Sep 8, 2012
Rs 12 lakh ceiling not applicable to small-scale FBOs: Madras High Court
In response to the Writ Petition Number 4791/12 filed by Madurai Managar Anaitthu Vanigargal Nala Sangam (represented by its president L Thangavel and co-petitioner P Arivarasu, who owns a small-scale food and beverage industry) and 16 other writ petitions (which were filed later), the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (comprising Justice K Chandru and Justice V Ramasubramanian) passed an interim order, ruling that the ceiling of Rs 12 lakh imposed on food business operators (FBOs) by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) may not apply to small-scale industries related to the food and beverage business.
"They ruled that the interim order that would make the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, work, even while permitting the petitioners to carry on their business within the framework of the law, can be passed, and directed the Centre to bring all writ petitions challenging the validity of FSSA and FSSR to the Supreme Court's notice," said Ganesh Jeyaraj, member, Madurai Managar Anaitthu Vanigargal Nala Sangam.
"The scientific panels and scientific committees, which were scrapped upon the apex court's recommendation, have been reconstituted, but the petitioners contend that this hasn't been done in accordance with Section 13 of the Act. They are also challenging FSSAI's decision not to adhere to the Act and FSSR for fixing the standards for each commodity," he informed.
"The judges also said that Tamil Nadu's food safety commissioner will draw samples and proceed with the other requirements subject to the final orders to be passed in the writ petition. He was directed to accept the petitioners as having complied with the labelling requirements in the form of stickers," Jeyaraj said.
He added, "The earlier stay and interim injunctions will be vacated. If the apex court is monitoring the implementation of the Act, no other constitutional court can work at cross purposes. If a person willingly complies with a substantial part of the Regulations, he may be kept out."
"They ruled that the interim order that would make the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, work, even while permitting the petitioners to carry on their business within the framework of the law, can be passed, and directed the Centre to bring all writ petitions challenging the validity of FSSA and FSSR to the Supreme Court's notice," said Ganesh Jeyaraj, member, Madurai Managar Anaitthu Vanigargal Nala Sangam.
"The scientific panels and scientific committees, which were scrapped upon the apex court's recommendation, have been reconstituted, but the petitioners contend that this hasn't been done in accordance with Section 13 of the Act. They are also challenging FSSAI's decision not to adhere to the Act and FSSR for fixing the standards for each commodity," he informed.
"The judges also said that Tamil Nadu's food safety commissioner will draw samples and proceed with the other requirements subject to the final orders to be passed in the writ petition. He was directed to accept the petitioners as having complied with the labelling requirements in the form of stickers," Jeyaraj said.
He added, "The earlier stay and interim injunctions will be vacated. If the apex court is monitoring the implementation of the Act, no other constitutional court can work at cross purposes. If a person willingly complies with a substantial part of the Regulations, he may be kept out."
Mobile labs to check adulteration of milk - JMC to procure at least six such laboratories
Concerned over the influx of adulterated milk in the city, the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has decided to buy computerised mobile testing laboratories to check samples on a daily basis.
Officials said the health wing of the Corporation had sent a proposal to the government to buy half a dozen mobile laboratories to test the daily supply of milk within the municipal limits, which at times has been found of poor quality for human consumption.So far, the corporation was dependent on the laboratory, which takes days for testing the samples and giving out results. The new mobile laboratories will give results in few minutes, allowing greater ability of the staff to impose a fine on the dairy owners.
A study by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has found that 83 per cent of milk sold in urban areas and districts of the state is not safe for consumption.
The FSSAI had taken 18 samples from both urban and rural areas of the state as part of its nationwide study to identify different types of adulteration in the liquid milk and only three samples confirmed to the standards set by the government.
The study had found that most common adulteration in the state is glucose and skimmed milk products (SMP), mixed with an intention to earn profit at the expenses of heath of common man.
Health Officer of JMC Dr Vinod Sharma said, “We are waiting for the funds to procure half a dozen mobile testing laboratores, which could help us in taking speedy action against defaulting dairy owners”.
Dr Sharma said in the absence of modern gadgets, it was becoming difficult to curb the influx of adulterated milk and its products, which is at times very dangerous for the health of the people.
The study has revealed that water is the most common adulterant. It not only reduces the nutritional value of milk but contaminated water may also pose a health hazard to the consumers.
Unable to cope up with the increasing demand of milk locally, Jammu imports nearly six lakh metric tonnes of milk from other parts of the country annually. Most of it is directly supplied to the distributors, with not much tests done by the authorities.
No lifting gutkha ban, says High Court
The Bombay High Court refused on Friday to stay the notification banning paan masala, saying the state government had taken the decision in public interest.
The interim order was passed in response to a petition by Dhariwal Industries Limited challenging the seizure of its paan masala packets by the state Food and Drugs Administration.
Dhariwal Industries said the state government had imposed a “blanket ban” on gutkha and paan masala.
It argued that the two products were different and paan masala was not harmful.
Advocate General Darius Khambata countered that 98 per cent of samples of paan masala were found to have certain percentage of zinc, magnesium carbonate and other harmful substances.
A group of doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital, who intervened in the case in support of the ban, said the various processes the product was put through to add taste and flavour made it hazardous to health.
A group of companies manufacturing gutkha has also challenged the government man. Their petitions are to be heard on September 12.
The companies have questioned if gutkha can be classified as “food” and said it cannot be governed by Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, under which it has been banned.
The companies claim before the notification, gutkha was governed by Control of Tobacco Products Act, 2003.
Sanjay Kadam, the lawyer who represented the doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital, said, “We welcome the judgment. Our stand was that loss of revenue (to gutkha companies) can never be a larger issue than loss of human life and health.”
FDA awaits nod to destroy seizure
With the Bombay High Court upholding the ban on manufacturing and sale of paan masala in an interim order, the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is now awaiting nod to destroy seized packets.
The state FDA has confiscated gutkha and paan masala worth Rs 6.85 crore since the ban notification was issued in July. Of this, seizure worth Rs 92 lakh was made in Mumbai.
“Most of the gutkha, worth Rs 3 crore, was seized from Thane. We are now waiting for the final hearing to destroy the seizure,” said Kamlesh Sankhe, Joint Commissioner (food), FDA.
Paan masala contains areca nut, a WHO-categorised carcinogen. “This is the first time that paan masala has been included in the perview of tobacco ban.
“There is enough evidence to prove its ill- effects,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of Tata Memorial Hospital. Anti-tobacco activists welcomed the move.
“It is a commendable risk the government has taken to ban paan masala.
“The challenge now is its implementation. Children, who suffer the most from the sale and consumption of paan masala, will benefit from this move,” said Vincent Nazareth of NGO Crusade against Tobacco.
No court relief for pan masala makers
MUMBAI: The Bombay HC on Friday granted no relief to a petition filed by the makers of a pan masala, Pan Vilas, and after clubbing the case originally filed in Nagpur with the clutch of challenges raised by gutka majors in Mumbai, said it would finally hear the matter on September 12.
Their counsel, Ravi Kadam, argued that the product which was merely pan masala, and not flavoured tobacco like gutka, cannot be banned because it does not contain tobacco, nicotine or magnesium carbonate. ACT India, the Tata hospital-based NGO, intervened in this petition too
and opposed their demand.Advocate general Darius Khambata appearing for the state senior counsel Rajni Iyer for the NGO argued that pan masala was also very
harmful for health and needed to be prohibited. The state ban was on both.
The HC bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar had earlier been assured by the state that it would not destroy any seized packets of gutka. The court has not stayed the ban introduced by the state government in July 2012
on gutka and pan masala. In an detailed
affidavit, the state earlier said the ban under a 2006 law which is a central law and its rules notified in 2011 was in "larger interest of public health". It said the ban was justifed since flavoured tobacco was considered "food" even by the Supreme Court and under the Food Safety and Standards Act which governed adulteration of food to protect public health.
The interim order was passed in response to a petition by Dhariwal Industries Limited challenging the seizure of its paan masala packets by the state Food and Drugs Administration.
Dhariwal Industries said the state government had imposed a “blanket ban” on gutkha and paan masala.
It argued that the two products were different and paan masala was not harmful.
Advocate General Darius Khambata countered that 98 per cent of samples of paan masala were found to have certain percentage of zinc, magnesium carbonate and other harmful substances.
A group of doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital, who intervened in the case in support of the ban, said the various processes the product was put through to add taste and flavour made it hazardous to health.
A group of companies manufacturing gutkha has also challenged the government man. Their petitions are to be heard on September 12.
The companies have questioned if gutkha can be classified as “food” and said it cannot be governed by Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, under which it has been banned.
The companies claim before the notification, gutkha was governed by Control of Tobacco Products Act, 2003.
Sanjay Kadam, the lawyer who represented the doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital, said, “We welcome the judgment. Our stand was that loss of revenue (to gutkha companies) can never be a larger issue than loss of human life and health.”
FDA awaits nod to destroy seizure
With the Bombay High Court upholding the ban on manufacturing and sale of paan masala in an interim order, the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is now awaiting nod to destroy seized packets.
The state FDA has confiscated gutkha and paan masala worth Rs 6.85 crore since the ban notification was issued in July. Of this, seizure worth Rs 92 lakh was made in Mumbai.
“Most of the gutkha, worth Rs 3 crore, was seized from Thane. We are now waiting for the final hearing to destroy the seizure,” said Kamlesh Sankhe, Joint Commissioner (food), FDA.
Paan masala contains areca nut, a WHO-categorised carcinogen. “This is the first time that paan masala has been included in the perview of tobacco ban.
“There is enough evidence to prove its ill- effects,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi of Tata Memorial Hospital. Anti-tobacco activists welcomed the move.
“It is a commendable risk the government has taken to ban paan masala.
“The challenge now is its implementation. Children, who suffer the most from the sale and consumption of paan masala, will benefit from this move,” said Vincent Nazareth of NGO Crusade against Tobacco.
No court relief for pan masala makers
MUMBAI: The Bombay HC on Friday granted no relief to a petition filed by the makers of a pan masala, Pan Vilas, and after clubbing the case originally filed in Nagpur with the clutch of challenges raised by gutka majors in Mumbai, said it would finally hear the matter on September 12.
Their counsel, Ravi Kadam, argued that the product which was merely pan masala, and not flavoured tobacco like gutka, cannot be banned because it does not contain tobacco, nicotine or magnesium carbonate. ACT India, the Tata hospital-based NGO, intervened in this petition too
and opposed their demand.Advocate general Darius Khambata appearing for the state senior counsel Rajni Iyer for the NGO argued that pan masala was also very
harmful for health and needed to be prohibited. The state ban was on both.
The HC bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar had earlier been assured by the state that it would not destroy any seized packets of gutka. The court has not stayed the ban introduced by the state government in July 2012
on gutka and pan masala. In an detailed
affidavit, the state earlier said the ban under a 2006 law which is a central law and its rules notified in 2011 was in "larger interest of public health". It said the ban was justifed since flavoured tobacco was considered "food" even by the Supreme Court and under the Food Safety and Standards Act which governed adulteration of food to protect public health.
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