THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Food Safety Appellate Tribunal has set aside a Rs 1 lakh penalty imposed on a Kollam-based packaged drinking water unit. The penalty was imposed by the food safety department after it found that the product did not meet the prescribed standards for calcium, magnesium and dissolved solids.
After hearing the appeal filed jointly by the business operator and manufacturer, the tribunal held that these standards were not formally notified as a regulation at the time of sample collection.
On January 22, 2024, the food safety officer of Chavara circle purchased 16 bottles from them. The Government Analyst Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram examined the samples and found that calcium content was only 4 mg/l as against the prescribed 10-75 mg/l, with magnesium at 3.41 mg/l, against the stipulated 5-30 mg/l.
Total dissolved solids were found to be just 37 mg/l against the prescribed 75-500 mg/l. The adjudicating officer in Kollam imposed a collective penalty of `1 lakh on the two respondents.
The tribunal held that the standard relating to minimum calcium, magnesium and total dissolved solids content was incorporated through a direction issued under Section 16(5) of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, 2006. It had not formally been notified as a regulation, the body held. Moreover, the direction was issued on March 12, 2024, long past the sample collection.
The tribunal also found other inconsistencies in the proceedings. It held that the food safety officer had failed to provide a sample to the manufacturer for cross-checking, and that no specimen seal impression was included in the documents. The food analyst failed to send the report within the mandatory 14-day period, it also ruled.
The tribunal noted that the petitioner was a small-scale manufacturer registered under the Udyam scheme. He was entitled to the benefit of the Section 50 proviso, which caps the penalty for small-scale businesses at Rs 25,000, it said, adding that the Rs 1 lakh fine was exorbitant and unsustainable. Tribunal member Jose N Cyril issued the order. The petitioners were represented by Francy John, A Mathew, M S Reghukumar, C P Sudheesh Kumar and Muhammed Ameen.
Charges raised
The penalty was imposed by the food safety department after it found that the product did not meet the prescribed standards for calcium, magnesium and dissolved solids.