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FSSAI directs States to step up food safety enforcement on milk products, snacks and beverages before Navratri and Diwali

Latest update, : New: FSSAI letter date: September 29, 2026

Our read

Festive enforcement will mostly hit small, unorganised sweet and snack sellers, with large food retailers facing extra inspections and compliance cost rather than real disruption.

For operators

Before Navratri and Diwali, audit sourcing, batch records and storage for milk products, sweets, namkeen, ghee, edible oil and kuttu/singhada flour, since Food Safety on Wheels units and State drives mean a failed sample during peak demand can mean stock seizure and lost festive sales.

Watch

State-level reports of sample failure rates and seizures in milk products, ghee and kuttu flour

Ask next

Which other rule changes affect Indian retailers this month?

The report

FSSAI wants to stop adulterated, counterfeited and unsafe food circulating as festival demand surges, with drives also covering sweets, namkeen, edible oil, ghee and kuttu and singhada flour. Food Safety on Wheels units are to be deployed in prominent markets where available.

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What we verified

Checked against the other reports of this story.

What to watch next

  • Licence suspensions or public naming of a sizeable food retailer or sweet chain
  • Additional FSSAI advisories or expanded product lists before Diwali
  • Reports of product recalls or supply gaps for kuttu/singhada flour during Navratri
  • Deployment of Food Safety on Wheels units in major city markets

Likely next moves

Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.

  • State food safety departments are likely to announce sampling drives and raids on sweet shops, dairies and namkeen makers ahead of Navratri, with seizure figures publicised to show action.
  • FSSAI may deploy Food Safety on Wheels units in prominent markets and use them for on-the-spot testing and consumer awareness.
  • Organised food retailers and sweet-shop chains are likely to tighten supplier checks and documentation on milk products, ghee, edible oil and kuttu/singhada flour to pre-empt inspection findings.
  • Small unlicensed sweet shops and street vendors may face the most notices and closures, which could shift some festive demand toward branded, licensed sellers.
  • Expect FSSAI to issue further advisories or run follow-up drives before Diwali if Navratri sampling turns up high failure rates.

Updates

Each later report on this story, newest first. Earlier entries are never edited; a correction is a new entry.

  1. Read the update at Business Standard

    New: FSSAI letter date: September 29, 2026

    Reported as “FSSAI asks states to step up food inspections ahead of Navratri and Diwali festive season”

On the record

Earlier FSSAI reports on RetailIntel, newest first.

  1. : FSSAI suspends licences of TCF Chocolates and Gifts and Shivam Agro after hygiene violations found in inspections
  2. : FSSAI proposes single-phase rollout of front-of-pack nutrition warnings
  3. : FSSAI scrutiny pushes food companies to lawyers as compliance pressure reaches boardrooms

Reported figures

From the report. Source details below

  • Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has directed States to ramp up surveillance and enforcement drives
  • The food regulator has asked States to focus on categories such as sweets, snacks, savouries, namkeen

The source

Source Read the source at The Hindu BusinessLine

Filed

Confirmed by Fortune India, Business Today, Storyboard18, ET Retail, Business Standard

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