The growing use of plastics in processed food packaging triggered the apprehension of increasing contamination of microplastics in the food we consume. The apprehension has intensified even as the food industry is rapidly expanding in the country. The central government’s Department of Chemicals and Fertilizers, in an Action Taken Report submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, seeks to allay the apprehension by highlighting the measures initiated for enforcement of food-grade packaging materials. A recent report of the Parliamentary panel quoted the Department as stating that packaging material in direct contact with food products is sampled at the pre-packaging stage at the manufacturing unit of Food Business Operators (FBOs). It refers to the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018, which stipulates that every manufacturer of food products shall obtain the Certificate of Conformity (CoC), issued by an NABL-accredited laboratory, for the packaging material that comes in direct contact with food or layers likely to come in contact with withfood. Further, the department states that all states and union territories have been directed to strengthen the monitoring and intensify the sampling and testing of food-contact packaging materials to verify and ascertain compliance. While it is easier for the authorities to enforce the norms in the case of FBOs in the formal food sector, which are duly registered and have obtained food licenses, a vast number of street food vendors who operate informally remain outside the enforcement umbrella. The problem can be addressed to some extent through efficient coordination between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for reaching out to the street vendors who have availed microcredits under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi). The findings of the research project titled “Micro- and Nano-plastics as Emerging Food Contaminants: Establishing Validated Methodologies and Understanding the Prevalence in Different Food Matrices,” launched by FSSAI in March 2024, which are expected to be released in March this year, will help regulating authorities to adopt measures based on new scientific findings on the issue. As three top research institutes—CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow; ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT), Kochi; and Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani—have collaborated for this research project, it is expected to bring more clarity on claims and apprehension on micro- and nanoplastics contaminations in food. The pragmatic option to reduce the scope of such contamination is the use of alternate packaging materials by food service establishments. The Expert Committee constituted in 2023 with the mandate to develop a guideline/advisory document on the safe use of food packaging materials by food service establishments such as hotels, restaurants, and street vendors has already placed its report at the 47th Food Authority meeting held in August last year. The terms of reference (ToR) of this committee included reviewing the definition of food-grade packaging materials; examining alternate packaging materials for use by food service establishments; developing a guideline document regarding the use of safe & suitable food packaging materials by various food service establishments and suggesting a list of packaging materials based on the nature of the cooked food product; and conducting a survey and evaluating the food packaging materials currently used by the food service establishment. The parliamentary committee’s report highlights that these ToRs have been prepared specifically to address the influence of extreme temperatures on commonly used plastic packaging categories such as PET bottles, recycled-PET bottles, polycarbonate cans, laminates with food-contact coatings, laminates with sealant films, and other packaging types and focus on packaging applications across diverse food matrices, including water, carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, acidic foods, fatty foods, snacks, pickles, and hot-filled products. Finalization of the recommendations made in this report and wide dissemination is crucial to raise the awareness on safe food-grade packaging among all sections of the food business stakeholders. It is important that whenever Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations are amended and notified, sincere efforts are made to reach out to the street food vendors whose numbers have increased across the country. Expansion of the food industry beyond cities and urban areas to peri-urban areas as well as to villages demands that awareness of safer food packaging be built among food business operators as well as consumers. An alert consumer can bring violations of safety norms or the practice of unsafe packaging to the regulating authorities. Cost-effectiveness of alternative packaging material is a critical factor in determining the success of food packaging regulations, as food vendors, even after knowing about the harmful impact of non-food-grade plastic packaging, go for such materials as they come cheaper compared to alternate packaging materials. The situation calls for continued research on alternative packaging materials and availability on a commercial scale. Compliance is essential for enforcing standards, but a scientific mindset is crucial for protecting consumers from packaging-related health risks.