NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is not empowered to prescribe standards for food meant for animal consumption, stating that its mandate is limited to food for humans.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the ruling while quashing a requirement imposed by FSSAI that banned the use of meat or bone meal in feed meant for milk- and meat-producing animals, except poultry, pigs and fish.
“In absence of specific inclusion of any substance as food for animal consumption, or cattle feed, or feed for animal in the definition clause, in our considered opinion, all the functions of the Food Authority vested in Section 16 and duties cast on it are in relation to food for human consumption and will not include the animal or cattle feed,” the bench held.
The court was hearing a plea challenging Note (c) appended to Regulation 2.5.2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. As per the FSSAI requirement, animals raised for milk or meat, except poultry, pigs and fish, could not be given feed containing meat or bone meal, including internal organs, blood meal or tissues from cows or pigs.
During the hearing, FSSAI defended the regulation, stating that the Act gives it the power to ensure food safety and protect public health. It justified the restriction by citing concerns raised by the Department of Animal Husbandry regarding potential food safety risks, particularly in dairy imports.
However, the court held that FSSAI could not mandate Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for animal feed, as this fell outside its jurisdiction. “Making any BIS standard mandatory is the function of the central government and the Bureau created under the BIS Act, and in absence of any such direction… it was not competent for the Food Authority to have made the requirement of BIS standard mandatory,” the bench said.
The court struck down FSSAI directions issued between 2019 and 2021 mandating BIS certification for commercial animal feed.
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