Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Imported food items flout Indian laws

PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Awaiting action: Imported confectionaries and biscuits do not conform to Indian laws and most of them do not even sport MRP. –

ERODE: Shelves in shops here are flooded with imported food items, a good number of which come from China and East Asian countries.

The imports are mostly toffees, candies, chocolates, chewing gum, milk-based sweets and other items that children love. There are also beverages, fruit-based and otherwise.

Almost all of these items do not carry a maximum retail price, which depends solely on the seller’s discretion. That the items, which come under the Packaged Commodity Rules, ought to carry MRP is violated.

There other violations as well. A few items like jellies do not sport the name and address of the manufacturer, nor is there a mention about the date of manufacture and date of expiry. Others do not carry the weight or volume.

And, those that carry are other than in Indian languages, looking at which a consumer is left flummoxed.

As for fruit-based items, there is no Fruit Products Order FPO certification, which is mandatory under Indian law. The law states that all fruit-based food items like jam, jelly, squash, sauce, etc. should carry FPO certification. The imported items pay no regard to such Indian laws.

And, chocolates, particularly milk-based items, do not carry refrigeration details, for if not refrigerated, the chocolates are likely to turn unfit for consumption.

Consumer activists are aghast looking at the impunity with which the items are available in the shelves. Vice-president of Consumer Protection Council, Erode, R. Balasubramanaian says the Labour Inspector, who is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Packed Commodities Act, Corporation/Municipal health officer and officers of the Department of Public Health are supposed to check the quality of food available.

He adds that the check on such imported items is all the more important because almost all of them are items that children have. Mr. Balasubramanian points to the food safety act and others measures that countries like the U.S. And Australia to demand that India also enact stringent laws for imported foods.

Labour Inspector C. Thangavel says for violating the provisions of the Rules his department can initiate action against the importer, and in the absence of the importer’s label on the packet, against the seller. He adds that even the imported items should confirm to the very rules that apply to products manufactured in India.

Health Officer of Erode Corporation S. Somasundaram, who is responsible for checking the food products, says the civic body in the raids conducted in November 2008 seized a few imported food times and sent them for testing. He says it will soon conduct a inspection for checking the safety of imported food.

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