Food Adulteration In India : Legal Provisions And Judicial Trends

Food is necessary for the survival of human body. Adulteration or contamination of natural food product is one of the major challenges in today’s society. Food Adulteration leads to several health issues including certain nutrition deficiency diseases, kidney disorder and failure of an individual organ including heart, kidney, liver etc. The Supreme Court held that any food article which is hazardous or injurious to public health is a potential danger to the fundamental rights to life guaranteed under article-21 of the Constitution of India. Article 47 of the Constitution of India provides that the state shall regard the rising of the level of the nutrition and the standard of living of the people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties. The Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 has been enacted with the intention of eradicating the evil of manufacture, distribution and sale of adulterated article of foods which is a menace to the public health. Therefore the authorities have a duty to protect interest of citizens from the potential danger of contaminated or adulterated food article or substances.