A Recipe for Reform: Strengthening Food Safety in PM-POSHAN

Image Source: Getty

India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme—now rebranded as Prime Minister Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN)—constitutes the largest school feeding programme in the world. Initiated in 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), it covers all children studying in grades I to VIII (primary and upper primary) in government and government-aided schools. However, the scheme is more than a nutritional intervention. It is a crucial measure to support educational access, social equity, and overall child development. As it serves more than 112 million children hot cooked meals every school day, its food quality, safety, and hygiene in kitchens are a public health priority. Given the enormous scale and impact, it is essential to ensure that every meal served is not only filling but also safe and nourishing.

What the Food Safety Guidelines Say 

As it serves more than 112 million children hot cooked meals every school day, its food quality, safety, and hygiene in kitchens are a public health priority.

For several children, especially those hailing from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, school meals are the most nutritious, and perhaps even the only proper meal they eat throughout the day. Considering this factor, PM POSHAN offers comprehensive guidelines on nutrition and food safety and hygiene:

1.  The first set of mandates focuses on quality assurance in procurement and storage, specifying that only AGMARK (Agricultural Mark)-certified and packaged ingredients are to be used and stored in food-grade plastic containers to prevent contamination. 

2. The second set provides directions on cooking and kitchen practices, such as clean, well-ventilated kitchens, which are equipped with safe cooking devices. It also states that food must be served at a temperature of at least 65°C to prevent bacterial growth. 

3. The third set includes the norms for constructing kitchen-cum-stores to ensure adequate space, and offers provisions for cooking devices, storage containers, and serving utensils. 

4. Fourth includes instructions for meal tasting and quality monitoring, where a designated teacher must taste the meal before it is served to students, and schools should maintain a record of the tasting process. 

5. Fifth, the guidelines seek to prevent bacterial, viral, and parasitic contamination by outlining several measures, such as the cleanliness of utensils and cooking areas, regular inspection of ingredients, covering cooking utensils with a lid, avoiding the use of harmful chemicals, and personal hygiene of cooks and helpers. 

These detailed guidelines are centrally sponsored and monitored by the Ministry of Education, and while adopted by all states, their enforcement depends on state-level compliance mechanisms, school infrastructure, and local operational capacity.

What the Data Says: Recent Incidents and Gaps

Despite the above-mentioned comprehensive guidelines, periodic reports of food poisoning and contamination, resulting in child health issues such as gastrointestinal problems, have been reported in the media.

Despite the above-mentioned comprehensive guidelines, periodic reports of food poisoning and contamination, resulting in child health issues such as gastrointestinal problems, have been reported in the media. Given below is a list of some recent, major incidents: 

Table 1: Notable Incidents of Food Poisoning from School Meals in India*

Source: Compiled by Author

*Note: This is not a complete record, but only a compilation of major incidents highlighted in the national newspapers

In 2022, the year schools reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 979 students suffered from food poisoning in schools across India. Figure 1 shows the number of children falling sick due to food poisoning from mid-day meals from 2009 to 2022. The figures declined during the pandemic years since schools were closed.

Figure 1: Number of Children who had food poisoning after consuming school meals, India

Source: The Hindu, Mid-day meal-related food poisoning cases in India at six-year peak 

Many such incidents involved contamination with lizards, rats, snakes or cockroaches. These figures are also likely to be conservative estimates based on data from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, and several such instances may not have been noted officially. 

There are a multitude of reasons for subpar midday meal standards. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has cited concerns such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of inspections or audits, irregular licensing, under-reporting and limited feedback mechanisms.

There are a multitude of reasons for subpar midday meal standards. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has cited concerns such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of inspections or audits, irregular licensing, under-reporting and limited feedback mechanisms. In Andhra Pradesh, the 2023 CAG audit revealed that quality control committees were not functional, supply and distribution records were not maintained, and the intended monitoring mechanism was not functioning in sample districts. Further, district education officers and school heads failed to ensure adequate and timely distribution of dry ration to all the eligible students during the pandemic period. In the 2019 report on Madhya Pradesh, the CAG found that the Food Safety Commissioner did not have robust data on food poisoning cases, and hence, no action was prompted against Food Business Operators (FBOs) responsible for preparing the meal. Moreover, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had not yet notified doctors to report food poisoning cases. A year before this, in 2018, the auditor had reported that the meals in Gujarat were not hot, and none of the sample schools had the apparatus to facilitate the necessary temperature checks. School inspections fell short by 80 percent in five districts of the State, due to a shortage of staff. Overall, these findings underscore that deficiencies in data reporting, procurement processes, and accountability structures significantly compromise the effectiveness and safety of the mid-day meal programme. Although states are expected to upload monitoring data on the PM POSHAN-MIS portal, its coverage is inconsistent and lacks integration with health or school inspection records. Despite the requirement for School Management Committees (SMCs), designated teachers, and nodal officers to oversee compliance, institutional action following food safety lapses is rare. Third-party audits are infrequent, grievance redressal mechanisms are poorly publicised, and supply-side violations (by food contractors or Self-Help Groups) often go unpunished/unacknowledged. 

Field studies have also highlighted significant gaps in food safety and hygiene in urban areas, due to inadequate infrastructure such as poor ventilation, unavailability of clean water storage tanks and covered bins for garbage disposal. Another multi-state study found that while most states had cooking and storage facilities, large interstate differences persist: electricity was available for less than half of the school kitchens in Meghalaya;  there was high reliance on fuels like charcoal or wood stoves in Jharkhand; refrigeration facilities where available in only a few states including Karnataka and Kerala. Evaluation studies, including those by CAG, have revealed incidents of low-quality grains and ingredients and a lack of buffer stock. Reports also indicate that due to rising food inflation and stagnant budgets, schools have been forced to cut back on nutritious ingredients (vegetables, pulses, fruits, milk, eggs) and use cheaper ingredients such as diluted milk. 

Recommendations for Safer School Meals

While cooking and sanitation infrastructure are improving in schools, there are large interstate and rural-urban differences. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all schools have roofed and properly maintained kitchens, with clean water and proper waste disposal systems to maintain hygienic cooking environments. There is also a need to enforce quality standards in procurement and ensure regular supply chain monitoring to verify compliance with safety norms. Raising budgets to offset inflation, along with regular audits and surprise inspections, is also crucial to ensure grain quality. 

There is a strong push in various states to train cooks and helpers in hygiene and food handling for safe school meals, using both traditional and digital methods. For example, Karnataka is using a dedicated YouTube channel for weekly live video training on hygiene, cleaning, and food safety procedures, whereas Odisha is employing a master trainer model, in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme. There is a need to expand the coverage of such programmes, alongside regular refresher training and monitoring, to ensure sustained food safety.

Digital innovations for quality monitoring and accountability—such as the State PM Poshan Shakti Nirman Portal in Madhya Pradesh that strengthens food safety by automating food grain provisioning, enabling real-time tracking, and ensuring transparency through Aadhaar-enabled authentication and digital payments—must be studied and scaled. Such seamless digital integration can help streamline operations, safeguard meal quality, and support the delivery of nutritious meals to millions of school children.

There is also a need to institutionalise regular monitoring and inspections by education and food safety officials, who ensure compliance with hygiene standards and maintain tasting and hygiene records to track quality and safety over time. Finally, it is crucial to set up grievance redressal and feedback mechanisms at the school and district levels. This will facilitate a real-time reporting of food safety incidents, prompt investigation, and swift corrective action against violations.

While the choice of centralised and decentralised kitchen systems should be guided by context-specific conditions, there is substantial scope for expanding Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) in supply chain monitoring. PPPs can be leveraged for devising technology-driven monitoring solutions-such as IoT-based temperature tracking, blockchain for traceability, and mobile-based audit tools, to strengthen oversight across procurement, storage, and distribution. 

Embedding food safety practices in school kitchens goes beyond preventing food poisoning to fostering a culture of safety and health in all school meals. Safe, nutritious meals are an investment in children’s future—a well-fed, healthy child is more likely to attend school regularly, learn better and perform better. Policymakers, educators, and communities must work together to prioritise and rigorously enforce food safety standards in school meals. Making mid-day meal safety a non-negotiable pillar of school education is essential to truly unlocking the full potential of every child.

Arpan Tulsyan is a Senior Fellow with the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation.

• Healthcare
• Climate, Food and Environment
• India
• mid day meal programme
• mid day meal scheme india
• pm poshan
• pm poshan scheme
• pm poshan yojana
• prime minister poshan shakti nirman yojana

The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.

PREV NEXT