The Bakers Association of India (BAKE) has launched a campaign to persuade the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to drop the compulsory six-month testing for all their goods.
They are requesting an exception for MSMEs since tiny bakers have anywhere from 100 to 300 different types of items in their little businesses that are sold in modest amounts and not on a huge scale.
“This law is more suitable for large corporations that have fewer products than us, perhaps 10-15 varieties, and can afford it,” said P M Sankaran, head of the Indian Bakers Federation.
The FSSAI order is required to upload/link the six-monthly lab results in order to avoid licence termination.
“In Kerala, all FSSAI rules are strictly enforced, and nearly 80% of food businesses are licenced.” The remaining 20% must be made up of tiny ‘thattukadas’, roadside restaurants, or sellers. In the state’s roughly 10,000 bakery facilities, we have a variety of cakes, rusks, and mixes. And most of us sell in our area, and most people prefer to purchase our local bread and rusks over huge brands,” he continued.
According to the group, the majority of FSSAI guidelines are scientific, practical, and safe for both businesses and customers. “However, these tests range in price from Rs 3000 to Rs 14,000, which is prohibitively expensive for a small business like ours,” a baker explained.
“We do all the basic tests, get a health certificate, and a local body NOC for filing our returns as part of getting the licence,” said Biju Prem Sankar, state secretary of the Kerala Bakers’ Association.
The first petition was handed over to opposition leader V D Satheesan in the form of a cake. It said that testing such items every six months is impractical.