How to Check FSSAI License Number Real or Fake Online Verification Guide 2026
A 14-digit FSSAI number printed on a food packet, a restaurant menu, or a delivery bill is supposed to be proof that the seller is registered with India's food safety regulator. In practice, that number is also one of the easiest things in the food business to fake — it is just fourteen digits, and most buyers never check it. This matters more than it sounds. If you are a distributor, a quick-commerce platform, a corporate canteen buyer, or an e-commerce marketplace onboarding sellers, accepting a forged licence transfers the risk to you. If you are a consumer, an unverified number means nobody has inspected that kitchen. The good news: verification is free, takes about 30 seconds, and requires no login. This guide shows you exactly how to check whether an FSSAI license number is real or fake, how to read the 14-digit code, what the common forgery patterns look like, and what to do when a number does not check out.
Key Requirements and Criteria Before You Verify
The full 14-digit number
FSSAI licence and registration numbers are always exactly 14 digits. Anything shorter, longer, or containing letters is not a valid FSSAI number. If a certificate shows "FSSAI No: 1234567" or a number with a hyphenated suffix, treat that as your first red flag.
The business name and address as claimed
Verification is not just "does this number exist" — it is "does this number belong to this business." Note down the exact legal name and the premises address the seller claims, so you can compare them with what the portal returns.
The licence category being claimed
FSSAI issues three tiers: Basic Registration (turnover up to ₹12 lakh), State Licence (₹12 lakh to ₹20 crore), and Central Licence (above ₹20 crore, plus importers, exporters, e-commerce operators, and businesses in more than one state). A large national supplier showing a Basic Registration is a mismatch worth questioning.
The licence category being claimed
FSSAI issues three tiers: Basic Registration (turnover up to ₹12 lakh), State Licence (₹12 lakh to ₹20 crore), and Central Licence (above ₹20 crore, plus importers, exporters, e-commerce operators, and businesses in more than one state). A large national supplier showing a Basic Registration is a mismatch worth questioning.
The validity period
A licence that was genuine two years ago may have lapsed. Always read the validity dates on the portal output, not the certificate the seller handed you.
How to Read the 14-Digit FSSAI Number
How Does FSSAI License Verification Work? Step-by-Step
Open the official FoSCoS portal
Go to https://foscos.fssai.gov.in. Use the address bar directly rather than clicking a link the seller sent you — cloned lookalike portals exist, and a link supplied by the party being verified defeats the purpose of the check.
Open the FBO Search tool
On the FoSCoS homepage, find the FBO Search option (FBO = Food Business Operator). It is available on the public homepage without a login. FoSCoS also carries a "Verify Licence/Registration" utility that performs the same lookup.
Enter the licence number and captcha
Select the search type — you can typically search by licence/registration number, and in many cases by company name or state and district if you do not have the number. Enter the 14 digits with no spaces, fill in the captcha, and submit.
If you only have a business name, search by name and state; expect multiple results and match on address.
Read the result carefully
A genuine record returns the details FSSAI holds on file, typically including:
Company/FBO name
Premises address
Licence type (Registration / State / Central)
Status (Active, Expired, Suspended, Cancelled)
Validity dates
The food product categories the business is approved for
Match every field against the claim
This is the step most people skip, and it is where real forgeries are caught. Check that:
The name on the portal matches the seller's legal name — not just a similar-sounding brand.
The address matches the premises actually manufacturing or storing the food.
The status reads Active.
The product category covers what they are actually selling. A licence for "packaged drinking water" does not authorise dairy products.
The licence tier is plausible for their scale.
Open the official FoSCoS portal
Go to https://foscos.fssai.gov.in. Use the address bar directly rather than clicking a link the seller sent you — cloned lookalike portals exist, and a link supplied by the party being verified defeats the purpose of the check.
Open the FBO Search tool
On the FoSCoS homepage, find the FBO Search option (FBO = Food Business Operator). It is available on the public homepage without a login. FoSCoS also carries a "Verify Licence/Registration" utility that performs the same lookup.
Enter the licence number and captcha
Select the search type — you can typically search by licence/registration number, and in many cases by company name or state and district if you do not have the number. Enter the 14 digits with no spaces, fill in the captcha, and submit.
If you only have a business name, search by name and state; expect multiple results and match on address.
Read the result carefully
A genuine record returns the details FSSAI holds on file, typically including:
Company/FBO name
Premises address
Licence type (Registration / State / Central)
Status (Active, Expired, Suspended, Cancelled)
Validity dates
The food product categories the business is approved for
Match every field against the claim
This is the step most people skip, and it is where real forgeries are caught. Check that:
The name on the portal matches the seller's legal name — not just a similar-sounding brand.
The address matches the premises actually manufacturing or storing the food.
The status reads Active.
The product category covers what they are actually selling. A licence for "packaged drinking water" does not authorise dairy products.
The licence tier is plausible for their scale.
Benefits of Verifying an FSSAI License
You avoid supply-chain liability
Food safety enforcement follows the chain. When an unlicensed manufacturer is caught, distributors and retailers who sold the product face questions about due diligence. A dated verification record is your evidence that you performed that diligence.
You filter out fraudulent suppliers early
Fake-licence suppliers rarely survive a two-minute portal check. Making verification a mandatory onboarding step removes an entire category of fraud before any money moves — far cheaper than recovering an advance afterwards.
You confirm the seller is authorised for the specific product
The FSSAI record lists approved product categories. This catches a subtler problem than outright fakery: a genuinely licensed business selling outside its approved scope. Dairy, meat, infant nutrition, and health supplements all carry category-specific conditions.
You catch expired and suspended licences
A licence is valid for one to five years depending on what the operator paid for, and it can be suspended or cancelled after an inspection failure. Only the live portal shows current status — a PDF certificate cannot. This is why annual re-verification of your vendor list matters.
You build a defensible compliance record
For platforms, exporters, and organised retail, auditors want to see a repeatable process: number captured, verified against FoSCoS, screenshot filed, re-checked before expiry. Verification is what turns a pile of vendor PDFs into an audit-ready file.
FAQs
Conclusion
Checking whether an FSSAI license number is real or fake comes down to one habit: verify the number on FoSCoS, and then read what comes back.
The number existing in the database is only half the check. The half that catches real fraud is matching the returned name, address, status, and approved product categories against what the seller actually claims — because the most common forgery is not an invented number, it is a real number borrowed from someone else.
Your next step: open foscos.fssai.gov.in, run FBO Search on the licence numbers of your three largest food suppliers, and save dated screenshots of each result. If any comes back expired, mismatched, or missing, pause the relationship and ask for a current certificate before the next order ships.
This guide is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. FSSAI rules, fees, and portal features are updated periodically — always confirm the current position on the official FSSAI and FoSCoS websites, or consult a qualified compliance professional for your specific situation.
Practical Examples
Example 1 — The copied number. A packaged-snacks distributor in Pune receives a supplier's certificate. The number verifies on FoSCoS, but the record returns a sweets manufacturer in a different district with an unrelated name. The supplier had copied a genuine number from a competitor's packet. Caught at the name-match step, not the existence step.
Example 2 — The lapsed licence. A hotel chain re-runs its vendor list before an annual audit. Two of eighteen suppliers show Expired. Both had renewed late and were trading in the gap. The chain paused purchase orders until renewal was confirmed — avoiding an audit finding.
Example 3 — The scope mismatch. A quick-commerce platform onboards a seller whose Central Licence is genuine and active, but whose approved categories do not include nutraceuticals — the exact products being listed. The listing is blocked pending a category endorsement.
Example 4 — The consumer check. A buyer notices an oil bottle whose printed FSSAI number has 12 digits. FBO Search returns nothing. The buyer reports it through FSSAI's Food Safety Connect grievance app, which routes complaints to the relevant state food safety officer.