FSSAI draws SC fire for food supplement ban

Dhananjay Mahapatra,TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 04.10 AM IST

NEW DELHI: After the Bombay high court lifted the ban imposed by Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) on Maggi noodles, the Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the
regulator for exceeding its authority in imposing a virtual ban on food and health supplements
through a 2013 advisory making prior approval mandatory.
A bench of Justices J S Khehar and N V Ramanna dismissed an appeal by FSSAI challenging a Bombay
HC order quashing the advisory issued by the body and called it unlawful.
The advisory required that those marketing or manufacturing nutraceutical (nutrition plus
pharmaceutical) products must obtain prior approval even for those food and health supplements
already licensed and existing in the market.
According to this advisory FSSAI required manufacturers to take approval for a broad spectrum of
food products including "novel foods, functional foods, food supplements, irradiated foods, genetically
modified foods, foods for special dietary uses or extracts or concentrates of botanicals, herbs or of
animal sources".
Vital Nutraceuticals Pvt Ltd and Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) had challenged the
advisory on the ground that the FSSAI did not have power or authority to issue it under Section 92 of
the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The advisory had put 37 products under the scanner, including Nutrilite Natural B tablets, Calcium
Magnesium D, Nutrilite Iron Folic tablets, Nutrilite Bio C, Positrim Vanilla and Nutrilite Kids Drink in
mixed fruit flavour. NOC of Nutrilite Salmon Omega 3, Nutrilite CH Balance and Nutrilite Fiber had
expired, still they were being sold.
The bench repeatedly asked the FSSAI counsel to show from the Food Safety Act how it had the
authority to issue the advisory. Instead, the FSSAI counsel narrated how difficult it was for the body to
enforce strict safety standards in India.
"There are several new food products entering the market on a daily basis. The manufacturers juggle
parameters prescribed in various food products and produce a certain variety for which there is no
delineated safety standard. It makes the task of the regulator difficult. That is why the advisory for
prior permission," he said.
"Nutraceuticals as a food product had not been tested for its safety anywhere in the world," he said
and informed the court that India was very lenient compared to countries like the US, the UK, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and Japan when it came to enforcing food safety standards.
"It is a humungous task to implement food safety standards in India," the FSSAI counsel said. The
bench said, "The issue is not about how laudable the objective behind the advisory. The question is
whether FSSAI had the power to issue it. If it did not have, then it must go as ordered by the high
court."