The Delhi High Court, concerned about the health implications of expired food being sold in the city, has called for immediate action against the repackaging and resale of such products. During a hearing on Tuesday, Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela strongly criticized this unethical practice, emphasizing that the people of Delhi cannot be subjected to adulterated food.
The court’s statement came during a session addressing a public interest litigation (PIL) that it initiated following reports of expired food products being reintroduced into the market with new expiry dates. “People cannot be having adulterated food in Delhi. Give us suggestions on how this can be tackled,” remarked the bench, highlighting the gravity of the issue.
Advocate Shwetasree Mazumdar, serving as amicus curiae, proposed that food manufacturers adopt a QR code system for all packaged items to track original expiry dates and prevent tampering. She suggested a system whereby each product would have a unique alphanumeric code or QR code, which could be checked against a centralized FSSAI database to instantly reveal the product’s batch number and expiry date.
This proposed mechanism aims to simplify the detection of tampered expiry dates, negating the need for extensive testing and sampling. The idea mirrors the QR code requirements already mandated by the Union Health Ministry for certain pharmaceutical products, ensuring swift action against violations.
In response to these concerns, the court has instructed relevant authorities, including the Delhi Police, to offer suggestions on improving sample collection and testing procedures to better identify expired products. Furthermore, the court has ordered the Delhi Police to submit a fresh status report and has summoned alleged counterfeiters involved in repackaging expired chocolates to appear in person at the next hearing.
Earlier, the court had issued notices to the central government, the Delhi government, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and the Delhi Police, asking for their responses to the troubling situation. The issue was initially brought to the division bench by Justice Prathiba M Singh after hearing a civil suit from Hershey Company against counterfeiters who were found to be selling expired chocolates disguised as fresh.
