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CCFI slaps legal notice on FSSAI for issuing organic certificate, logo
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Tuesday, 20 January, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Akshay Kalbag and Rashmi Nair, Mumbai
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fiogf49gjkf0d The Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) recently issued a legal notice to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for issuing organic certificates and logos to companies caught cheating consumers.
In the notice, the federation alleged that the country’s apex food regulator let fake, wrongly-labelled and misbranded organic products deceive millions of people.
CCFI collected and shared 25-30 samples from across the country, where organic brands were clearly found flouting and misusing the certificates and logos issued by FSSAI. Some of these were manufactured by the biggest names in the Indian organic industry. The federation also alleged that these companies were spreading deliberate misinformation about conventional foods consumed by a large number of people.
Rajju Shroff, chairman, CCFI, said, “These are serious violations by organic brands who are openly flouting various provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011. These brands are also spreading fear among the consumers by printing unsubstantiated and unscientific claims.”
Although a sample of organic rava idli mix showed the FSSAI licence number, the label did not disclose the percentage of ingredients used at the time of manufacturing. And the label on a packet of organic chaat masala nor disclosed the percentage of ingredients, nor bore a FSSAI licence number.
To top it, it was found that the FSSAI has not booked a single violator for mislabelling products sold as organic in the past eight years. “We have decided to take FSSAI to court, because we feel they are not vigilant and apparently have no intention to crack down on such fake organic brands carrying objectionable, unscientific and unsupportable label claims.”
“FSSAI has also not drawn any sample of organic products from the retail market for tests in the past eight years,” said Shroff. FSSR, 2011 state that no person shall manufacture, distribute, sell or expose for sale or dispatch or deliver to any agent or broker for the purpose of sale, any packaged products which are not marked and labelled in the manner as may be specified by regulations.
“The organic logo does not and cannot represent any health or safety or nutrition distinction over conventionally-produced farm products. It certifies that the product was produced using certain organic production and processing standards,” said Ganesan Shunmugam, public policy advisor to CCFI.
The federation demanded that FSSAI take action against the organic food companies.
Legal notice
Mumbai High Court advocate Hiranya Pandey said, “My client (CCFI) obtained samples of organic products widely sold in domestic markets. They observed that the sale of these products in retail markets contravenes various provisions of FSSR, 2011.”
“It would like to state that the weak implementations of the regulations by the concerned authorities are responsible for this. CCFI also suspects the connivance of the authorities in certain acts of omission and commission,” he added.
“My client found flagrant labelling violations in the organic products sold in retail markets. They remain unnoticed/unchecked. The term organic should only be used on the labels of raw or processed agricultural products without regard to end-use properties of the product,” Pandey said.
“CCFI, therefore, would like to present some examples, with material evidence, to show the poor enforcement by FSSAI, leading to the production and marketing of fake organic products and the mislabelling of organic labelled products with all sorts of unscientific and tall claims on the package,” he added.
Examples
Sresta Natural Products Bio Products Pvt Ltd
Dry ginger powder
The company, based in Gundla Pochammpally Village, Ranga Reddy District, Hyderabad, Telangana, sells dry ginger powder as an organic product under the brand name 24 Letter Mantra at Rs 600 per kg.
Its label bears three logos - those of Indian Organic, United States Department of Agricultural Organic and IN-ORG. But it does not have an FSSAI licence number.
The package gives ten reasons for going organic, which inter alia state that children must be protected from pesticides that cause cancer. FSSR, 2011, is meant for laying down science-based standards.
Pandey said, “CCFI seeks to know if the apex food regulator approves of such misleading and unscientific claims on the labels of organic products.”
“My client purchased a product, whose batch number was GAH 2014204 and date of packing was August 20, 2014, from Delhi. FSSAI ought to know that the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) does not consider any pesticide to be human carcinogen,” he added.
“In fact, no chemical would be approved to be registered as a pesticide if it is found to cause cancer in humans,” Pandey said.
Organic chaat masala
Sresta Natural Products Bio Products Pvt Ltd also sells organic chaat masala - a combination of various spices - at Rs 900 per kg. But the label does not disclose the percentage of the ingredient used at the time of the manufacture of the food as required by FSSR, 2011.
Moreover, there is no FSSAI licence number on the label. Pandey said the product, bearing batch number GK12041720, was packed on August 7, 2014, and purchased by his client in New Delhi.
Phalada Agro Research Foundations Pvt Ltd
Organic rava idli mix
The Bengaluru-based firm sells organic rava idli mix at Rs 260 per kg. The label bears a licence number, but does not disclose the percentage of the ingredient used at the time of the manufacture of the food, as mandated by the FSSR, 2011.
The label shows that it has been certified as organic by three certification agencies. The product, which bears batch number 022809 and was packed in September 2014, was purchased by Pandey’s clients in Delhi.
Brahm Arpon Organics (Pvt) Ltd
Organic uradh dal
The company sells organic uradh dal at Rs 136 per kg. It bears the Indian Organics logo and an FSSAI licence number.
It makes a number of exaggerated claims, such as being high on nutrition, organic food is healthier than conventional foodstuff; conventional crops have a high amount of toxins; the use of composted manure reduces the chances of such diseases as cancer, brain damage or infant abnormalities.
The batch number of the product is URC5 CA-10, and the date of packing is November 12, 2014.
“My clients seek to know if FSSAI has scientific evident to support the claim that the use of compost reduces cancers, brain damage and birth defects, as claimed in the label,” Pandey added.
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