SC to hear petition against ban on gutka

The Supreme Court has transferred to itself a petition filed by a leading chewing tobacco manufacturer against the ban on sale of gutka and paan masala.
Gutka manufacturers have moved various high courts questioning the constitutional validity of the notifications issued by various state government. The manufacturers are insisting that gutka cannot be treated and regulated as 'food' as it has "no nutritional value" and highlight the "discriminatory nature" of the ban that has brought their business to a "complete halt".
A bench headed by Justice RM Lodha transferred to itself a petition filed by Dharampal Satyapal before the Delhi High Court against the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011, which was notified in August last year, that imposed restrictions on use of nicotine and tobacco in food products.
The petition was transferred on the ministry of health and family welfare's plea stating that similar petitions are pending before the apex court. After repeal of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954, provisions of Rule 44J have been retained as Regulation 2.2.4 under the 2011 Regulations.
Regulation 2.3.4 prohibits sale of products that contain any substance injurious to health and prohibits tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food products. Even Regulation 3.1.7 restricts use of anticaking agents like carbonates of calcium and magnesium in foods except where specifically allowed like in table salt, onion powder, fruit powder and soup powder, but not more than 2%.
Dharampal Satyapal has alleged that the Regulation is contrary to the Cigerettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003.
Even tobacco majors Dhariwal Industries, Ghodawat Pan Masala Products, Rajnandini Foods, SDD Agencies and Hira Enterprises have moved the Bombay HC seeking setting aside of the July 19 notification and the two regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, based on which the state issued the ban.

Food Safety and Standards Act implementation facing hurdles

Even as the the licence /registration of food manufacturing and selling units and street food vendors have been extended till February 2013, the State Government is confronted with many constraints like staff shortage, lack of infrastructure and resource crunch with regard to implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA).
A section of food safety officials are doubtful if the Act could be implemented with the existing constraints even if the deadline for licence/registration was extended.
‘’There was a transition period till August 5 this year. But it is doubtful if the Act could be fully implemented in the state as many issues are yet to be sorted out,’’ sources in the office of the Commissioner of Food Safety said. They said that it was unlikely that the Act will be fully implemented within the timeframe at the current pace.
‘’Shortage of staff and law enforcement officials are the main constraints in fully implementing the provisions of the Act,’’ they said. There are only about 125 officials to deal with the whole system, they said. In addition, there are no accredited labs in the state for testing the food samples that are collected.
Moreover, there are no adequate technical personnel to conduct the tests as prescribed in the Act.
Another hurdle that the State Government faces with regard to the implementation is the setting up of Appellate tribunals, adjudicating officers and special courts, which are notified under the Act.
However, Joint Commissioner of Food Safety K Anil Kumar said that the state was close to fully implementing the Act.
‘’Within days, the Act will be fully implemented in the state,’’ he claimed.  With regard to the formation of Appellate tribunals and appointing adjudicating officers, he said that the notification had been issued.
‘’There is no need for any concern. Everything is going in the right direction,’’ he said.

HC directs Maha govt not to destroy seized gutkha, pan masala

The Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra government not to destroy gutkha and pan masala packets seized by them pending hearing of petitions filed by several manufacturing companies challenging the ban on sale or manufacture of these tobacco products.
The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) had seized gutkha and pan masala worth over Rs 5 lakh after the state government issued a notification on July 19, 2012 prohibiting manufacture, sale and storage of the tobacco products across Maharashtra.
Aggrieved by this, several gutkha and pan masala manufacturers approached the High Court seeking to set aside the notification and two regulations of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), under which the ban was brought into effect.
The state government today filed an affidavit saying the petitioners cannot challenge the constitutional validity of the regulation in the High Court here as the said Act and regulations have been made by the central government.
"The regulation has been enacted by the central government. The government of Maharashtra is only the enforcing authority," the affidavit filed by Kamlesh Sankhe, joint commissioner (Food) from the FDA, states.
Justifying that the ban was issued in the interest of public health, the state government has said it is its duty to raise level of nutrition and standard of living among its citizens.
"Improving public health and raising level of nutrition is one of the primary duties of the state government. The government shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs except for medicinal purposes which are injurious to health," the affidavit states.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar today adjourned the hearing till August 16 after the petitioner companies sought time to go through the state government's affidavit and file their reply to it.

Food and drug administration to start testing food samples with mobile laboratory

BHOPAL: The food and drug administration (FDA) officials would hit the roads again - only this time with an upgraded mobile laboratory to test and analyze food products on the spot. If contamination in food items is established, the food inspectors would be able to penalise violators on the spot, under the new food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) Act.
The new mobile laboratory is likely to start functioning from September, which would travel across the state.
MP food safety commissioner, M Geetha told TOI, "The installation of mobile laboratories would help FDA test food samples quickly, picked right from the source of productions be its milk, vegetables or others. "Our facility would be able to analyze the produce for different parameters of contamination," she said. The parameters include testing for colour, pesticide recede and hormones in products.
The mobile laboratory would also promote transparency. "Since, the test report would be available instantly, it would not leave much room for complaints," said FDA officer C Meena. Currently, laboratory test reports take about a fortnight to come. Businesses have often claimed that the elapsed time has a detrimental effect on their business.
A budget of approximately Rs 55 lakh has been allocated for the new mobile laboratory. "We are awaiting design specs as the chassis has already been purchased," said Meena.
"In addition the mobile lab would target facilities which have sickened people in the past," he added. A positive test result for contamination after sample screening can be sent for more extensive testing to confirm the mobile lab's results.

Food companies face action for misleading ads

Health authorities to collect samples and conduct tests

In an attempt to regulate misleading advertisements by companies that promise moon but deliver little, health authorities will start collecting samples at random and conduct tests in the Food Safety Laboratory in Hyderabad. The quality analysis reports will be directly uploaded in the government website to help consumers make an informed choice.

The move to frequently collect random samples of food and other edible products from companies is part of a drive of health authorities to spread awareness on food safety. The aim is also to penalise companies that come up with misleading advertisements.

“Public are not aware about the existence of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Act empowers us to regulate misleading advertisements. We want to popularise this Act by spreading awareness. Close to 1,000 random samples will be collected for testing. The results will be uploaded in our website,” Food Safety Commissioner, Praveen Prakash said.

In a first salvo of sorts to curb such false claims, Mr. Praveen Prakash has also served notices on well known edible oil and food companies - Gemini Edibles and Fats Private Ltd for the claim of zero percent cholesterol in ‘Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil’, Health Heart Foods, Timmapur for claiming that their brand ‘Healthy Heart Sunflower Oil’ reduces cholesterol.

Hi-Tech Malto Max Foods, Himachal Pradesh, which has claimed that its product helps reduce cholesterol, improves digestion, is low fat and has stress relievers. Notices were also issued on Heinz India, Mumbai for advertising that its product ‘Complan’ has 34 vital nutrients and eight enriched with food products.

Under Section 53 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, individuals who publish advertisements that falsely describe food and are likely to mislead or give false guarantees to public are liable to a penalty up to Rs. 10 lakh. “There are large numbers of food products that claim a lot but do not have scientific basis,” Mr. Praveen Prakash said.

Officials familiar with issue said that very soon the Central Government is also likely to come up with legislations and an inter-ministerial group to regulate such misleading claims. “The companies have come together to set up Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to self regulate, but there has been no success,” officials rued. The test results from Food Safety Laboratory will be hosted in cfw.ap.nin.in and aphealthorders.co.in.