Plea over non-veg ingredients in veg items disposed of

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Friday disposed of a PIL seeking directions to the govt authorities for alternative methods of detecting non-vegetarian ingredients in vegetarian food products bearing the green dot label , while terming the PIL “vague”.

While disposing of the PIL in the absence of any such technology to detect non-veg ingredients in vegetarian food items, the bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee directed the food safety commissioner and commissioner of the food and drug control administration (FDCA) to ensure strict implementation of the Food Safety and Standard Act , 2006 and its Regulations of 2011.

It also directed that any violations be dealt with with a firm hand. It said, “Inspections at regular intervals are to be carried out to ensure that food business operators do not violate provisions of the Act. Any such violations should not go unattended and action should be taken against all such violators with strict penalties.”

The PIL was filed by Mumbai Jivdaya Mandli, complaining that many a time certain non-vegetarian ingredients are found in food items labelled with the green dot, though such food packets must strictly bear the brown dot. In order to avoid such violations, it suggested testing of food samples. It also suggested the use of a DNA kit to detect non-vegetarian ingredients in vegetarian food.

However, the authorities made it clear that they do not have any such facility in their laboratories. The testing infrastructure to test and analyze and food misbranding is adequate in Gujarat, but “there is no method available in the existing Food Safety and Standards Authority of India manuals with regard to detection and analysis of egg or egg yolk in pasta, cake and other products”. Moreover, no technology or DNA kit, as suggested by the petitioner, has been approved by FSSAI, as no such technology manufacturer has applied for approval. Therefore, the court cannot issue any positive directions for implementation of such technology as an additional method to detect non-vegetarian food in green dot labelled food packets.

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