New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over a delay in introducing warning labels on packaged foods and asked if the government “does not want its people to be healthy”.
The top court was hearing a PIL of public charitable trust 3S and Our Health Society seeking directions to the Centre, states and Union territories to implement mandatory front-of-package warning labels (FOPL) on packaged foods.
A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said FOPL labels are necessary to create awareness, especially among growing children who are becoming addicted to junk food.
“Are you taking the court for a toss?” Justice Pardiwala questioned Additional Solicitor General Brijender Chahar.
The top court noted that there was no progress on its order regarding the issue of labelling.
“We are doing this in public interest. Keep it in mind. We are not doing it for ourselves. Why are you not abiding by our order? We know the pressure on you. Will you do it on your own or should we pass an order?” Justice Pardiwala observed.
The plea referred to India’s growing burden of non-communicable diseases and claimed FOPL would highlight the presence of high levels of sugar, salt and saturated fats — key contributors to serious health issues such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.
It highlighted the alarming surge in lifestyle diseases across the country and said non-communicable diseases were now responsible for over 6 million deaths annually in the country, with diabetes emerging as a silent epidemic affecting nearly one in four Indians.
