PANAJI
A walk through any market on a morning in Goa will sweep you up in the familiar chaos of vendors hollering prices, baskets overflowing with mackerel, sardine and the other species of fish and the scent of spices mingling with the salty tang of the sea.
The experience may tingle your senses but under this bustle lies a nagging question: how safe is the food we eat in Goa?
From sizzling cafreal at beach shacks to raw fish, poultry, meats, vegetables and fruits in the local markets, food safety has become a hot issue, here in Goa. And, with the State proudly and often wearing the badge of an international tourist destination, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The scanner on restaurants
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has stayed busy, conducting raids and routine checks of restaurant kitchens. In 2025, raids were conducted across Bardez, Salcete, Tiswadi and Mormugao which uncovered expired ingredients, pest infestations, and kitchens operating without valid FSSAI licences.
Bakeries and eateries were sealed, contaminated products destroyed on the spot and hundreds served improvement notices.
“We are committed to enforcing strict hygiene protocols to protect public health,” Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, who also has FDA under his charge, has often said during such crackdowns.
Yet the fact that so many outlets were flouting basic norms raises uncomfortable questions: are inspections too few, too late, and too reactive?
Last year, during the tourism season-ending months of April, May and June, 10 food businesses in Arpora, Nagoa, and Assagao were sealed in 'surprise inspections'.
Among the sealed establishments were restaurants and also an ice factory, accused of violations ranging from no pest control to improper waste disposal.
For diners, the takeaway is sobering as the plate of butter garlic prawns they feast on may not always be cooked in a kitchen that meets hygiene standards.
Markets, raw food: Buyer beware
If restaurants are one side of the coin, local fish, meat, vegetable, fruit and grocery markets are the other.
In one raid in 2025, FDA officials seized nearly a hundred kilos of artificially coloured fryums worth approximately one lakh rupees from units operating in Salcete without licences.
The products were destroyed, and the businesses ordered to shut down.
Fish markets have been another scare, especially after the major formalin-in-fish row in 2018. Fish sold, particularly during the June-July fishing ban months when the markets depend on imports for supplies, have long been dogged by allegations of adulteration due to suspicion that prohibited chemicals are used for preservation and to extend shelf-life.
It is also not uncommon to see vegetables and poultry in the local markets sitting in open baskets under the sun, with little regard for storage or contamination risks.
Who is to watch?
So who’s supposed to keep our food safe? The answer lies in a patchwork of multiple authorities.
The FDA enforces FSSAI norms, conducts raids and is responsible for issuing hygiene ratings. However, officials admit manpower is limited, and enforcement is most of the time, reactive.
FDA officials admit resource and manpower constraints.
“We conduct risk-based inspections, but manpower is limited compared to the scale of Goa’s food industry,” one officer said during a recent drive in Bardez, where several outlets were penalised for selling counterfeit, low quality 'cashew nuts' as authentic Goan products.
The health department, on the other hand, oversees certification in the context of public health, but often their coordination with the FDA is weak and sometimes absent.
Local civic bodies -- municipalities and panchayats -- handle the local trade licensing, waste management, and market oversight. However, their enforcement is patchy and allegations of corruption against sanitary inspectors and connected officials are common.
International standards?
India’s FSSAI framework mandates hygiene ratings and licensing, but enforcement is inconsistent, or worse, non-existent.
Contrast this with the same agencies abroad and a lot is left to be desired.
The US FDA, for instance, conducts continuous surveillance, publishes transparent ratings, and enforces strict penalties.
In the UK, the Food Standards Agency requires hygiene ratings to be displayed prominently at outlets, empowering consumers to make informed choices.
Goa’s FDA, meanwhile, has introduced hygiene ratings, but unlike international counterparts, ratings are not yet uniformly displayed or easily accessible.
For a State that thrives on tourism, this gap is glaring and damaging.
A top hospitality consultant who did not want to be identified, fearing retribution against clients he works with said: “Tourists expect international standards. Visible hygiene compliance is a competitive advantage, but alas we do not see it practised here.”
Goa welcomed over 10 million visitors (official claims) in 2025, a record high. Food safety is central to sustaining this boom. A single outbreak of food-borne illness could tarnish Goa’s image and deter visitors.
As one restaurateur in Calangute admitted off the record: “We know tourists are watching. One bad review about hygiene can hurt business more than a dozen good ones about taste.”
The big picture
So, how safe is the food we eat under the gaze of Goa’s FDA and associated agencies? The honest answer: safer than it used to be, but not yet safe enough.
Crackdowns are happening, hygiene ratings are being introduced, and awareness is growing. But enforcement remains reactive, manpower is stretched thin, and international standards are still a distant goal.
For a State that thrives on its culinary reputation, the challenge is clear: food safety must move from being a regulatory checkbox to a cultural norm. Until then, every plate of fish curry or basket of market vegetables carries with it a question mark, one that can only be answered by stronger regulation, policing and governance.
