Available now in 63 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

Chef Hygiene
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India: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In India the app follows the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Schedule 4 of the FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011, with FSSAI's Direction and guidance told apart from the law. Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records; it does not register or license you, and it is not approved by FSSAI, any state government or any fire service.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

India: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Each state's Commissioner of Food Safety and its Food Safety Officers, under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006; FSSAI runs the national side
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

Every food business registers or is licensed on FoSCoS (FSS Act 2006, s 31). From 1 April 2026: registration up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover a year, a State licence up to Rs 50 crore, a Central licence above that (FSSAI order of 13 March 2026). Registrations and licences no longer expire: the yearly fee is still paid, and can be paid for several years at once (FSSAI, 27 March 2026). The 14-digit FSSAI number is printed on every bill (FSSAI order, enforced from 1 January 2022). Each state's Food Safety Officers inspect, and its Designated Officer grants licences and gives notices.

The Designated Officer can give an improvement notice with at least 14 days to put things right; if it is not done, the licence can be suspended, then cancelled, and in the interest of public health it can be suspended at once (s 32). An appeal goes to the state's Commissioner of Food Safety within 15 days. Penalties include up to Rs 1 lakh for unhygienic or unsanitary processing, up to Rs 2 lakh for not following a Food Safety Officer's direction or any other breach, and up to Rs 10 lakh for running without a licence; unsafe food that hurts nobody can mean up to 3 months in prison and Rs 3 lakh (as amended by the Jan Vishwas Act 2023).

Hygiene rating

FSSAI's Hygiene Rating is a voluntary certification (unless the authority directs a business to get one): an FSSAI-recognised audit agency checks the kitchen against a checklist, and the result is 1 to 5 smileys, valid 2 years. There is no compulsory public grade.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • Official guidanceFSSAI's Direction (Schedule 4 Part V as substituted, which FSSAI says businesses shall follow): high-risk chilled food at 5°C or colder and frozen food at −18°C or colder, on delivery too; hot food kept at 65°C or hotter; reheating to a core of 75°C, once only, never in a bain-marie.
  • Official guidanceFSSAI's Direction: cook non-vegetarian food to a core of 75°C for 15 seconds or 65°C for 10 minutes, and vegetarian food to 65°C for 2 minutes or 60°C for 10 minutes; cool cooked food from 60°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within a further 4 hours; use thawed food within 12 hours and never refreeze it.
  • LawFrying oil is never used once its total polar compounds go above 25% (Schedule 4), and gravies are not left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultChef Hygiene aims for 4°C in the fridge (FSSAI's hygiene rating checklist asks for 4°C for food of animal origin) and asks for fridge checks at opening and closing. Those are our choices.

Staff, training and health

  • LawEvery food handler is examined by a registered medical practitioner every year and inoculated against the enteric group of diseases as the vaccine's schedule recommends, with the records kept (Schedule 4). Food handlers are trained, with records.
  • Official guidanceA business with a State or Central licence has at least one Food Safety Supervisor trained and certified under FSSAI's FoSTaC programme (a licence condition in FSSAI's Direction); FSSAI's standard is one per 25 food handlers at each premises. FoSTaC certificates have no end date since 2022.

Allergens

  • LawA restaurant with a Central licence or 10 or more outlets shows calories, allergens (cereals with gluten, crustaceans, milk, egg, fish, peanuts and tree nuts, soy, sulphites at 10 mg per kg or more) and the veg / non-veg logo on its menu (FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2020, reg 9, with FSSAI's Guidance Note of 23 February 2022).
  • Official guidanceFor other restaurants FSSAI says it is preferable to name the common allergens on the menu and to tell customers when cross-contact cannot be avoided.

Fire safety checks

  • Official guidanceFire safety is a state matter: each state's fire service decides whether a restaurant needs a fire NOC (no-objection certificate) and what it asks for, and the National Building Code 2016 (Part 4) is the technical standard. The rules differ by state: ask your state fire service.
  • LawSchedule 4 asks for a chimney with suitable suction wherever food is cooked or fried.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultService dates for extinguishers, alarms, emergency lights, gas and electrics: we did not confirm intervals in Indian law, so Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change. Emergency: 112.

Records

  • LawRecords of cooking, storage, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, laboratory results and recalls are kept for 1 year, or the product's shelf life if that is longer (Schedule 4). Pest control is done by trained people, with records of the pesticides used and when.
  • Official guidanceA licensed restaurant shows its licence and the Food Safety Display Board where customers can see them (FSSAI's Direction), and a notice of the dishes cooked in ghee, edible oil or vanaspati.
  • Official guidanceA business frying with more than 50 litres of oil a day keeps a daily oil log and gives used oil only to an authorised collecting agency (FSSAI's guidance note on used cooking oil).

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

India: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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