Food colours and additives: what the FSS Act and FSSAI allow
Why in news: By 27 October 2026, ahead of Diwali, Uttar Pradesh's Food Safety and Drug Administration issued guidelines barring Rhodamine-B and other industrial dyes in street food.
Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, food colours are food additives, and section 19 bars any additive the Act and its regulations do not allow. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) permits each colour only in listed foods, within set limits. Uttar Pradesh's pre-Diwali guidelines bar Rhodamine-B and other industrial dyes in street food.
Syllabus: GS3 · Food Processing; GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies; GS2 · Health, Education & Human Resources
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 health and statutory bodies, and GS3 food processing. Prelims can ask which synthetic colours the 2011 Regulations permit or what section 19 of the FSS Act, 2006 provides; Mains, how far State enforcement keeps industrial dyes out of food.
In short
Food colours are food additives under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006: lawful only where FSSAI's 2011 Regulations permit them, for named food categories and within set limits.
India's colour rules are precise on paper; their worth now rests on State testing reaching roadside stalls and on natural colours replacing cheap industrial dyes.
Why it matters
A child buying pink cotton candy outside school, or a commuter eating red chutney with samosas, cannot tell a permitted colour from a textile dye by sight. Long intake of a dye such as Rhodamine B could lead to liver dysfunction or cancer. As a food safety officer has noted, its effects may not be felt at once, so a small vendor may not see the danger. The category rules exist because a colour that is safe in one food can behave differently in another, for example when fried. Safety therefore rests on State officers sampling food where it is sold, on laboratories that test it quickly, and on vendors turning to tomato, beetroot or chilli for colour. The larger issue is safe food in an informal market.
Prelims pointers
- FSSAI is a body corporate established by Central Government notification under section 4 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006; its head office is at Delhi.
- Section 16 of the 2006 Act lets FSSAI specify, by regulations, limits for food additives, pesticide residues, heavy metals, veterinary drug residues and antibiotics.
- A State's Commissioner of Food Safety may, in the interest of public health, ban an article of food in all or part of the State for up to one year.
- Each district has a Designated Officer, not below the rank of Sub-Divisional Officer, who issues or cancels licences and sanctions prosecutions for offences punishable with fine.
- The Act's definition of unsafe food also covers food coloured, coated or polished to hide damage or to look better or of greater value than it is.
- Under the 2011 Regulations, turmeric powder must be free from any added colouring matter, including lead chromate, and chilli powder from extraneous colouring matter.
- Additives listed in the 2011 Regulations have an Acceptable Daily Intake or are judged safe on other criteria, and their use is treated as technologically justified.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, consider the following statements:
1. The Designated Officer for each district is appointed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
2. The Act's definition of a food additive excludes substances added to maintain or improve nutritional quality.
3. The Act repealed and replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. District Designated Officers are appointed by the State's Commissioner of Food Safety, not by FSSAI.
Statement 1: incorrect. Section 36 of the 2006 Act has the State's Commissioner of Food Safety appoint a Designated Officer, not below Sub-Divisional Officer rank, for each district.
Statement 2: correct. Section 3(1)(k) defines a food additive but leaves out contaminants and substances added to maintain or improve nutritional qualities.
Statement 3: correct. Section 97 and the Second Schedule of the 2006 Act repeal the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, along with several food orders.
Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong, since district officers are appointed under the State's Commissioner of Food Safety. Out: (a), (c), (d).
Trap: Swapped attribution. FSSAI sets the standards, so a student may assume it also appoints the field officers; under the Act, enforcement staff are State appointees.
Remember: FSSAI writes the rules; the State's Commissioner of Food Safety, Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers enforce them.
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