations

Food-safety liability can extend to individuals within a company in addition to the company itself.

Under Section 66, where a company commits an offence, the company and persons who were in charge of and responsible for the conduct of its business may be proceeded against, subject to the statutory provisions and available defences.

Where a company operates multiple establishments, branches, or units, the relevant head or person nominated as responsible for food safety may be liable for a contravention relating to that establishment or unit. The Act also recognises a defence where the person establishes that the offence occurred without their knowledge or that they exercised due diligence to prevent it.

This makes clear allocation of food-safety responsibility particularly important for food-processing companies operating multiple manufacturing facilities.

What food-processing businesses should prioritise

For food manufacturers and processors, FSSAI compliance extends well beyond obtaining a food licence. Businesses need to maintain controls across the following:

1. Raw-material sourcing
2. Product formulation
3. Processing
4. Hygiene
5. Equipment sanitation
6. Product testing
7. Packaging
8. Labelling
9. Storage
10. Traceability and
11. Product recall.

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The consequences of non-compliance can range from a monetary penalty to licence suspension, licence cancellation, product destruction, product recall, prohibition of operations, compensation, and criminal prosecution, depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

When determining penalties, the FSS Act requires consideration of factors including the gain or unfair advantage obtained from the contravention, the loss caused or likely to be caused, the repetitive nature of the violation, whether the contravention occurred without the person’s knowledge, and other relevant circumstances.

For food-processing businesses, maintaining documented food-safety systems and being able to demonstrate compliance during inspections is therefore an important part of managing regulatory risk.

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