B.B.A.LL.

B (Integrated Law degree course)

Socio-Economic Offences (IX Semester)

ASSIGNMENT

“PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION & ITS SOCIO-ECONOMIC

IMAPCT”

Submission To: Submitted By:

Ms. Alisha Verma Kishan Singh
Faculty of Socio-Economic Offences Roll no: - L/127
Assistant Professor Session: 2017-18 Semester-IX

Raffles University
School of Law
ABSTRACT

In India, adulteration and contamination are encountered in food consumed at the household
level, in the food service establishments and business firms, and also when sold as street
foods. Non-permitted colors are the most common additives to foods. Contamination of
mycotoxins, metals and pesticides in daily foods and milk has been found highly toxic and
carcinogenic, and about 70% of deaths are supposed to be of food-borne origin. In this paper,
food safety measures are emphasized with an objective of prevention of health hazards and
strengthening of regulatory system. It is possible to prevent food adulteration and
contamination if people are made aware of health hazards. If food inspectors are vigilant and
active, the risk of food toxicity can be minimized at all levels of food supply and
consumption. Further, simple measures can prevent further complications, particularly those
caused by microbiological contaminants. Fatal diseases and health hazards prevalent in India
can be minimized and consumers can live happily with good health. The social life in the
communities is strengthened resulting in less expense on health related problems. Citizens
aware of food adulteration and contamination can arrange camps/campaigns through local
bodies and safe food can be the goal for all concerned.
INTRODUCTION

What is food adulteration?

Food adulteration is the process in which the quality of food is lowered either by the addition
of inferior quality material or by extraction of valuable ingredient .Nutritious substances
which are added intentionally to food , generally in small quantity , to improve its appearance
, flavor, texture or storage properties . Adulteration is a legal term meaning that a food
product fails to meet federal or state standards. The word is proper only when the additions
are unwanted by the consumer. Adulterants when used in illicit drugs are called cutting
agents, while deliberate addition of toxic adulterants to food or other products for human
consumption is known as poisoning.1

Following are the points which government uses to declare an adulterated food-

. • A substance is added which depreciates or injuriously affects it.

• Cheaper or inferior substances are substituted wholly or in part.
• Any valuable or necessary constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted.
• It is an imitation.
• It is colored or otherwise treated, to improve its appearance or if it contains any added
substance injurious to health.
• For whatever reasons its quality is below the Standard

Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Pure, fresh and healthy diet is most
essential for the health of the people. It is no wonder to say that community health is national
wealth.
The Greek and roman classics contain allusion to wine maker and dealer who coloured and
flavoured their wine. In England as early as 13th cent, bakers cheapened their wares or
scanted the weight, and lawmakers for the first time made an effort to prevent fraudulent
dealing on the part of butchers and brewers.2
About the middle of the 19th century chemical and micros copal had reached the stage that
food substance could be analyzed, and the subject of food adulteration began to be studied
from the standpoint of the rights and welfare of the consumers.
In India Prevention of Food Adulteration Programme has been developed to ensure safe food
for the consumers. The ministry of health and family welfare in India ensures that consumer
get safe food. The legislation called “Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954” was drafted
for this purpose. The first law to regulate the quality of food was made in the country 1899.
Up till 1954 the states made their own food laws and there were substantial differences in the
rules and specification of food. A legislation called prevention of food adulteration act (PFA)
was endorsed in the year 1954 for making uniformity in food laws all over India. It came into
effect from 15 June 1955.

1 http://www. Muzffarangarwikipedia.com.
2
http://www.muzaffarnagr.in
Need of the study

Adulteration of food is a menace to the society and the perpetrators cannot be let off lightly,
also there has been an upcoming trend of false suit filing against food produce manufactures
by customers for some undue monetary advantage not only in India but globally .The paper
attempt to find out the real picture and causes of increasing malpractices in food adulteration.

Objectives
● To generate awareness regarding Food adulteration practices in India.
● To examine the reasons behind increasing trend in fraudulent practices.
● Some incidences and surveys of food adulteration happened in past.
● Views of people regarding consumer awareness.

Reasons for food adulteration–

• To get more profit
• To increase the weight
• To increase volume of trade by showing lower prices
• Rising population
• Lack of effective coordination
• Lack of proper food laws
• Lack of government initiatives
• Politicians are not raising their voices

What is an adulterant?
An adulterant is a pejorative term for a substance found within other substances such as food,
fuels or chemicals even though it is not allowed for legal or other reasons.3

Types of adulterants
1. Intentional – Substances added in food to improve appearance flavour texture or storage
prosperities (food additives). Examples- sand marble stones.
2. Unintentional – Pesticides growth promoters, components of packing materials solvents
and enzymes used in food processing Examples- pesticides, rodents.

3
http:// www.consumer education .in
 Some adulterated food products there adverse effects-
 Turmeric, dals and pulses such as moong or channa: Here adulterant is metanil yellow
and keasri dal. Its harmful effect is that it is highly carcinogenic and if consumed over
a continuous period of time it can also cause stomach disorders.
 Green chilies, green peas and other vegetables: Here adulterant is Malachite green.
Argemone seeds to add bulk and weight. Affects humans if consumed over a long
period of time
 Ice cream: Here adulterant is pepperoni, ethyl acetate, butraldehyde, ethyl acetate,
nitrate which are not less than a poison .pepper oil is also used a pesticide and ethyl
acetate causes terrible disease affecting lungs, kidneys and hearts.4
 Mustard seeds and mustard oil: Here adulterant is argemone seeds (used to add bulk
and weight). Papaya seeds (used to add bulk) that the consumption of these could
epidemic dropsy and severe glaucoma. Young children and senior citizens with poor
immunity are more susceptible this.
 Paneer, khoya, condensed milk and milk: Here adulterant is starch (used to give it
thick, rich texture). Its harmful effect is that it is unhygienic, unprocessed water and
starch can cause stomach disorders. Starch greatly reduces the nutritional value of the
ingredient.
 Black pepper: Here adulterant is papaya seeds (used to add bulk). Its harmful effect is
that papaya seeds can cause serious liver problems and stomach disorders.
 Coffee powder: Here adulterant is tamarind seeds, chicory powder. Its harmful effects
are that it can cause diarrhea, stomach disorders, giddiness and severe joint pains.

4
http://www.mightylaws.com
were tested out of which 8247 samples were found adulterated. This percentage went up to
14.8%in 2012-13and to 18.8% in 2013-14.Out of the 72200 samples tested in 2013-14,13571
samples were found adulterated. Surprisingly, the no of prosecutionlaunched has been
decreasing since 2011-12.While prosecutions were launched in 83% of the adulterated cases
in 2011-12,this percentage went down to 56.3% in 2012-13and went up to 75.4% in 2013-
14.5

5 http://www.consumerlaw.in
 Food laws and standards
Adulteration of food stuff was so rampant, widespread and persistent that nothing sort
of a somewhat drastic remedy in the form of a comprehensive legislation became the
need of the hour To check this kind of anti-social evil a concerted and determined
onslaught was launched by the government by introduction of the PREVENTION OF
FOOD ADULTERRATION BILL in the parliament to herald an era of much needed
hope of consumers at large. Adulteration of food stuffs and other goods is now
included in the concurrent list (iii) in the constitution of India. Ithas,therefore, become
possible for the central government to enact all India legislation on this subject. The
bill replaces all local food adulteration laws where they exist and also applies to those
states where there are no local laws on the subject.
Among others, it provides for:
A Central food laboratory to which food samples can be referred to for final
opinion in disputed cases (clause 4).
a Central Committee for Food Standards consisting of representatives of Central
and State Governments to advise on matters arising from the administration of the Act
(clause 3) .
the vesting in the Central Government of the rule – making power regarding
standards of quality for the articles of food and certain other matters (clause 22)6

PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT, 1954

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill was passed by both the house of parliament
and received the assent of the president on 29 September 1954 .It came into force on
1st June 1955 as THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT, 1954.
In this act7
• Adulterant means any material which is or could be employed purposes of
adulteration;
• Adulterated-An article of food shall be deemed to be adulterated.
LIST OF ADAPTATION ORDER AND AMENDING ACTS
• THE ADAPTATION OF LAWS (NO 3) ORDER, 1956.
6 http://consumergreevance.com
7 http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/prevfood1954/prevfood.html
 • THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION (AMMENDEMANT) ACT,
1964 (49 OF 1964)
• THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION (AMMENDEMANT) ACT,
1971 (41 OF 1971)
• THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION (AMMENDEMANT) ACT,
1976 (34 OF 1976)
• THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION (AMMENDEMANT) ACT, 1986 (70 OF
1986)

STANDARDS

Fruits Product Order Certification (FPO Certification)STANDARD

Fruits Product Order Certification – FPO Mark is a third party assurance as to the
quality of manufactured products and guarantees that the products are manufactured
in a healthy and hygienic condition. It ensures that products manufactured conforms
to the standards prescribed by Ministry of Food processing Industry as to the quality
and conditions thus is fit for human consumption. Fruit Products Order Mark (FPO
Mark) is a mandatory certification mark for all processed and packaged fruits in India.
Ministry of Food processing Industry is a regulatory authority which certifies and
develops standards for the manufacturing fruit products in India. The name FPO mark
is coined from the Act Fruit Products Order which has been in force since 1955 but it
became a mandatory certification only in 2006 after notification of Food Safety and
Standard Act on 24.08.2016.8

Since then The Government of India has made endeavors to publicize the need and

8 www.indiatrademarkregistration.com/fpo-certification/
 mandatory requirement of FPO Mark by the manufactures of Fruit products through
various campaigns and advertisements. Now, all the manufacturer and processor of
fruit products must have FPO certificate/ license to carry on business in India.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) STANDARD

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food
Safety and Standards , 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto
handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created
for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their
manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and
wholesome food for human consumption.

Highlights of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006

1. Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, Fruit Products Order
, 1955, Meat Food Products Order,1973

2. Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order

1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, Milk
and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.

The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety
and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of
command. To this effect, the Act establishes an independent statutory Authority – the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India with head office at Delhi. Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) and the State Food Safety Authorities shall enforce various
provisions of the Act.9

9 https://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in/about_fssai.aspx
AGMARK STANDARD

AGMARK is a certification mark employed on agricultural products in India, assuring that

they conform to a set of standards approved by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection,
an agency of the Government of India. The AGMARK is legally enforced in India by the
Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937 (and amended in 1986). The
present AGMARK standards cover quality guidelines for 205 different commodities spanning
a variety of Pulses, Cereals, Essential Oils, Vegetable Oils, Fruits & Vegetables, and semi-
processed products like Vermicelli.The term AGMARK was coined by joining the words 'Ag'
to mean agriculture and 'mark' for a certification mark. This term was introduced originally in
the bill presented in the parliament of India for the Agricultural Produce (Grading and
Marking) Act.10

AGMARK Laboratories

The AGMARK certification is employed through fully state-owned AGMARK laboratories

located across the nation which act as testing and certifying centers. In addition to the Central
AGMARK Laboratory (CAL) in Nagpur, there are Regional AGMARK Laboratories (RALs)
in 11 nodal cities (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Kochi, Guntur, Amritsar,
Jaipur, Rajkot, and Bhopal). Each of the regional laboratories is equipped with and
specializes in the testing of products of regional significance. Hence the product range that
could be tested varies across the centers.

10 www.technospot.in › India Online

IMPACTS OF FOOD ADULTERATION
The problems of adulteration makes the food items used in our daily life unsafe and
unhygienic for use due topoor handling. In the past few decades, adulteration of food has
become one of the seriousproblems and consumption of adulterated food causes serious
diseases like cancer, diarrhea, asthma, ulcers. Ingeneral, adulteration of food items has a very
serious impact on producers/farmers, processors or manufacturers/enterprises, consumers and
government.11

Impacts on enterprises

Enterprises are impacted by a loss of consumer confidence in their products, recalls and
destruction ofcontaminated products, complaint expenses and increases of insurance
premiums and costs related to equipmentreplacement or cleaning. A supplier’s fault is
inevitably reported in the mass media, casting doubt on that company’s reputation (Pandpal et
al., 2012). This affects not only the sales of that particular product, but also thesales of many
other products supplied by the company’s warehouse or retailers and even the products can
bebanned/discarded automatically. The effects of such bans on the food production industry
are multiple, profound,and far-reaching. A producer that depends on a banned imported
foodstuff not only suffers economic loss to theimpacted product but also faces lost sales
caused by loss of public confidence. The resulting brand damage canbe devastating, and
recovery can require significant time and expense when consumers have moved on to
othersuppliers’ products. People have lost their trust in the products. For example, about 40 to
60% ofconsumers either ceased or were unwilling to purchase domestic milk products,
whereas those who purchasedimported milk powder increased from 34% to 47% in China
due to milk adulterating by melamine as Qian.

Impacts on farmers/producers

Adulteration not only has an effect on big enterprises but also farmers or producers (like
dairy, honey, coffee,wheat, etc) can be affected by the weakest link in the industry chain.
Many farmers suffered massive losses, costincreases due to feed costs, milk cow shortage
caused by mass sales or slaughter during the crisis, for example inthe case of China dairy
Scandal and lack of acceptance of the products.

11 www.gjournals.org/GJMBS/PDF/2013/April/Dogarawa.pdf
Impacts on Consumers

Hazardous effects of food adulteration is associate with diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea,
vomiting, eyesightproblem, headache, cancer, anemia, insomnia, muscular paralysis and
brain damage, stomach disorder giddiness,joint pain, liver disorder, dropsy, gastrointestinal
problems, respiratory distress, edema, cardiac arrest, glaucomacarcinogenic effects, kidney
failure, digestive system disorders, etc as reported by Anita and Neetu (2013), Farazet
al.(2013) and Lakshmi et al.(2012). It is found that there are various chemicals and colors
used in fruits andvegetables which are very poisonous for health. Calcium carbide used in
mangoes, bananas, copper sulphateused to ripen fruits faster, oxytocin a hormone used for
faster growth of pumpkin, watermelon, brinjal, gourds,cucumber. Wax adds shine on apples
and pears. Cheap green colors containing chemicals such as metallic leadapplied to bitter
gourd and leafy vegetables to give fresh color. Pesticides & herbicides used excessively
forgrowing fruits and vegetables. Consumption of chemical-laden fruits and vegetables can
prove disastrous fordigestive system, eyes and liver (Lanzhou, 2008). It can also results in
vomiting and diarrhea in children, kidneyfailure. Oxytocin can lead to damage of the brain
(Anita and Neetu, 2013).12

NEW MEASURES BY GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL FOOD

ADULTERATION PRACTICES

1. Any food Inspector can enter and inspect any place where any article of food is
manufactured or stored for sale or stored for the manufacture of any other article of
food for sale or exposed or exhibited for sale or where any adulterant is manufactured
or kept and take samples of such article of food or adulterant for analysis.13
2. The dairy department has put in place measures to prevent adulterated milk reaching
the public. Dairy development deputy director Biji V. Eesso said that milk, including
that sold in packets, would be tested. This is in addition to collecting milk for testing
from bakeries, shops and packaged milk outlets with the help of health officials. Milk
arriving in the State through the border check posts would also be tested. Vehicles
bringing in food articles, including milk, would be allowed entry only after ensuring
that the contents contain no harmful elements. Consumers have been advised to

12 www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/2/4/585/pdf
13 http:// www.legalhelpindia.com
 purchase milk of branded companies. Milk in plastic covers having no information of
the branded firm, date and time of packaging should not be purchased.
3. Expressing concern over alarming level of milk adulteration+ in the country, the
Supreme Court on Friday favored stringent punishment of life imprisonment for the
offence which at present is punishable only up to six months jail term or fine.14

LIMITATIONS

1. TIME CONSTRAINT- Time allotted to conduct the survey was around 20 days. So
it was difficult to cover entirely a large number (e.g. 1000s) of people. However the
key areas were aptly covered.
2. AVAILABILITYOF DATA- Most of the localities and people were not interested in
conducting these surveys as they think it as wastage of time. Non willingness of
respondents to answer the questionnaires was also a big hurdle.
3. RELIABILITYOF DATA- Reliability of data remains a primary concern when it
comes to human surveys. Unclear questions, poor understanding and unwilling
participations may lead to some deviation from the correct data
4. MODE OF SURVEY- Since the survey was conducted more in online mode rather
than physically, we can say that some common people missed the survey.

14
http://www.wisbar.org/am/temblet.com
CONCLUSION

A recent survey revealed that more than 68 percent of milk sold in India was adulterated.
Given how much milk is a part of the Indian diet, the shocking number showed the need for
new national milk safety standards in the country. And now, after 60 years, we will finally be
getting them. The new standards will include milk sources as camel and yak along with
flavored and fortified milk, says this report by Hindustan Times. Currently, safety standards
follow guidelines set in 1954 which only considers milk from cow, sheep, buffalo and goat.
“There is a need to revisit old standards to ensure people eat and drink quality food,” said
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the country’s food-
safety regulator to the newspaper. The new standards will be implemented uniformly across
all the states. As per the current standards, fat and solid non-fat (SNF) content varies from
state to state, the report adds. Recently, detergent and frozen fat have been found in milk
across the country on many occasions, confirmed by recognized laboratories.
Bibliography

-The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act & Rules (as on 1.10.2004)

-Prevention of Food Adulteration Cases (FAC) including food safety & Standards Ac, Rules,
Regulation Cases 1972to 2012.
-Prevention Of Food Adulteration, Act 1954
-The Fight against food adulteration.
-Website-
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http://www.muzaffarnagr.in
http// www.wikipedia.org/wiki/muzaffarnagar –district
http:// www.consumer education .in
http://www.mightylaws.com
http://consumergreevance.com
http://www.consumerlaw.in
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