India’s food regulator has been asked to pay a compensation of Rs 2,000 to a RTI for failing to admit that the country does not have safety standards for trans fats in ghee and edible oil.
Right To Information activist KS Swami wanted to know whether the National Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has prescribed any safe percentage of trans fats in ghee and edible oil.
Some western nations such as Denmark have prescribed 2% of trans fats in products as a safe limit. A study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment had showed that most of trusted edible oil brands contain unhealthy levels of trans fat and it is 12 times higher than which is permissible in Netherlands in Vanaspati ghee.
Swami filed an RTI application in July 2011 asking the authority whether they have instructed the manufacturers of ghee and edible oils to exhibit the safe percentage of trans fats on the packets along with its actual percentage.
Instead of giving a direct reply to the questions, the authority provided a few paras of its labeling regulation which said to claim that a product was trans fats fee may be used only if it was less than 0.2 gram per serving of food.
Unhappy with the reply, Swami filed an appeal with CIC which found the authority deliberately avoiding admission of no safety standard for trans fats. “If the authority has taken no steps about specifying the safe level of trans fats percentages in ghee and edible oils they should at least admit this,” Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said in his order.
Noting that harassment of a common man was “socially abhorring” and “legally impermissible”, Gandhi said awarding a compensation (of Rs 2,000) to an individual satisfies him personally and helps in improving work culture.
The CIC has also issued a notice to authority’s public information officer of imposing penalty blaming him for not furnishing complete information.
CIC rap for Govt over trans-fat in food items
The Chief Information Commissioner has criticised Union Health Ministry for its ambivalent approach on the issue of declaration of trans-fat content in edible items sold in the market.
RTI applicant KK Swami, who had sought information whether anything concrete had been done by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India on the trans-fat content isuue, was told by the Ministry that it had made it a requirement to declare the content on September 19, 2008.
“However, this letter (from the Ministry) acknowledges that since industry made various representations apprehending commercial implications in terms of their sale of products a corrigendum was issued on Feb 27, 2009 modifying this,” Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi pointed out in his order. When the matter came before the CIC.
He also noted that Prevention of Food Adulteration Department had informed the applicant Swami, in December 2009, that the safe limit specified for trans-fat in food products shall be clarified from Government of India and efforts are being made to get the food laboratory of this department accredited from NABL to have all these testing facilities in near future.
After another year, the Ministry informed him the process of framing regulation by Food Authority of India is on. With no clear reply from the Health Ministry, Swami reached the transparency panel.
Directing the Ministry to give a clear response on the subject before March 15, Gandhi said, “The appellant has been unnecessarily harassed in pursuing this matter. If there is complete neglect of care for citizens health this should at least come out when a citizen uses Right to Information”. The consumption of trans-fat which are commonly found in the edible oils and ghee are known for increasing the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of bad LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.
