Food Safety and Standards Act prescribes maximum six months in prison for the offence
The Supreme Court has advised
states to amend their laws to make production and marketing of
adulterated milk an offence punishable with life imprisonment. At
present, the offenders are punished for a maximum six months under the
Food Safety and Standards Act.
The observation came during hearing of a public interest petition
filed by Achyutanand Tirth, head of the Swami Bhumanand Dharmarth
Chikitsalya and Research Institute in Haridwar. The petitioner contends
that the inaction of the Central and state governments in curbing sale
of synthetic and adulterated milk is a violation of the fundamental
right of life guaranteed under the Constitution. Synthetic and
adulterated milk and milk products are prepared using urea, detergent,
refined oil, caustic soda and white paint which are harmful to human
life.
The bench also noted that Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha have
made the sale of adulterated milk, contaminated with synthetic material,
an offence.
The petition was filed after a national
survey conducted by the Food Safety and Standards of Authority of India
showed that 68.4 per cent of the milk samples in the country did not
conform to Food Safety and Standards Regulations. The survey was
released in January 2012. The petition demands criminal action against
anyone involved in the production of synthetic milk
Milk samples are not checked routinely in the country. Random samples
are drawn by state food safety officers and sent to the designated food
testing laboratories for analysis. There is an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore
in the 12th Five Year Plan to strengthen the food regulatory system at
the state level, Union minister of health revealed in an answer in
Parliament in August 2013 (see table).
State-wise details of non-conforming milk samples
(as percentage of total samples collected in states/UTs) |
|
State(s)
|
% of non-conforming samples
|
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Mizoram
|
100%
|
Manipur and Meghalaya
|
96%
|
Tripura
|
92%
|
Gujarat and Sikkim
|
89%
|
Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh
|
88%
|
Nagaland
|
86%
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
83%
|
Punjab
|
81%
|
Rajasthan
|
76%
|
Delhi Haryana
|
70%
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
68%
|
Maharashtra
|
65%
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
59%
|
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
|
58%
|
Assam
|
55%
|
Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh
|
48%
|
Kerala
|
28%
|
Karnataka
|
22%
|
Tamil Nadu
|
12%
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
6.7%
|
Goa and Puducherry
|
Nil
|
Reply to Rajya Sabha question answered on 27.08.2013
