Case filed against tea manufacturer

Case filed in court against manufacturer, vendor

In a first step towards initiating legal action against those involved in manufacturing and distributing of misbranded and unsafe tea powder, officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India filed a case in the Omalur court here on Tuesday.

Accused

The accused were mentioned as vendor V. Selvam of Omalur, his wife S. Bagyalakshmi, who is the licence holder and the manufacture V. Nibhana of Ayanavaram, Chennai. A case was filed on behalf the FSSAI under Section 52 (misbranding) and 59 (unsafe) of The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Adulterated tea powder

A team led by T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, during an inspection in Omalur found 250 kg of adulterated tea powder packets kept for distribution in the region.

Samples confirmed

Samples confirmed that the tea powder was unsafe for human consumption and notice was served to the three.

If they were found guilty for misbranding, they would be liable to a penalty of less than Rs. 3 lakh and if found guilty for distributing unsafe food, they would be served with six months imprisonment and Rs. 1 lakh.

This is the first case to be registered in a court of law for initiating action under the act since implementation, authorities concerned said.