Food Safety can collect Nirapara samples: Kerala High Court

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Thursday permitted the state food safety department to go ahead with the collection of samples of Nirapara products in accordance with the norms. The court admitted an appeal filed by the state seeking to uphold the ban imposed on some of the products of Nirapara.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Shaffique observed,  “it shall be open for the food safety department to take samples of the product and take such other measures as permissible under law.”

The state moved the court against the single judge’s order which set aside a prohibition order issued by the commissioner of food safety.  

The commissioner had  banned the sale of Nirapara brand chilly, turmeric and coriander powder after finding that they  were   adulterated with cheap  starch powder.

Chief secretary Jiji Thomson filed the appeal arguing that Nirapara was a habitual offender. He also sought to quash the observation made by Justice Muhammed Mustaque that “a substandard product can also be sold provided the consumer  knows what the contents are.”

This finding would jeopardize the objective of the FSS Act as it is opposed to maintenance of uniform standards of the food products and would violate the provisions of FSS regulations 2011, he said and sought quashing of the observation.

The Food Safety Act prohibits the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of any article of food which is misleading or substandard, the state argued.  
 

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.