Published Jul 30, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 30, 2026 | 7:00 AM
The figures come from two written replies tabled in the Lok Sabha on 24 July.
Synopsis: Parliamentary data reveals stark differences in food safety enforcement across India, with Tamil Nadu reporting 2,865 criminal convictions between 2021-22 and 2025-26, the highest in the country, while Telangana reported none.
Food safety authorities across India tested lakhs of food samples over the past five years. When laboratory tests found products that failed prescribed standards, the action taken afterwards varied widely from one state to another.
The state-wise data, tabled in Parliament, tracks what happened after laboratory testing found food samples that failed prescribed standards under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
Tamil Nadu reported 2,865 criminal convictions between 2021-22 and 2025-26, the highest count among all states and Union Territories. Telangana reported zero convictions over the same five years.
The figures come from two written replies tabled in the Lok Sabha on 24 July in response to separate questions on food adulteration and enforcement.
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Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav furnished state-wise data covering five financial years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26. This reply lists four figures for each state and Union Territory: samples analysed, samples found non-conforming, civil cases decided with penalty, and criminal convictions.
Civil penalties totalled Rs 74.12 crore in 2023-24, Rs 35.74 crore in 2024-25, and Rs 109.11 crore in 2025-26. Fines imposed following criminal convictions were Rs 2.67 crore, Rs 3.03 crore, and Rs 5.70 crore, respectively.
Jadhav told Parliament that FSSAI sets food standards nationally. “Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is mandated to lay 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,” he said.
He added that enforcement rests mainly with states. “Around 98 percent of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) fall within the jurisdiction of the State/UT Food Safety Authorities. Accordingly, the enforcement and implementation of the provisions of the FSS Act, 2006 primarily rests with the State/UT Food Safety Authorities within their respective jurisdictions.”
A separate written reply, answered the same day, lists inspections, recalls, licence action and testing infrastructure. Inspections against food business operators rose from 3,57,072 in 2023-24 to 4,01,391 in 2024-25 and 5,20,566 in 2025-26, the latter figure marked provisional.
Authorities suspended 4,461 licences and cancelled 11,493 over five years. Cancellations outpaced suspensions in every year except 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Food recalls totalled 754 in 2024-25, covering 51,512.94 kg of food, and rose to 1,147 in 2025-26, covering 33,540.68 kg.
FSSAI operates 259 accredited laboratories for sample testing and 24 referral laboratories for appeal samples. It also deploys 305 mobile food testing units across 35 states and Union Territories, branded Food Safety on Wheels. The reply lists further tools: a “Magic Box” kit that detects adulterants in seven food commodities, a handbook covering 44 household-level tests, and 88 approved Rapid Analytical Food Testing devices for field use.
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A non-conforming sample is not limited to adulterated food. It includes samples that fail prescribed standards because of contaminants beyond permissible limits, incorrect composition, excessive food additives, pesticide residues, heavy metals, toxins or labelling violations under FSSAI regulations.
FSSAI tests samples under two sets of regulations: the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, 2011, and the Contaminants, Toxins and Residues Regulations, 2011.
Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, less serious violations may be dealt with through adjudication and monetary penalties, while more serious offences can be prosecuted before a court. The parliamentary data reports both outcomes separately but does not specify which violations resulted in each type of action.
Tamil Nadu analysed 1,21,371 food samples over five years. Laboratory testing found 20,163 non-conforming. The state reported 11,688 civil cases decided with penalty and 2,865 criminal convictions, with annual convictions rising from 360 in 2021-22 to 857 in 2025-26.
Kerala analysed 54,693 samples over the same period. The state found 7,089 non-conforming, decided 3,659 civil cases with penalty and recorded 713 convictions. Annual convictions rose from 10 in 2021-22 to 330 in 2025-26.
Karnataka analysed 37,472 samples, found 1,957 non-conforming, decided 922 civil cases with penalty and recorded 96 convictions.
Andhra Pradesh analysed 27,118 samples and found 2,262 non-conforming. The state decided 2,129 civil cases with penalty and recorded 50 convictions, ranging between six and 16 in any single year.
Telangana analysed 20,965 samples and found 2,942 non-conforming. The state decided 942 civil cases with penalty and recorded no criminal convictions over the five years.
Telangana’s non-conforming count peaked at 973 in 2023-24, when the state also decided 425 civil cases with penalty. The conviction column for that year, as for every other year, reads zero.
Together, the five southern states analysed 2,61,619 food samples, identified 34,413 non-conforming samples, decided 19,340 civil cases with penalty and reported 3,724 criminal convictions over the five-year period. Tamil Nadu accounted for nearly 77 percent of those convictions.
Kerala accounted for most of the remaining convictions in the region, while Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana together reported fewer than 150.
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Uttar Pradesh ran the country’s largest food surveillance programme. The state analysed 1,49,776 samples over five years, the highest total nationally, and found 84,371 non-conforming, also the highest count in the country.
Uttar Pradesh decided 66,170 civil cases with penalty and recorded 1,089 criminal convictions. Despite running the country’s largest food testing programme, it reported fewer criminal convictions than Tamil Nadu.
Rajasthan analysed 73,271 samples over five years and found 18,731 non-conforming. The state decided 11,051 civil cases with penalty and recorded 78 convictions.
Gujarat analysed 68,356 samples and found 4,437 non-conforming. The state decided 4,617 civil cases with penalty and recorded 259 convictions.
Maharashtra analysed 38,841 samples and found 6,553 non-conforming. The state decided 4,731 civil cases with penalty and recorded 25 convictions.
Chandigarh analysed 2,149 samples, found 259 non-conforming, decided 361 civil cases with penalty and recorded 119 criminal convictions over the five-year period.
Bihar analysed 11,009 samples and Assam 5,410. Odisha analysed 7,931, while Goa analysed 5,162. All four states reported non-conforming samples but no criminal convictions over the five-year period.
