The recent scrutiny of McDonald’s in India, following a report that one of its outlets in Maharashtra used substitutes in place of real cheese in burgers and nuggets, has once again brought into sharp focus how consciousness about food safety and ingredients is emerging as an important consideration for consumers.
The fast-food chain’s quick response and cooperation with regulators has been exemplary.
However, the challenge that we’re up against is monumental. We are spending more on food. The share of wallet for food for an average Indian household is expected to increase to 35.4% by 2025 from 33.2% in 2005. But the food we eat is increasingly unsafe (https://www.fortuneindia.com/macro/headline-future-of-food-heres-what-indian-consumers-want/106694).
Four years after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a state-wise index to spur food safety improvement, 19 out of 20 large states – including Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh – recorded a drop in their 2023 scores from 2019.
In April 2023, the government released a startling report: Nearly a quarter of food samples tested by regulators during an investigation did not meet India’s food safety standards. The findings came amidst the growing concern amongst consumers about the safety of their food, crackdowns on poor hygiene practices, foodborne illness outbreaks, and even rampant cases of food adulteration.
Indians suffer an estimated 100 million foodborne illnesses every year, leading to an average of 120,000 deaths. The preventive infrastructure is limited. Food manufacturing and processing facilities often lack the resources to maintain proper hygiene, resulting in contamination and outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.
Just compare the short videos of food stalls posted on social media – while most vendors preparing food in other countries wear gloves, in India, they use their bare hands to handle and serve the food. In the Mumbai suburb of Goregaon, soon after we’d tried out the shawarmas at a popular food truck, I spotted a garbage truck parked right next to it every evening. That put an end to our patronage.
Intentional food adulteration is rampant. A 2022 review by FSSAI found almost doubling in the detection of food adulteration cases over a period of seven years, from 15% to 28%. As long as manufacturers skirt product registration requirements they are legally obligated to meet, detection will remain a problem. A survey by Tetrapak revealed that one in every three mothers’ mothers were unsure about the safety and quality of food that she gives to her family. The survey also revealed that mothers are most concerned about the freshness and purity of the food they consume as well as the risk of its adulteration. They expressed a clear need to have easy access to better information.
With consumers being price sensitive, many of the food and beverage manufacturers as well as street vendors India are focused on reducing costs to make their product affordable to the public. As a result, many do not prioritise food safety as a pillar of their business because it prevents them from meeting their profit margins.
A sharp increase in the demand for animal proteins presents a set of food safety challenges in the form of antimicrobials in feed and compromised hygiene practices at slaughterhouses and street-side retailers.
But could India be on the precipice of a major cultural shift in food safety in spite of these challenges?
The huge popularity of Revant Himatsingka aka Foodpharmer’s videos, wherein he highlights the harmful ingredients or incorrect labeling in popular packaged foods (Amul Taaza is not Taaza / Nutella has too much sugar / What is inside Tang), suggests that consumers are taking their blinders off.
Many people no longer pick food items from the shelf without checking on the nutrient values, calorie count, and ingredients used. Nearly 60% of consumers now say that they check the label when buying packaged foods ((https://foodsafetyworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Label_Awareness_Report_FSW.pdf).
The increased levels of concerns around food safety and how it is produced, packed, processed, and delivered, has led to higher consumption of organic food, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21% to reach ₹18,200 crore by 2026 from ₹6,000 crore currently.
At the supply end, FSSAI has been working with large private companies such as Godrej Agrovet, Godrej Tyson Foods, Suguna Poultry, Grofers, Licious, Venky’s, AOV Agro Foods and Allanasons to ensure safety standards, while promoting the use of gloves, disinfectants and fly nets at streetside shops.
FSSAI’s Eat Right India programme has successfully trained and deployed more than 1.5 million food safety supervisors to evaluate different establishments.
Moving forward, the FSSAI plans to certify at least 50% of all known street food vendors and notify the public of their hygiene rating.
Isn’t it time for a healthy dose of reassurance from F&B and foodservice brands?
Kunal Sinha is a senior strategy and foresights executive based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is the author of several books including The Future of India’s Rural Markets and Raw – Pervasive Creativity in Asia. He writes for MxMIndia every other Monday. His views here are personal.