In this article, Ashima Bhargava of Amity Law School Lucknow discusses How to lodge a complaint about food adulteration.

When food products are adulterated, they bring down the nutritional value of the food and paves way for different types of health hazards. Food adulteration is a very big problem in our country. A lot of people surreptitiously adds harmful chemicals, acids, or any form of liquid (that may be injurious to health) to the food just to increase the quantity and lower the quality.

According to section 2(a) of the PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT, 1954, an article of food is said to be adulterated if:

• It contains any other substance which affects or is so processed as to affect injuriously the nature, substance or quality thereof;

• Any inferior or cheaper substance that has been substituted wholly or partly in the article so as to affect injuriously the nature, substance or quality thereof;

• Any constituent of the article that has been wholly or partly abstracted so as to affect injuriously the nature, substance or quality thereof

Explaining it in a more understanding form, ‘substance’ may be any anything which may be in the solid form or the liquid form, of inferior quality, that may affect the people if it is mixed with the products in the food, or when the good items are abstracted from the food and some unhealthy thing is mixed to make the food injurious to health. Article may be considered as food which is being adulterated.

HOW FOOD ADULTERATION HAPPENS

In India, there are about 70% deaths related to food adulteration. Because people are not aware of such things especially the illiterate ones, they have no idea that how the food is being mixed with other harmful chemicals and they unknowingly consume such food item. Everyone should be made aware of these activities taking place nowadays, campaigns should be organized to create public awareness for the security of the people. The police should be vigilant and take measures to stop the food toxicity and aim for safe food for the people to reduce the number of deaths and innumerable health problems.

PENALTIES WHICH GOVERNMENT IMPOSES ON PEOPLE WHEN THEY COMMIT THE OFFENCE OF FOOD ADULTERATION

Under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, following penalties are imposed upon the people who commit food adulteration. Section 50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59 states the penalties:

1. Any person who sells to the purchaser’s prejudice any substance which is not according to how the consumer actually demanded or is not according to the provisions demanded, shall be liable to the penalty not exceeding five lakh rupees.
2. Any person who whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf manufactures for sale or stores or sells or distributes or imports any food item for human consumption which is of lower quality or sub-standard, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to five lakh rupees.
3. Any person who whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf manufactures for the sale or stores or distributes or imports any food item for human consumption which is misbranded i.e. the food item which is in not accordance with the statutory requirements of the act, or brands the food in a misleading way, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to three lakh rupees.
4. Any person who publishes or is a party to a publication of an advertisement which falsely represents the quality of the food or give false guarantee of the food shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
5. Any person who whether by himself or by any other person on his behalf manufactures for the sale or stores or distributes or imports any food item for human consumption which contains any matter which is decayed or extraneous, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to one lakh rupees.
6. Any person whether by himself or by any other person manufactures a food article with the intention of selling it to the consumer, under unhygienic or unsanitary conditions, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to one lakh rupees.
7. If any person distributes an adulterant which is not injurious to health, the fine may be one lakh rupees and if that adulterant is injurious to health, the fine may exceed to ten lakh rupees.
8. Whoever contravenes to any of the provisions of the act, shall be liable to pay the penalty which may extend to two lakh rupees.
9. Any person whether by himself or any other person manufactures a food article with the knowledge of selling it to the consumer, sells un unsafe food which can injure the person or lead to the death of the person shall be liable to pay the fine which may exceed to ten lakh rupees and may be imprisonment for not less than seven years.

COMPENSATORY REMEDIES THAT THE VICTIM OF FOOD ADULTERATION CAN AVAIL.

1. As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, following remedies can be availed to the victims under section 65 of the same act stated above;

• Any person who by himself or any other person manufactures a food article which may be injurious to the consumer or his death shall be made liable to pay the victim a fine which may be exceed to

i) not less than five lakh rupees in case of death;

ii) not exceeding three lakh rupees in case of grievous injury;

iii) not exceeding one lakh rupees in all other cases of injury.

Provided that the compensation need to be paid at the earliest before six months and in case of death, an interim relief should be sent to the victim’s family within a period of thirty days.

PROCEDURE TO COMPLAIN

Whenever any person comes to know or sees any other person committing food adulteration, the consumer can file his complaint at;

Tier 1: manufacturer/ shopkeeper

Tier 2: Local Health Authority of India or district commissioner of the food safety Authority of the state/ union territory

List of all the local health authorities of the states and union territories:

Tier 3: Consumer Forum

Consumer forum is present at three levels, namely at the district level, state level and the national level. The complaints has the original jurisdiction at the district level and appellate jurisdiction at the state and the national level.

Consumers can also connect to FSSAI( The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) which is a statutory body to supervise the rules and regulations which are stated in the Food Safety and Standards Act. recently launched an online platform called the ‘Food Safety Voice’ where consumers can register their complaints and food safety issues about adulterated food, sub standard food, unsafe food, labelling defects in food and misleading advertisements related to various food products.

CONCLUSION

Food adulteration in today’s world is taking place at a large scale. Lot of people are being affected by it, many are dying also. Although the FSSAI is there to act as statutory body to look after that the people are adhered to the rules and regulations prescribed in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 but are there proper implications of the laws mentioned in the act? Are the people aware of the consequences of the adulterated food? Like these, many questions arises in the mind of the reader so stop that frequent questions coming to your head, we need to be more careful now. Whatever food we eat we should complete knowledge of the same. And also direct those people who cannot study or cannot understand things, In this way we will help people to know that what food is unsafe for them or will cause injury to them.