NEW FOOD SAFETY ACT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THREE MONTHS

A new Food Safety Act that parliament enacted four years ago will be implemented within three months after procedural issues are resolved, the Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday.

“The rules of the National Food Safety and Standards Act have been framed and sent to the states and other stakeholders. The responses have been received and sent to the law ministry for vetting. Within three months, the act will be implemented,” Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said during the Question Hour.

“The Act provides a fine from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.10 lakh and imprisonment ranging from six months to life for those found guilty of adulterating foodstuff,” he added.

He was responding to a supplementary from Ravi Shankar Prasad of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on why legislation that had been cleared in 2006 was being implemented only now.

In 2007, Azad said, the implementation was transferred to the health ministry from the food processing ministry. “The number of subjects (relating to the Act) administered by other ministries all had to be brought under one ambit, he said.

“The previous Act (of 1954) had 21 sections. This Act has 101 sections. In 2008-09, 42 sections were notified. The remaining sections will be notified next month,” the minister explained.

Replying to Prasad’s main question on whether the government had obtained any information on adulterated food items available in the country, Azad said on an average 7.2 percent of the samples examined in a three-year period were found to be adulterated.

Questioned as to how the government had arrived at this figure, Azad said: “In 2006, 87,000 samples were collected and some 6,000 or over seven percent were found to be adulterated.”

“In 2007, 65,280 samples were lifted and 4,000 plus or 7.35 percent were found to be adulterated. In 2008, 63,000 samples were collected and 4,096 or 6.5 percent were found to be adulterated,” he said.

“The average for the three years is 7.2 percent,” Azad said.