EDITORIAL
Stronger enforcement and accountability are essential to ensure safe food for all
World Food Safety Day was celebrated on Sunday in several countries, drawing attention to food standards and illnesses related to unsafe food. According to the World Health Organisation, since 2019, the day has been celebrated to “inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agricultural production, market access, tourism and sustainable development.”
Foodborne diseases are estimated to affect 1 in 10 people worldwide each year, and food standards help ensure that what we eat is safe. They are caused when bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances enter the body through contaminated food or water. To prevent this, food safety plays a critical role at every stage of the food chain—from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, and all the way to preparation and consumption. Unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, the UN says. With the 2026 theme ‘From burden to solutions – safe food everywhere’, WHO and FAO highlighted the global health toll of foodborne diseases and called for science-based solutions to prevent them.
Annually, observance of the Day on June 7 serves as a vital reminder for Goa too. Being dependent on tourism, Goa’s hospitality and retail sectors are primary economic drivers, and they need food safety regulations. The state has a large number of food outlets across categories. It is difficult to control and regulate kitchens in a tourism-driven industry. The number of restaurants along the coastal belt indicates that the state also attracts tourists for its culinary offerings. The challenge for the state is ensuring that high food safety standards are maintained. Goa also has a popular food truck and street food industry. Regulating these is a mammoth exercise. The state of food safety in Goa is a mix of strict regulatory effort and ground-level challenges. Recent FDA inspections revealed that some eateries lacked proper sanitation and storage facilities, suffered from rodent infestation, and were closed down. In the past, self-help groups supplying mid-day meals to schools also faced similar action. In the interest of the vulnerable student community, such inspections must continue.
Goa itself has regularly faced food safety concerns, including formalin in fish, injection of fruits and vegetables with artificial ripening agents, contamination of water used in food preparation, and the presence of microplastics in seafood.
In pre-monsoon initiatives, the FDA conducts inspections to check for compliance before the rains peak. Workshops are held regularly to train food handlers. The FDA has also adopted technology, such as the FoSCoS (Food Safety Compliance System) licensing system, to streamline licensing. It has tried to bring most food businesses, including small ones, under FSSAI rules and regulations. Goa’s monsoon season poses a threat, increasing the risk of contamination in food and water supplies due to poor hygiene. As moisture levels rise, the proliferation of bacteria calls for a higher level of surveillance. Strict action should be taken for non-compliance. The message must be clear: no one will receive special treatment for violating food safety rules. FDA inspections should not be a tool for politicians to harass their critics.
Food is increasingly monitored, but risks remain. To achieve the objective of ‘safe food everywhere’, the government needs to support the FDA in adopting new food safety monitoring technologies. Also, those running food businesses must, on their own, show greater responsibility by adopting higher food safety standards to safeguard their customers’ health. If food safety standards are complied with strictly, illnesses will be fewer.
