The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed concern over the sale of expired food products which are re-introduced in the markets after repackaging and re-branding with new expiry dates and said people should avoid consuming “adulterated” food items. Cannot be forced. The High Court said that no one can be allowed to sell expired items and it cannot be a business. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, “People cannot eat adulterated food in Delhi. Give us suggestions as to how this can be dealt with.” The bench was hearing a PIL which was initiated suo motu after several such cases of repackaging of expired products with new expiry dates came to light.
Advocate Shwetashree Majumdar, who was assisting the court as amicus curiae, submitted her report and suggested that a QR code could be prepared by the manufacturers for all packed food items which would indicate the original expiry dates of the products. Will help in tracking. He said laws already exist to deal with the issue but the penalties prescribed for violations are not deterrents and should be revisited to ensure greater deterrence.
“Food business operators should be directed to mark all food products with a unique alphanumeric code or a QR code, which can be identified by the FSSAI representative by cross-reference to a centralized database, which will be linked to the batch number of a product. and disclose the expiry date immediately and on site, avoid testing and taking samples to ascertain whether the expiry dates and other information on the labels have been tampered with,” the amicus submitted.
He said this would be similar to the mandatory QR code requirement imposed by the Union Health Ministry for tracking and tracing of certain identified pharmaceutical products and would help in taking prompt action against violators. The court asked the authorities to suggest how they plan to increase sample collection and testing. The bench directed Delhi Police to file a fresh status report in the case and asked some alleged fake chocolate sellers, who were repackaging and selling expired chocolates, to appear in the court in person on the next hearing.
“You cannot sell expired food items. This cannot be a business. Ask your customers to remain personally present in the court next time,” the bench told the counsel for the alleged fraudsters. The court had earlier issued notices to the Central government, Delhi government, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Delhi Police, seeking their response on the matter.
The suo motu PIL was initiated after Justice Prathiba M Singh referred the matter to the division bench for judicial consideration. Justice Singh was hearing a civil suit filed by Hershey Company, a renowned chocolate manufacturer, seeking a ban on certain ranks of counterfeiters from repackaging and selling expired chocolates before the Diwali period. It found that the counterfeiters knew of and had access to Hershey’s marks and packaging and had copied expired and counterfeit chocolates by misrepresenting them as the Complainant’s products.
The single judge had concluded, prima facie, that the case revealed an exceptional situation relating to public health, particularly food products. The division bench, in its January order, had said, “From the order dated December 19, 2023, passed by the single judge, it is clear that there is a coordinated and systematic mechanism by which the expired products are being resold. New expiry dates Has been packaged/rebranded with and is being introduced in the markets.”
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