In News: the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) 2021-22
What is the SFSI?
The index aims to measure the performance of states and Union Territories on selected “parameters” of food safety.
The index is aimed at encouraging states and UTs to “improve their performance and work towards establishing a proper food safety ecosystem in their jurisdiction
The SFSI is released annually for a financial year.
This is the fourth edition of the SFSI since its inception in 2018-19.
Parameters
The SFSI takes into account the performance of the states on five key parameters, each of which is assigned a different weightage in the assessment.
Human Resources and Institutional Data
Weightage: 20%
Measures the availability of human resources like number of Food Safety Officers, Designated Officers facility of adjudications and appellate tribunals, functioning of State/ District level Steering Committees etc
Compilance
Weightage: 30%.
Measures overall coverage of food businesses in licensing & registration commensurate with size and population of the State/UTs, special drives and camps organized, yearly increase, promptness and effectiveness in issue of state licenses/ registrations
Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance
Weightage: 20%
Measures the availability of adequate testing infrastructure with trained manpower in the States/ UTs for testing food samples
Training and Capacity Building
Weightage: 10%.
It measures states’ performance on training and capacity building of regulatory staff.
Consumer Empowerment
Weightage: 20%.
It evaluates the states and UTs on their performance on various consumer empowering initiatives of FSSAI, such as participation in Food Fortification, Eat Right Campus plus state initiatives
Assessment
The states and Union Territories are segregated into three categories — large states, small states and UTs— and assessed separately within their respective categories, based on their performance on the selected food safety parameters.
Performance
In the category of the 20 large states, Tamil Nadu with an overall score of 82 out of 100 has performed the best and been ranked 1st on SFSI 2021-22, while Andhra Pradesh with an overall score of 26 has been ranked at the bottom —17th place
Following Tamil Nadu in the rankings of the larger states are Gujarat (rank 2nd with a score 77.5), Maharashtra (3rd with 70), Himachal Pradesh (4th with 65.5) and West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh (sharing 5th with a score of 58.5).
Among the eight small states, Goa with a score of 56 has been ranked at the top, while Arunachal Pradesh (rank 8th and score 21) is at the bottom.
Among the eight Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir with a score of 68.5 has been ranked 1st and Lakshadweep (score 16) as the bottom. Delhi with a score of 66 has been ranked at 2nd place.
