FSSAI – How to Register Complaints to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India about Food, Retailers, and Licence Registration?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is administered by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. FSSAI provide certificate and issue licenses for food articles and food industries. Its standards are based on science and statistical data.

It was established under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 to regulate activities of food issues and sale, import, food materials, and wholesale food items. FSSAI maintains safety standards by monitoring contaminants and biological risks and maintaining quality standards for human consumption.

Issues that can be raised to FSSAI:

• Package Foods: Issues related to spices, nutraceuticals, confectionery, fruit & vegetables and meats including Dairy, bakery, fish/egg, protein, or meat products. Watch out for expired items, damaged packaging, or foreign materials.
• Food Catering Premises: Complaints about restaurants, cafes, dhabas, hostel mess, and food trucks including concerns of unhygienic conditions, wrong orders, or pests in the food.
• Online Aggregator/E-commerce: Matters related to delivery agencies for prepared food and groceries including the issues of freshness, quality of food, and intact packaging upon delivery.
• Retail Premises: Issues related to retail stores including milk & meat and packaged products.
• Others: Complaints about the food safety standards of FSSAI and employees/officials demanding bribery. 

Have complaints about foods, restaurants, retailers, or food aggregators?

You can complain online to FSSAI about expired products, missing dates, absent logos/FSSAI numbers, damaged packs, foreign materials, impurities, and rotten items in food products, both premises and online purchases.

For this, call the FSSAI helpline number, email your concerns, or lodge a complaint online. Still not resolved? You can file a complaint against FSSAI to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare through CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System).

How to File a Complaint to FSSAI?

According to the citizen charter and consumer grievance manual issued by FSSAI, citizens can complain about the quality of foods against the food aggregators, retailers, or premises (hotels, restaurants, catering, etc.) through FSSAI Food Safety Connect. The grievance redressal mechanism is divided into 3 levels.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism:

Levels of Lodging Complaints:

• Level 1: Complaint to Designated Officer, FSSAI through:
  
  • Toll-free helpline number
  • Email
  • Online complaint registration
  • Mobile App
  • Visit the nearest FSSAI Office to submit a written complaint
• Level 2: Escalate the complaint to State Nodal Officers, FSSAI
• Level 3: Lodge a public grievance to the Nodal Officer, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW)

Additionally, you can also register a consumer complaint to the National Consumer Helpline (NACH) of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs about the violation of consumer rights.

FSSAI Helpline Number

Consumers can register complaints on the toll-free customer care number and email of FSSAI. Provide the following details while lodging a grievance about food:

• Product details: Brand and Product Name
• Seller information: Outlet, Retailer, and Seller details
• Online Aggregator (if applicable): Delivery agency name (for example – JioMart, BigBasket, Zomato, Swiggy, etc.)
• FSSAI License/Registration Number
• Batch Number
• Description with billing information and order ID (for online shopping)

Details of toll-free helpline numbers to complain with FSSAI:

After the successful submission of your complaint, must note down the ticket number to track the status and future reference.

Still, not resolved? You can escalate the complaint to the designated State Nodal Officers of the Food Authority at FSSAI.

Further, you can approach the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare through CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System).

File a Complaint Online to FSSAI

Citizens can also submit their concerns by filing an online complaint to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Details to lodging a grievance online with FSSAI:

Procedure

Just follow the steps to lodge an online grievance to FSSAI. Every step is brief and easy. If you do not register complaints against unhealthy or contaminated food, it can lead to the deterioration of your health and body. To protect yourself, complain to FSSAI as soon as possible.

Procedure to lodge an online complaint on the FSSAI portal:

Step 1 – Click on the link of the FSSAI consumer grievance portal to register yourself.

Click out – Online FSSAI Consumer Grievance

Step 2 – Click on the button “Proceed with Food-related Grievance”

Step 3 – Navigate below the left side, click on the Register in the “consumer” box or if you have an account click login.

Step 4 – Register – Enter your Mobile Number or E-mail Id to get an OTP. Enter the captcha number from the given image and click on the send otp button.

Step 5 – Enter the OTP, Name, Password (Confirm), and click on the “Submit” button.

Step 6 – Now, Click on the “Login” Button, Enter your Mobile number or E-mail, Captcha, and click on the Sign-in button.

Step 7 – From your profile, click on “Register New Complaint” from the left menu.

Step 8 – Select the category as you already know from above about the concerned categories of grievances.

Step 9 – Select Sub Category of your issue related to food service that is listed on the FSSAI portal.

Step 10 – Select Food Business Operator (If not listed, Select – Other FBO)

Step 11 – Enter the Products and Complaint Details:

• Documents Description – Provide the details of documents/photos of the food products that you are giving as proof in support of your grievance.
• Upload Documents – Upload documents, images of products, Foods Photos, or Package details. (Document format – PDF, JPEG, JPG, PNG, DOC, and Maximum Size – 3 MB)

Step 12 – Enter Address and Complaint Description:

• Select State, District, Sub-district – The Address where you have bought a product or used it.
• Concern – Select the issues of the Packaged Foods, Food Catering Premises, Online Aggregator/e-commerce, Retail Premises, or Others
• Pin Code (Optional) – Enter the PIN code of the Address that you have given.

• Complaint Description – Provide a brief description of the concerns and issues of the Food product that comes under the FSSAI license or should be verified by the FSSAI.

Step 13 – Enter the Consumer Details:

• Name – Enter the Name of the Consumer (Your).
• E-mail, Mobile Number, Address (Optional) – Enter your e-mail id, mobile no., and address (If you want, not compulsory)
• Select State, District, Sub-District (tehsil), and Enter the PIN code.

Step 14 – To submit your online complaint form to FSSAI, Click on the “Submit” button. Note down the Ticket Number (Complaint Number) to track your grievance status.

To track your Complaint, visit the same FSSAI link given above. Navigate below, and Enter the Ticket Number in the “Complaint Tracker” form. Enter the Captcha in the second column. Now, click on the arrow button to get the status of the complaint.

Listed Food Business Operators with FSSAI

Name of the Food Business Operator listed on The FSSAI Consumer Grievance Portal. You can get more details about these operators/companies by visiting their official websites.

• Other FBO – Other Food Business Operator (Not listed)
• 24SEVEN
• Adani Wilmar Limited
• Agro Tech Foods Limited
• Amul
• Amway India Enterprises
• Barista
• BASF India
• Bikanervala Foods
• Bisleri International Pvt Ltd.
• Brightlife Care
• Britania Industries Ltd.
• Burger King
• Chenab Impex Pvt Ltd.
• Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd.
• Dabur
• Diageo
• Dr Oetker
• DSM Nutritional Products India Private Limited
• Ferrero India Private Limited
• Field Fresh Foods
• General Mills
• Haldiram Snacks
• Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd
• Hector Beverages
• Herbalife
• Hershey’s
• Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
• ITC Limited
• Jubilant FoodWorks Limited
• Kellogg India Private Limited
• Kerry Ingredients
• Marico Industries Ltd
• Mars International India Pvt Ltd
• Mars Wrigley Confectionery
• Mccain
• McCain Foods
• Mondelez
• Morde Foods Pvt Ltd
• Mother Dairy
• MTR Foods
• Nestle India Ltd
• Nutricia International Pvt Ltd
• Parle
• Patanjali
• PepsiCo India
• Perfetti Van Melle India P. Ltd
• Pizza Hut
• Reliance Retail
• Sagar Ratna
• Savencia Fromage & Dairy
• Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Privates Ltd
• Spencers
• Swiggy
• Taco Bell
• Tata Chemicals Limited
• Tata Global Beverages limited
• Tetrapak
• Tirupati Wellness
• United Breweries Limited
• Wendy’s India
• Zomato
• Zydus Wellness

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About FSSAI

Q. What is the customer care number of FSSAI to register complaints about Food concerns?
A. The toll-free customer care number of FSSAI is 1800112100 and consumers can call on this number. If you have any other concerns regarding food products and their standard of quality, you should register an online complaint.

Q. How can I track my complaint on FSSAI?
A. If you have already registered your grievance on the portal of FSSAI, you can use the ticket number or reference number to track your complaint. Enter this number in the Complaint tracker (link is given above) and check the status.

Q. If my complaint is not resolved by the FSSAI authority then Where can I approach it?
A. We did not find any mentioned authority where we can lodge a grievance against the final decision of the FSSAI. You may approach the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), or District Courts & Upper Legal Benches and check the eligibility of your case if it can be acceptable. If we find any source, you will get notified here.

Q. How many days FSSAI will take to redress grievances?
A. The time limit is not given by the FSSAI for the grievance redressal. It may take 15 to 30 days to get the first response from the Authority. Response mostly depends upon the reply or clarification of the Food Business Operator. If the resolution is unsatisfactory by FBOs then it may further take 15 days to get the final decision.

Reference

• Food Safety Connect (fssai.gov.in)