FSSAI Advisory on Cutting Tools: A New Focus Area for Dairy Food Safety

Food safety is often perceived mainly through the lens of microbiological hazards, hygiene practices, testing and process controls. However, the recent advisory issued by FSSAI on the use of food-grade, corrosion-resistant knives, blades and cutting equipment highlights an important but sometimes neglected area of food safety — physical and chemical hazards arising from food contact tools.

The advisory reinforces the requirements already prescribed under Schedule 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, which require all equipment, utensils and food contact surfaces used during handling, processing, packaging and storage to be made of food-grade, non-toxic, corrosion-resistant materials and maintained hygienically.

For the dairy industry, this advisory has wider implications because cutting operations are involved across several product categories and stages of processing.

Cutting tools are critical in multiple dairy operations

In cheese manufacturing, knives and cutting devices are used for curd cutting, block cutting, portioning and packing operations. Any damaged, corroded or poorly maintained blade can become a source of metal contamination or microbial harbourage.

Paneer processing also involves multiple cutting stages — cutting blocks into retail portions, cubes for food service packs and further processing applications. Similarly, dairy sweets such as peda, burfi, kalakand and other milk-based confectionery products involve manual or semi-mechanised cutting and portioning where sharp tools come in direct contact with food.

Even in packaging areas, cutting tools have a role. Operators frequently use knives or blades for opening and trimming:

• leaking or damaged pouches,
• milk product packs,
• powder bags,
• ingredient bags,
• packaging materials,
• liners and secondary packaging.

Butter and fat product handling also involves cutting operations during block cutting, sampling and repacking. These activities may appear routine, but they introduce a food safety risk if the tools are not controlled.

The hidden risk: uncontrolled sharp tools

One of the most important aspects for dairy plants is not only the quality of the blade but also its control and accessibility.

A common practice in many facilities is keeping knives, cutters or blades near workstations for convenience. However, if such sharp objects are freely available without proper identification, issue-return systems or access control, it creates a significant gap in the Food Safety Management System.

Modern food safety systems have moved beyond only HACCP-based process controls. TACCP (Threat Assessment and Critical Control Point) and VACCP (Vulnerability Assessment and Critical Control Point) have become integral elements of food safety management, especially in large dairy and food processing organizations.

An uncontrolled knife or cutting tool can represent:

• a physical contamination risk due to breakage, chipping or corrosion,
• a hygiene risk due to improper cleaning and storage,
• a vulnerability risk due to intentional misuse or malicious contamination.

Therefore, independent sharp tools such as knives should ideally be managed through:

• controlled issuance and return,
• designated storage locations,
• lock-and-key or secured storage arrangements wherever applicable,
• authorized user access,
• periodic inspection and replacement records.

Keeping sharp tools openly available without any control mechanism can become a breach not only of good manufacturing practices but also of TACCP and VACCP principles.

Dairy plants need to review their current practices

The FSSAI advisory requires food businesses to ensure that only suitable food-grade cutting equipment is used, that damaged or unsuitable tools are immediately removed, and that cleaning and sanitation procedures are established.

Dairy organizations should therefore revisit their SOPs related to:

• knife and blade inventory management,
• replacement frequency,
• cleaning and sanitation,
• tool storage,
• operator responsibility,
• foreign body control,
• TACCP/VACCP assessment.

A small cutting tool may appear insignificant compared to large processing equipment, but in a food safety system every food-contact surface matters.

The advisory is a timely reminder that food safety is not only about controlling what happens inside the processing line; it is equally about controlling every small activity and object that comes in contact with food.

A strong dairy food safety culture is built when even the smallest tools are treated as critical food safety assets.

Source : Review of FSSAI notification by Kuldeep Sharma Chief Editor Dairynews7x7 June 16th 2026

Download notification here