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Under the guidance of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, the Delhi High Court has ordered the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to create a plan for a food safety audit in Delhi. The said plan, which will include collecting samples and testing the various food products available in the city, will have specific guidelines designed to cover all parameters of testing within the state. As per the High Court’s statement, the plan will be set in motion by the state government, following a suo moto case of 2010 which spotlighted the use of harmful chemical pesticides on vegetables, that posed as potential harm to the nervous system and skin diseases.
Interested parties or the amici curiae appointed to deal with the matter pointed out the lack of action taken by authorities to deal with the concern, while also mentioning the usage of carbide to fasten the ripening process of fruits, as a simultaneous problem. The raise of these concerns follows an earlier hearing where it was brought to the court’s notice that the procurement carbide detection kits was long overdue, and testing fruits for non-permitted wax was non-existent.
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The discussion between court and counsel also touched upon understanding the budgets allocated for testing, as well as keeping account of how many testing kits were made available for these safety checks. The state government’s counsel was also questioned about the activity of the Pesticide Rescue Management Cell, while emphasising the need for a tailor-made plan to effectively implement the safety checks following a hearing that is set to take place on the 8th of May. While the state mentioned that the FSSAI had provided them with testing kits, instructions for how to use them were yet to be obtained.
