MADURAI: Representatives of flour industry in Tamil Nadu have made a fervent appeal to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to reconsider the requirement for periodic testing and NABL lab test reports for every food product once in six months because the regulatory system being prescribed in the name of food safety is becoming expensive and MSME units are facing a huge financial and administrative burden due to new rules that are coming for food standards.
The cost of lab testing alone will run into more than Rs.1.5 lakhs annually for an MSME that is manufacturing multiple varieties of flour, and the manufacturer has to bear several other costs to upload the records on FoSCoS portal, according to the appeal from Madurai today.
“We are also for zero compromise when it comes to food safety. But at the same time, please don’t punish MSMEs…Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. Our appeal to FSSAI and to Government of India is to reconsider periodic testing and uploading of NABL lab test reports once in six months for every food product. Our appeal has proposed that FSSAI can consider a risk-based testing system based on factors of product, frequency of production, whether it is seasonal, know the manufacturers’ history, manufacturing process and source of raw materials etc,” the Madurai District Maavu Thayarippalargal Sangam has appealed from Madurai through a press statement on September 5th 2026 to the top FSSAI authorities in New Delhi.
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Assuring that flour industry will never compromise on food safety, the flour association president C.Deivarajan and secretary P.J.Manoharan have appealed from Madurai today that food safety regulations must be practical, proportionate, risk-based and sensitive to the realities of MSMEs.
“Many flour manufacturers in MSMEs from Madurai produce several varieties of flour based on seasonal demand and market needs. By asking every product to go for testing once in every six months irrespective of production quantity, sales volume, seasonal availability and previous compliance history will create recurring financial burden for small business units that are there now in flour business,” Mr.C.Deivarajan (president) and Mr.P.J.Manoharan (secretary), have requested the FSSAI urging this important food quality regulatory body to understand the cost of manpower and money that has to be borne by small flour units in Tamil Nadu if flour industry must do lab testing once in every six months.
The association had submitted a detailed memorandum to FSSAI Chairman and CEO to help in relaxing the rules of periodic testing and also suggested that products that are not manufactured during a particular 6-month period should be exempted from lab testing and portal record, and also to make license cancellation be reserved for serious violations only.
