Food businesses in India are inspected more often than at any point on record, and pest control is one of the first things a Food Safety Officer asks to see evidence of. This page compiles what the public data actually says about food safety enforcement in India and Gujarat, and sets out the specific, measurable pest control requirements published by FSSAI itself. Every figure is traced to a named source.
Key findings at a glance
- India analysed 2,23,808 food samples in 2025-26 and found 40,023 non-conforming — roughly one in every five and a half samples tested. (Provisional.)
- Food business inspections reached 5,20,566 in 2025-26, up from 3,57,072 in 2023-24 — an increase of about 46% in two years.
- Over the last five years 4,461 food business licences were suspended and 11,493 cancelled — close to 16,000 operators facing licence action.
- Gujarat tested 60,448 food samples in 2024-25. 1.45% failed prescribed standards and a further 0.17% were declared unsafe — about 979 samples in total.
- FSSAI guidance is specific to the millimetre: a mouse can enter through a gap of less than 10 mm, windows and exhaust openings need at least 600 micron mesh, and racking must sit at least 30 cm from walls so inspection is possible.
- Only two fumigants are registered in India — phosphine and methyl bromide — and both are classified as restricted pesticides.
- Seven specific documents must be available on site relating to pest control, including the pest control operator licence and a pest sighting log.
- National enforcement: how much is being tested, and how much fails
- Gujarat: the state picture for 2024-25
- Why the Gujarat and national failure rates look so different
- The pest proofing specifications FSSAI actually publishes
- Recommended treatment frequencies
- The seven documents an inspector can ask for
- Is there such a thing as an FSSAI pest control certificate?
- Fumigation: what is legally permitted in India
- What this means for food businesses
- Methodology, limitations and sources
1. National enforcement: how much is being tested, and how much fails
In written replies to unstarred questions in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare set out the scale of food safety enforcement in India. The headline is that inspection volume has grown sharply, and that a substantial share of what gets tested does not meet the standard.
| Financial year | Inspections of food businesses | Change vs previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 3,57,072 | — |
| 2024-25 | 4,01,391 | +12.4% |
| 2025-26 (provisional) | 5,20,566 | +29.7% |
Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, written replies in the Lok Sabha, reported 24 July 2026. Percentage changes calculated by Universal Pest Control Service from the published counts.
Sample results, 2025-26
That is a non-conformance rate of 17.9%, or approximately one sample in five and a half. Enforcement outcomes followed: 31,878 civil cases were decided with a penalty and there were 1,918 criminal convictions in the same year.
| Licence action, last five years | Count |
|---|---|
| Food business licences suspended | 4,461 |
| Food business licences cancelled | 11,493 |
| Total operators facing licence action | 15,954 |
Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, written replies in the Lok Sabha, reported 24 July 2026. The total is the arithmetic sum of the two published figures.
One further point of context from the same replies: around 98% of food business operators fall within the jurisdiction of State and Union Territory food safety authorities, not FSSAI directly. In practice this means the inspection that affects a given business is almost always a state inspection, carried out under state resourcing and state priorities.
2. Gujarat: the state picture for 2024-25
Gujarat publishes its own enforcement figures, and they are worth reading alongside the national numbers rather than instead of them.
| Gujarat, FY 2024-25 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Food samples tested | 60,448 |
| Share failing prescribed standards | 1.45% |
| Share declared unsafe for consumption | 0.17% |
| Approximate samples in those two categories combined | about 979 |
| Raids conducted across the state | more than 190 |
| Suspected food products seized | 351 tonnes |
| Approximate value of seized products | about Rs 10.5 crore |
| Adjudication cases registered under the FSS Act | 980 |
| Adjudication cases disposed of | 894 |
| Fines from disposed adjudication cases | Rs 6.21 crore |
| Court penalties, across 87 cases | Rs 54.42 lakh |
Source: Gujarat Samachar, 7 June 2026, reporting official Gujarat food safety records. The combined figure of about 979 samples is calculated by Universal Pest Control Service by applying the two published percentages to the published sample count; it is an arithmetic derivation, not a published number.
On the criminal side, official records cited in the same report show 67 individuals convicted in 46 cases relating to unsafe or inedible food. They were fined a combined Rs 24.26 lakh, and some also received prison sentences of up to six months.
What the law allows as a penalty
| Offence | Penalty range |
|---|---|
| Food production in unsanitary conditions | Fine up to Rs 1 lakh |
| Possession of substances used for adulteration | Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh |
| Where a customer falls ill or dies | Provision for compensation |
| Where death occurs | Imprisonment from a minimum of 7 years to life, and a fine of at least Rs 10 lakh |
Source: Gujarat Samachar, 7 June 2026, summarising penalties under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The first row is the one most directly connected to pest management. Producing food in unsanitary conditions is a distinct offence in its own right, separate from anything being found wrong with the food itself. A visible infestation, droppings in a storage area, or an absence of pest control records can support that finding without a single sample failing a laboratory test.
3. Why the Gujarat and national failure rates look so different
The two figures are not comparable, for at least four reasons. They cover different years (2024-25 against a provisional 2025-26). They use different categories — Gujarat reports “failed prescribed standards” and “unsafe” separately, while the national figure lumps unsafe, sub-standard, mislabelled and misleading-claim samples into one bucket. They are collected by different authorities under different sampling strategies, and sampling that deliberately targets suspect consignments will produce a much higher failure rate than routine surveillance sampling. And the national figure is provisional.
We are publishing both numbers side by side precisely because they are so often quoted separately, without the caveat. Anyone comparing state and national food safety failure rates should treat the comparison as unreliable until the definitions are matched.
4. The pest proofing specifications FSSAI actually publishes
Most public discussion of FSSAI pest control requirements stays at the level of “maintain effective pest control”. FSSAI’s own published guidance is far more specific than that. The figures below come from FSSAI’s guidance document for food grain warehouses, and while that document is written for warehousing, the pest proofing specifications it sets out are the clearest published numbers FSSAI has issued on the subject.
| Element | Published specification |
|---|---|
| Structural gaps | Internal and external structure free of cracks, holes and openings. Guidance note: a mouse can gain entry through a gap of less than 10 mm |
| Production area entrance doors | Openings of less than 1 cm between walls, floor and barriers |
| Foundation openings | All openings greater than one quarter inch sealed against rodents |
| Windows and exhaust ducts | At least 600 micron mesh covering |
| Doors and shutters | Strip or air curtains with outward air flow; steel doors, or reinforced along lower edges with metal plate against rodents; at least 2.5 m by 2.5 m |
| Door and floor gaps | Closed with rubber strip, polyurethane or similar |
| Racking and storage from walls | Minimum 12 inches / 30 cm, so areas can be inspected for insect or rodent activity |
| Space at rodent control devices | 18 inches / 45 cm gap to allow inspection |
| Insect light traps | Not above 6 feet from the floor, and not directly visible from outside; tubes changed at defined intervals |
| Rodent bait boxes | Fixed at entry points, on both sides, and kept locked at all times |
| All pest control devices | Each carries a serial number, with a master layout showing its position |
| Boundary walls | At least 3 metres to prevent rodent entry |
| Vegetation | Preferred 18 foot vegetation-free barrier zone; tree branches trimmed |
| Perimeter paving | Hard paving of at least 45 cm in width around storage buildings |
| Drains | Grated covers and wire mesh at openings to stop insects and rodents entering from drains; no standing water |
| Pets and animals | No pets, birds or animals within or around the premises |
Source: FSSAI, Guidance Document on Food Safety Management System for food grain warehouses, published on fssai.gov.in, dated 19 January 2018.
5. Recommended treatment frequencies
FSSAI’s guidance sets out a recommended treatment schedule. It is worth reading because it makes clear that pest management in a food facility is a continuous programme, not a monthly visit.
| Treatment | Recommended frequency | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated fly management | Three times daily | House flies |
| Disinfestation | Weekly | House flies, cockroaches, silverfish, ants, bed bugs |
| Rodent management | Daily check, change every 15 days | Rats, mice, bandicoots |
| Prophylactic treatment | Monthly November to February; fortnightly March to October | Crawling insects in hiding places |
| Lizard management | Weekly | Lizards, outside plant area |
| Cockroach management | Monthly | Cockroaches in cracks and crevices |
| Fumigation | Every 45 days, as and when required | Stored grain pests |
Source: FSSAI, Guidance Document on Food Safety Management System for food grain warehouses, 19 January 2018, pest control plan section.
6. The seven documents an inspector can ask for
FSSAI’s guidance lists the pest control documents that must be available on site. In our experience this list, rather than the state of the premises, is where most avoidable non-compliance is found — the treatment was done, but the paperwork proving it was not kept.
| # | Document |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pest control plan — layout, pest control devices, treatment details |
| 2 | Licence copy of the pest control service provider |
| 3 | Labels of the pesticides used |
| 4 | Material safety data sheets for the pesticides used |
| 5 | ID proof of the pest control operator representative on site |
| 6 | That representative’s liability insurance certificate and training or qualification certificate |
| 7 | Pest sighting log — and, where pesticides are kept on site, a dedicated access-controlled storage area |
Source: FSSAI, Guidance Document on Food Safety Management System for food grain warehouses, 19 January 2018.
Two of these are about the contractor rather than the food business: the service provider’s licence, and the technician’s training and insurance. That is a deliberate design. A food business cannot discharge its pest control obligation by hiring anyone at all — the competence and licensing of the operator is part of what is being inspected. Pesticide application in food premises is required to be carried out by licensed and trained pest control operators, using products drawn from the approved list issued by the Central Insecticides Board.
7. Is there such a thing as an FSSAI pest control certificate?
Strictly, no. FSSAI does not define, issue or prescribe a “pest control certificate”. Schedule 4 requires records — dated evidence of the pesticides used, with frequency — not a certificate in any set format. What the trade calls a certificate is a service document issued by the pest control operator, summarising the treatment that sits behind those records.
The distinction matters, because it explains why a certificate on its own rarely survives a serious inspection. The certificate is a cover sheet. What an inspector tests is whether the documents behind it exist and agree with one another: the service agreement, the dated treatment reports, the product and dosage log, the sighting register kept by your own staff, and proof that the applicator is licensed — documents 2, 5 and 6 of the seven listed in section 6 above.
It follows that a certificate issued without treatment having been carried out is worth nothing, and is worse than nothing. It fails at the second question an inspector asks. It leaves the food business holding a false declaration if a complaint or an illness is ever traced back to the premises. And under the Insecticides Rules, 1971 it exposes the operator who signed it. An agency willing to sell one is also telling you something about the records it keeps for the clients who do pay for treatment.
The practical position for a licensed food business is simpler than the anxiety around it suggests: arrange real treatment on a recorded schedule, keep the paperwork where it can be produced on the day, and the certificate becomes a by-product rather than the point. For how that runs as an ongoing contract — visit frequency, reporting, and which of the seven documents are supplied by the agency each visit — see our commercial pest control and AMC service in Surat.
8. Fumigation: what is legally permitted in India
Fumigation is the treatment most often misunderstood by food business operators, and it is also the most tightly regulated.
| Point | Position |
|---|---|
| Fumigants registered in India | Two only — phosphine and methyl bromide |
| Classification | Both are restricted pesticides, on grounds of extreme toxicity |
| Methyl bromide | An ozone depleting gas. Legally restricted in India to quarantine and pre-shipment fumigation, governed by the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, which licenses fumigators |
| Phosphine, optimum concentration | 650 ppm in the storage atmosphere is cited as the optimum value for pest control |
| Timing | Evening application is more suitable, because phosphine oxidises in light |
Source: FSSAI, Guidance Document on Food Safety Management System for food grain warehouses, 19 January 2018, fumigation section.
When phosphine must not be used
The same guidance is explicit that phosphine must not be used in five situations: where there is no trained, qualified and properly protected fumigation team; in unsealed enclosures; when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius; where resistance to it is known to exist in the insect population; and where a rapid treatment is required, meaning less than seven days.
9. What this means for food businesses
Reading the enforcement data and the specifications together, four things follow.
Inspection is now more likely than it used to be. Inspections rose about 46% in two years. A food business that has never been inspected is not evidence that the programme is working; it is increasingly just a matter of time.
The paperwork is the compliance. Treatment that happened but was not recorded is, for inspection purposes, treatment that did not happen. The seven-document list above is inexpensive to satisfy and is the single cheapest compliance improvement available to most operators.
Proofing outperforms spraying. Almost every specification in section 4 is about exclusion — mesh, gaps, seals, paving, door edges. FSSAI’s own guidance states plainly that a pest management programme alone is not sufficient and must be supported by maintenance, cleaning and sanitation. Sealing a 10 mm gap is permanent; a spray is not.
Be realistic about what treatment achieves. We will not tell you that any programme eliminates pests permanently from a food facility. Food premises are, by definition, attractive to pests, and material arrives from outside every day. What a properly designed programme does is keep pressure low, detect problems early through inspection and logging, and give you defensible records when an officer walks in. If a pest control company promises complete and permanent eradication in a food facility, that promise is not one that can be kept.
10. Methodology, limitations and sources
How this page was compiled. Every figure on this page was taken from a source retrieved and read in full on 11 September 2026. Where a number is derived rather than published — the 17.9% non-conformance rate, the percentage change in inspections, the 15,954 total licence actions, and the approximately 979 Gujarat samples — the derivation is stated next to the number and the inputs are published figures. No figure has been estimated, rounded up for effect, or carried over from a secondary summary.
What we left out. A total penalty figure of Rs 154.87 crore for 2025-26 appeared in search summaries of this data. We could not confirm it in the text of the source we retrieved, so we have omitted it. It may well be accurate; we are not prepared to publish it until we can attribute it to a document we have read.
Limitations you should be aware of. First, the 2025-26 national figures are provisional and may be revised. Second, “non-conforming” is a composite category and is not a measure of adulteration. Third, the FSSAI specifications quoted in sections 4 to 7 come from guidance issued for food grain warehouses; guidance is not identical to the binding text of Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, and operators should read the current regulation and any state directions applicable to their category rather than relying on this summary. Fourth, that guidance document is dated 19 January 2018 and specifications may have been updated since. Fifth, the Gujarat report we used cites a four-year sample total of 42,790 alongside a single-year 2024-25 total of 60,448; those two figures cannot describe the same universe, and because we could not establish what the smaller figure covers, we have not used it anywhere on this page.
Corrections. If you believe a figure here is wrong or has been superseded, write to support@universalpestcontrol.in with the source and we will correct it and note the correction.
Sources
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India — written replies to unstarred questions in the Lok Sabha on food adulteration, as reported by ANI, 24 July 2026. National inspection counts for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26; samples analysed and found non-conforming in 2025-26; civil cases decided with penalty; criminal convictions; licences suspended and cancelled over five years; the statement that around 98% of food business operators fall under State and Union Territory jurisdiction.
- Gujarat Samachar (English edition) — “Over 42,000 food samples tested in Gujarat; more than 3,100 violations detected”, 7 June 2026. Gujarat sample counts and failure percentages for 2024-25; raids, seizure tonnage and value; adjudication cases, disposals and fines; court penalties; convictions; penalty ranges under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India — Guidance Document on Food Safety Management System for food grain warehouses, published on fssai.gov.in, dated 19 January 2018. Pest proofing specifications; recommended treatment frequency table; the on-site document list; fumigation provisions and restrictions; the requirement that pesticide application be carried out by licensed and trained pest control operators using products from the Central Insecticides Board approved list.
- Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, Schedule 4 — the binding regulatory framework for hygienic and sanitary practices, referenced for context in section 9.
- Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee — the licensing and product registration regime governing pest control operators and the pesticides they may apply in India.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers, no jargon.
Does FSSAI license pest control agencies?
No. FSSAI does not license pest control companies directly. What it requires is that your food business has a documented pest management system, and the inspector will ask to see it. The responsibility sits with the food business operator, not the agency.
What pest control records does an FSSAI inspection ask for?
A written pest control programme showing schedule and scope, a service record for every visit covering areas treated and activity found, pesticide documentation with CIB and RC registration, and evidence of physical exclusion measures. Invoices alone are not a record - that is the single most common gap we see.
How often should a food business have pest control done?
Monthly is the usual frequency for food handling and storage areas, with the schedule set out in the programme rather than decided visit by visit. High-risk premises may need more. The page above sets out the specifications and enforcement data with sources.
Are pest control chemicals allowed in food areas?
Only registered products, applied at label rates, and in food areas the work is done with bait and gel rather than sprays wherever possible. No bait stations inside food storage. Anyone telling you a product is WHO approved or EPA approved is mistaken - neither body approves pesticides for use in India. The correct standard is CIB and RC registration under the Insecticides Act, 1968.
Can you help us get ready for an inspection?
Yes. We do this regularly for food businesses in Surat and across South Gujarat - programme, records, exclusion survey and the documentation pack. Call +91 9724311777 and tell us your inspection date.