The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Central government and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over its failure to take a decision on introducing front-of-pack warning labels for packaged food products containing high levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat, saying it would pass further directions if the Centre failed to act.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said the Court was concerned with protecting the health of citizens, particularly growing children, and questioned the Union’s reluctance to adopt stronger nutritional warnings despite the Court’s earlier directions.
The bench, however, rejected the argument that such concerns should prevent the government from creating greater public awareness about what consumers were eating. During the hearing, senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for a manufacturer, sought to make submissions. Because of their fat or salt content, chahar sought to explain the government’s concerns, submitting that strict warning labels could result in traditional Indian foods, including namkeen, carrying a red warning symbol.
The bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Brijender Chahar, appearing for the Union, that the government had to comply with what the Court had asked it to do and questioned whether it was succumbing to pressure from corporate houses. The Court said it was acting in the public interest and not for itself, and asked the Union what steps it had taken so far on the issue. He said international nutritional standards may not be directly applicable to Indian food habits and pointed out that even two eggs could cross the permissible daily fat limit. The Court said consumers were already aware that packaged foods contain sugar, fat and carbohydrates, but front-of-pack warnings would provide a simple means of informing them about the nutritional risks before they purchased a product. The Court told him that the issue concerned the health of citizens and that manufacturers could not dictate the policy on the matter. Senior advocate Devadutt Kamat, appearing in the matter, suggested that food products could be categorised differently and said the nutritional content of products should also be displayed.
