Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
Decoding FSSAI Number
Each of the 14 digits in FSSAI number is explained below:
First digit:
First digit indicates whether the food business has received the FSSAI registration/license or not, where digit “1” denotes license and digit “2” denotes Registration.
Second & third digits:
FSSAI has defined the codes for each state, these two digits denotes State/Union Territory Code in which the food business is registered & operational. For Central License the code will remain “00”.
Forth and fifth digits:
These digits indicates, year in which the food business received the FSSAI license. For example, if business is started in year 2021, the code with be “21” and for 2022 the code will be “22”.
Sixth, seventh and eighth digits:
These digits indicates the Designated/Registrar officers under whose jurisdiction Registration/License enrolling. FSSAI has defined numbers for each Designated/Registrar officers.
Last six digits:
These 6 digits are the unique serial/license number of Food Business Operator under a particular designated officer.
Color Codes for Food Business
FSSAI has introduced the concept of Food Safety Display Boards (FSDBs). It is mandatory for every food business operator to display FSDBs at their premises.
FSDBs are colour coded display board that provides information on food safety and hygiene practices to be followed by FBO in their establishment. Every food business is given a colour code for the consumer to recognize the business of FBO. Following are the colour codes assigned to different kind of food businesses:
| Colour Code | Type of Food |
|---|---|
| Purple | Restaurant |
| Green | Fruits and Vegetables |
| Red | Meat Retail |
| Blue | Milk Retail |
| Purple | Street Food |
| Navy Blue | Transport and Distribution |
| Brown | Liquor Retail |
| Turquoise | Manufacturing |
| Yellow | Storage |
| Grey | Retail Store |
