Ahmedabad: Gujarat has been ranked the best state in the third state food safety index by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday.
The index was launched to measure states’ performance across five food safety parameters and encourage them to work towards ensuring safe food for citizens.
The five food safety parameters include human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing infrastructure and surveillance, training and capacity building, and consumer empowerment.
Gujarat was ranked the top state for the second consecutive time in 2020-21 and was awarded a certificate by union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya for its achievement in New Delhi on Monday.
In a statement, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel lauded the efforts of the food and drug administration and the health department for the state’s top ranking.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu were ranked second and third in the food safety index, followed by Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar languished at the bottom among the larger states, with Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan faring just marginally better.
Goa was the top state among the smaller states, followed by the North Eastern states of Meghalaya and Manipur.
Among union territories, Jammu and Kashmir was ranked at the top, followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Delhi. Lakshadweep was ranked at the bottom among the eight UTs.