Model Food Processing Policy

With the release of National Food Processing Policy, India is ushering in an era of Zero Tolerance towards Post Harvest Wastage, Zero Tolerance on Delays in Commissioning of Food Processing Projects as well as Zero Tolerance in Delays in obtaining Licenses/Statutory Clearances for Food Processing. The focus of this policy is on building India’s National Food Grid And National Cold Chain Grid and creating Retail Markets in every nook and corner of the country.

• To reduce wastages, increase value addition, ensure better prices for farmers while ensuring availability of affordable and quality produce to consumers
• To address the challenges of malnourishment and malnutrition by ensuring availability of nutritionally balanced foods
• To make food processing more competitive and future ready through creation of adequate infrastructure facilities along the supply chain, use of modern technology and innovation, promoting traceability, food safety, encouraging optimum capacity utilization of assets and resources.
• To position India as the most preferred investment destination for the agribusiness and food processing.
• To generate more opportunities for the development of the agribusiness and food processing industry, and create employment.

Challenges of Food Processing in India

• Extensive use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals has raised concerns about the quality of food which should be looked into. Further, protection is needed from unfair and hazardous practices such as adulteration.
• Care should be taken as processed foods may not be nutritionally balanced and may pose a health risk especially for children unless fortified. This could trigger a negative perception regarding processed foods and could likely impact the economic gains made by this sector.
• Low value-added in processing: There is major fragmentation of food processing capacity, with a large unorganized segment and widespread use of primitive processing. This results in lower value-addition at the processing stage, especially from a nutritional point of view.
• Limited ability to control quality and safety: The sheer number of players, especially in the large unorganized segment, involved in the food value-chain, makes implementation of quality and safety norms difficult. This has led to practices such as milk adulteration and use of carbide for fruit ripening becoming more widespread.
• Low consumer awareness: Consumer awareness is a critical aspect of an improved nutritional situation in the country. Consumers currently lack awareness of several nutritional and food safety and quality aspects.

Going forward, the adoption of food safety and quality assurance mechanisms such as Total Quality Management (TQM) including ISO 9000, ISO 22000, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) by the food processing industry offers several benefits. It would enable adherence to stringent quality and hygiene norms and thereby protect consumer health, prepare the industry to face global competition, enhance product acceptance by overseas buyers and keep the industry technologically abreast of international best practices.