Rules and Regulation Governing Dairy Industry

We know that the “Quality” has become a necessity for survival and success.Quality ensures “safety of food”. Food borne diseases can be fatal to human beings and can damage trade and tourism. All the stakeholders of the dairy industry i.e. milk producers, milk handlers, manufactures and processors, distributors and retailers, consumers and law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to ensure that food is safe and suitable for consumption. Placement of quality control standards, particularly international standards adds value to the products in global market. The laws regulating the safety and quality of food are in existence since 1899. The number of legislations and quality standards have also increased substantially with the passage of time and growth of the industry. The food sector in India is governed by a multiplicity of laws under different Ministries. The recent enacted “Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006”, aims to integrate the food safety laws in the country in order to systematically and scientifically develop the food processing industry and shift from a regulatory regime to self-compliance. As part of the process of consolidation, the Act covers repealing of eight existing laws related to food safety. The unit will give an orientation to important laws and quality standards in reference to the dairy industry.