Indian food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that authorities can take action against manufacturers on the basis of mere suspicion about the quality of their food products.
Referring to the Food Safety and Standards Act, Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh representing the FSSAI said: “The scheme of the Act is that authorities can take action on mere suspicion. Suspicion does not require evidence. The Act gives wide powers to the authorities. They can act even despite conformity if the safety of food is suspect.”
Three major violationsMr. Singh said Maggi products were deemed unfair due to three major violations, misleading labelling on msg (monosodium-glutamate), presence of lead in excess and launching of oats tastemaker without assessment.
‘Not a product for adults’“Samples were collected in various States and were found to exceed the limits for lead. Maggi is not a product for adults. Consider the effect of lead on children. Lead is a heavy metal,” Mr. Singh said. He refuted Nestle’s contention that labs which tested Maggi were not accredited. Labs which were recognised by the FSSAI did not need accreditation by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories.
The court asked the regulator to furnish submissions about how to interpret Section 22 of the Act that deals with non-standard proprietary foods like Maggi.
“Does it mean that items notified by the Centre as proprietary foods cannot be sold and manufactured unless approved? For instance is ‘samosa’ or ‘bhel’ proprietary foods?” the Bench asked.
The FSSAI said that traditional foods like ‘samosa’ did not need approval.
The court pulled up the State and government authorities for delay in appearing before the court.
“We go around from country to country telling the world to do business but commercial matters remain pending. This is a sorry state of affairs. People prefer to go to Singapore and London because of this instead of coming to India,” a Division Bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and B.P. Colabawalla said.
