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Manpower crunch hits Karnataka FDA operations
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Wednesday, 12 August, 2026, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Bengaluru
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Karnataka Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that over half of the food safety officer posts remain unfilled. Of the 210 sanctioned posts of food safety officers, only 97 of them are employed and 113 are vacant. There are a large number of vacancies for other posts including those of food analysists and food inspectors.
With this serious manpower crunch, the regular and surprise inspections are grossly impacted. It has led to weak enforcement of food safety regulations, inadequate monitoring of food establishments, and delays in taking action against violations, said the officials.
The manpower shortage is severely hampering routine as well as surprise inspections, raising concerns over effective enforcement of food safety regulations. This is even as Karnataka FDA continues its crackdown on hotels and restaurants serving substandard food.
Due to paucity of manpower, the FDA had to bring in officers deputed at the other districts in the State to carry out the raids in 3-star and 5-star hotels.
Admitting to the paucity of food inspectors in the department health and family welfare minister UT Khader said that plans are underway to recruit the candidates in a streamlined and time-bound manner. Now the hotels and other food processing and retail outlets need to consider this as a warning and voluntarily ensure quality standards of the food they serve and products sold, he said.
It is gathered that around 60 officers from other districts in the state were brought to conduct these inspections. We see that due to manpower shortfall, conducting such raids frequently may not be possible. Officials act on complaints and collect samples for testing but better routine enforcement is possible only when manpower is available, said the department.
In fact, the department in July approved the filling up of 59 posts, but the recruitment process is yet to take off. The department is working closely with the state government to expedite the recruitment process and address the acute shortage of food safety officers.
During the inspection drive, kitchens at Hotel Sky, UB City and Pegs & Bottles were seized/closed for enforcement action.
The expired and food safety-wise unsafe food articles seized during the inspections were subsequently disposed of and destroyed in accordance with the applicable procedures.
Further, special inspections were also conducted at various international food businesses operating within the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA), including KFC, McDonald’s and Subway. During these inspections, samples of various food products, including mayonnaise, chicken and bread, were collected and submitted to the food laboratories for analysis to assess their quality and compliance with prescribed food safety standards.
The godowns/warehouses supplying food products to these establishments were also inspected, and food samples were collected for analysis.
During the inspection of the McDonald’s outlet on Brigade Road, it was observed that Magnesium Sulfite (MgSO3) was being used in connection with the treatment/purification of used frying oil. Accordingly, a notice has been issued to the concerned food business operator in accordance with the applicable provisions. The matter will be examined under the prevailing food safety regulations and other applicable legal provisions, and necessary further action will be taken based on the findings.
We are now set to take strict legal action against hotels and food business operators found violating food safety regulations. Such special inspection and enforcement drives will continue to be conducted by the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department to ensure that the public has access to safe, wholesome, hygienic and quality food, said Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration Commissioner Srinivas K.
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