FoSTaC Compliance: Is Your Food Business Fully Covered?

FoSTaC — Food Safety Training and Certification — is one of the most overlooked FSSAI obligations, precisely because it is about people rather than products. Yet an otherwise compliant food business can be pulled up simply because it does not have a certified Food Safety Supervisor in place.

What FoSTaC requires

FSSAI expects licensed and registered food businesses to have a trained and certified Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) who has completed the FoSTaC programme relevant to their business. The supervisor is responsible for driving food-safety practices on the ground, and the certification demonstrates that at least one trained person is accountable for compliance.

How many supervisors do you need?

The requirement scales with the size of your operation — a commonly applied benchmark is one certified Food Safety Supervisor for every 25 food handlers (or part thereof). A business with multiple premises or a large workforce therefore needs more than one certified supervisor. Confirm the exact ratio applicable to your licence category and headcount.

Choosing the right module

• FoSTaC is organised into levels (Basic, Advanced, Special) across food-sector categories such as manufacturing, catering, retail, transport/storage, and others.
• The correct module depends on your business activity and role — a manufacturing unit and a catering operation take different courses.
• Training is delivered by FSSAI-empanelled training partners and trainers, and successful participants receive a FoSTaC certificate.

Keep certification current

FoSTaC certificates are not indefinite. Track the validity of every certified supervisor, plan renewals ahead of expiry, and keep the certificates available for inspection. A lapsed certificate is a compliance gap even if the person is still in the role.

Frequently Asked Questions