Food regulator draws apex court fire for food supplement ban

FSSAI Told It's Exceeding Authority

After the Bombay high court lifted the ban imposed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Maggi noodles, the Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the regulator for exceeding its authority in imposing a virtual ban on food and health supplements through a 2013 advisory making prior approval mandatory .

A bench of Justice J S Khehar and Justice N V Ramanna dismissed an appeal by FSSAI challenging a Bombay HC order quashing the advisory issued by the body and called it unlawful. The advisory required that those marketing or manufacturing nutraceutical (nutrition plus pharmaceutical) products must obtain prior approval even for those food and health supplements licensed and existing in the market.

According to this advisory FSSAI required manufacturers to take approval for a broad spectrum of food products including “novel foods, functional foods, food supplements, irradiated foods, genetically modified foods, foods for special dietary uses or extracts or concentrates of botanicals, herbs or of animal sources“.Vital Nutraceuticals Pvt Ltd and Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) had challenged the advisory on the ground that the FSSAI did not have power or authority to issue it under Section 92 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The advisory had put 37 products under the scanner, including Nutrilite Natural B tablets, Calcium Magnesium D, Nutrilite Iron Folic tablets, Nutrilite Bio C, Positrim Vanilla and Nutrilite Kids Drink in mixed fruit flavour. NOC of Nutrilite Salmon Omega 3, Nutrilite CH Balance and Nutrilite Fiber had expired, still they were being sold.

The bench repeatedly asked the FSSAI counsel to show from the Food Safety Act how it had the authority to issue the advisory . Instead, the FSSAI counsel narrated how difficult it was for the body to enforce strict safety standards in India.

“There are several new food products entering the market on a daily basis. The manufacturers juggle parameters prescribed in various food products and produce a certain variety for which there is no delineated safety standard. It makes the task of the regulator difficult. That is why the advisory for prior permission,“ he said. “Nutraceuticals as a food product had not been tested for its safety anywhere in the world,“ he said and informed the court that India was very lenient compared to countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan .