TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD Vs. AYYAPPA SPICES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This interlocutory application is one filed by Travancore Devaswom Board and its officials, respondents 1 to 4 in W.P.(C) No. 41743 of 2022, seeking permission to draw samples from the stock of Aravana Prasadam kept sealed pursuant to the orders of this Court dtd. 11/1/2023, through the Food Safety Officers and send the same to analysis to any laboratory accredited by the Food Safety Authority of India to test whether Aravana Prasadam conforms to the food standards prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and safe for human consumption.

(2.) Along with the memo dtd. 7/2/2023 of the learned Central Government Counsel, report No. P.15017/15/2023-FSSAI/Legal dtd. 10/2/2023 of the Deputy Director, Food Safety Standards Authority of India, in response to I.A. No. 3 of 2023 is placed on record, wherein it is stated that as per sub-sec. (2) of Sec. 26 of the Act the onus is on the food business operators, who have to comply with the provisions of the Act, Rules and Regulations. According to the conditions of licence at Annexure 3 of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations, 2011 raw material used by food business operators shall be of optimum quality. Therefore, any raw material used in the preparation of food shall comply with all the standards specified under the Food Safety Standard Regulations. Further as per Sec. 3(zz)(i) if the food-article is composed of unsafe ingredients whether wholly or in part, the article of food is considered unsafe food. In the instant case, Cardamom used as a raw material of the end product, i.e., Aravana shall be of optimum quality. The Cardamom used for the preparation of Aravana has been declared unsafe vide Report dtd. 11/1/2023 due to the presence of pesticides which exceeds the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. MRLs of a pesticide for a food commodity, irrespective of the fact that it may be directly consumed or used as an ingredient in another food, is fixed while taking into consideration the overall dietary intake of pesticides through consumption of different food commodities to ensure the safety of food products. Therefore, unsafe raw materials shall not be used in the preparation of any article of food.

(3.) After the filing of this interlocutory application, the 2 respondent herein, who is the 5 respondent-contractor in W.P.(C) No. 41743 of 2022, filed a counter affidavit dtd. 14/2/2023 in the writ petition. The applicants/additional respondents 1 to 4 have filed an additional counter affidavit dtd. 15/2/2023 in the writ petition.