Goa, May 28 -- India's food regulator FSSAI has tightened safety standards for several commonly consumed food items, including besan, edible oils, seafood and seed-based products, amid increasing concerns over contamination and adulteration.Under revised rules set to come into effect from December 1, 2026, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has expanded contamination checks for heavy metals such as lead and cadmium to include pulse flours like besan and packaged pulse-based mixes. Earlier, these standards were mainly applicable to pulses.

The regulator has also revised permissible limits for aflatoxins - toxic compounds produced by fungi - in oils, oilseeds and ready-to-eat oilseed products. Updated testing norms for arseni...