The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum

CONSUMER RIGHTS
Foreign food: Labelled to conceal
Pushpa Girimaji

Imported food labels often give information in a foreign language that cannot be read by Indian consumers

IMPORTED foods may look attractive on shop shelves but a study conducted by a Delhi-based consumer group has found that 91 per cent of them violate Indian laws on labelling.

The Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) picked up 641 packed food products from 145 shops in Delhi. Out of these, 191 were imported food items and the rest were Indian. The foods included confectionery, fruit juices, sauces, baby food, canned fruit, vegetables, canned fish and meat. When these were examined, it was found that 91 per cent of the imported goods flouted Indian laws. In case of baby food, for example, almost all the samples were found violating Indian laws. VOICE also pointed out that some of the packages carried label information in a foreign language, thereby defeating the very purpose of giving it.

When India opened up its markets, it extended all packaging and labelling laws applicable to the Indian food industry to imported goods too. Under these laws, all these packages have to carry the name and full address of the manufacturer and importer, date of manufacture, ‘best before’ date, maximum retail price in rupees, batch number, information on the content, and its net weight or volume.

In addition, the government notified two amendments aimed specifically at imported goods. The one issued by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry stipulated a minimum shelf life for imported products. The notification, issued (following consumer complaints) to prevent dumping of foods with a short shelf life on Indian markets, stipulated that at the time of import, the products must have a valid life of not less than 60 per cent of the original shelf life.

The second amendment was issued last year by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs. As per this amendment to the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, it is mandatory for all imported packages to carry the label information in Hindi or English. There can be, in addition, information in a foreign language. This amendment was notified on September 24, 2003, and `A0came into force on December 1, 2003.

Needless to say, all these laws are being flouted with impunity.

In fact, if you look carefully at the imported foods that adorn the shelves of retail outlets, you will notice that many of them barely have any shelf life left. Suppose the product is manufactured in March, one expects it to be available to consumers at least by April, and not September, particularly when the ‘best before’ date printed on the package is October. But that’s what is happening.

A few years ago, VOICE had done a similar survey of imported foods and scrutinised 457 items. It found 81 per cent of them violating the Packaged Commodities Rules as well as the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Rules. In other words, the number of violations has not come down but only gone up. While 58 per cent of the samples did not give the required information on the month and year of manufacture, 55 per cent did not indicate the batch number and 76 per cent did not carry the name or address of the Indian importer. The study also found many of the packages containing colours and flavours not permitted under the PFA Rules.

It’s time consumers reacted to such violation of their right to information by boycotting all foods, including Indian, that fail to comply with laws meant to protect their interests. In fact, the Indian food industry did not come out in flying colours in the VOICE survey. Over 26 per cent of the 450 items scrutinised by VOICE were found to be flouting the labelling laws. Violations were more in case of canned fish and meat products. This calls for some strong action from consumers and the law enforcement agencies.

The multiplicity of laws as well as enforcement agencies pertaining to food labelling also complicates the situation. While the Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules are administered by the Department of Weights and Measures in different states, the labelling laws under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act are implemented by the Departments of Food Adulteration. Similarly, the Fruit Products Order is enforced by the Ministry of Food Processing and AGMARK by the Ministry of Agriculture. There is an urgent need to bring all these laws and under a single regulatory body to ensure stringent implementation.