# 53% of Karnataka food safety officer posts vacant 2026-08-10T23:46:03+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Karnataka's Food Safety and Drug Administration faces a severe manpower crunch, with 113 of 210 sanctioned food safety officer posts vacant, nearly 53 per cent. The shortage forced the department to draft 60 officers from across the state for recent raids on Bengaluru restaurants. Health Minister U T Khader has acknowledged the gap and announced plans to recruit more staff. The department is also working with the Karnataka Examinations Authority to revise qualification criteria for the posts to speed up hiring. Despite the crackdown, hundreds of outlets continue to use banned colouring agents, raising public health concerns. ## Coverage - deccanherald.com Tags: FDA, food safety, Karnataka, public health, UT Khader, vacant posts Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/53-of-karnataka-food-safety-officer-posts-vacant/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/53-of-karnataka-food-safety-officer-posts-vacant/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.