Question

Explain the role of food quality control agencies in India.

[Review question: Pg. No: 256]

Answer 1

Food quality control agencies :
ISI, AGMARK, FPO, FCl and other health departments enforce minimum standards for the consumer products. FCI (Food Corporation of India) was set up in the year 1965 with the following objectives :

• Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interest of farmers.
• Distributing food grains throughout the country.
• Maintaining satisfactory levels of operational and buff er stock of food grains to ensure national security.
• Regulate the market price to provide food grains to consumers at reliable price.

Food control agency	Role
1. ISI (Indian Standards Institution) known as Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS)	Certifies industrial products like electrical appliances like switches, wiring cables, water heater, electric motor, kitchen appliances etc.
2. AGMARK (Agricultural Marking)	Certifies agricultural and livestock products li ke cereals, essential oils, pulses, honey, butter etc.
3. FPO (Fruit Process Order)	Certifies the fruit products like juice, jams, sauce, canned fruits and vegetables, pickles etc.
4. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.	Responsible for protecting and promoting the public health through regulation and supervision of food safety.