The Rajasthan High Court, on Monday, took suo motu cognizance of the rising issue of food adulteration and issued several directives to both the State and Central governments to address the problem.

Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand pointed out the weaknesses in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and emphasized the shortage of food testing laboratories necessary to inspect food manufacturing and processing industries.

The Court observed that the food authority is understaffed and underfunded, making it unable to keep up with the growing number of food industries.

“Due to lack of proper technology, at the ground level, the food authorities are not competent to monitor the situation. There are doubts about the standard procedures followed by the various laboratories in different States of the Country while scrutinizing the products,” it said.

“Food adulteration is an increasingly recognized global public health problem. Having adulterated food is highly toxic and the same leads to several health issues including certain nutrition deficiency diseases, kidney disorder and failure of an individual’s organs including heart, kidney, liver, etc. Adulteration or contamination of natural food product is one of the major challenges in today’s society,” the Court underscored.

The Court emphasized that under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, people are protected against hazardous and injurious food articles. Additionally, under Article 47 of the Constitution, it is the welfare State's duty to ensure that these rights of the citizens are safeguarded.

However, the Court noted that the law does not provide solutions to all problems, as unorganized sectors are not covered by it.

The Court also opined that the Central government was well aware of the situation, which is why the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had drafted the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2020. However, the Court noted that the bill has been lying in cold storage for reasons best known to the legislature.

The Court further directed the authorities to submit monthly compliance reports on the sampling conducted to check food adulteration, as well as the steps being taken to address the issue.

The matter will be heard next on July 30.