Union Government has appointed former IAS officer Ashish Bahuguna as the chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
He will have tenure of three years. He is an IAS officer 1978 batch of Rajasthan cadre and had retired in February 2015. Prior to retirement, he was Agriculture Secretary.
The position of chairman of FSSAI was lying vacant since January 2015 after the tenure of then chairman K Chandramouli ended. During this vacancy, Health Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma was temporarily in-charge of the post.
About Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health in India through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
- FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and operates under aegis of Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- Functions: FSSAI has been established to lay down science based standards for various food products in order ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
- It also regulates the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food products for human consumption.
- Structure: It is led by a non-executive Chairperson. The executive head of FSSAI is the Chief Executive Officer.
- Headquarters: New Delhi. It also has 8 regional offices located in Delhi, Guwahati, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Cochin and Chennai It has 4 referral laboratories and 72 local laboratories located across India.