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“It is important that a “full and complete disclosure” regarding a food article being “vegetarian or non-vegetarian” be made since fundamental rights are affected by what is offered on the platter,” observed Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

Previously, directing for "full and complete disclosure of all the ingredients which go into the manufacture of any food article," the Delhi High Court had observed that, "Every person has a right to know as to what he/ she is consuming, and nothing can be offered to the person on a platter by resort to deceit, or camouflage," on a plea by a Namdhari Sikh Trust stating that such non-disclosure leads to violation of their right to freedom of religion.

The division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice D K Sharma on Wednesday took note of a communication issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) after the High Court order and stated that the same does not very clearly bring out the obligation put on food business operators regarding the disclosure.

The bench directed the FSSAI to issue a fresh communication to authorities and to give it wide publicity in national dailies.

The bench also noted that, the obligation cast on food business operators regarding disclosure about vegetarian or non-vegetarian nature of food stands independent of the regulation which talks about labelling of pre-packaged food.

“The mere fact that under the labelling regulations, the food business operator is not necessarily required to make a disclosure of compound ingredients which constitute less than five percent of the food, from disclosing the ingredients of compound ingredients does not exempt the food business operator from making a full and complete disclosure … to the concerned authorities,” observed the bench.

The bench further added that under the garb of exemption, the operators cannot hide from authorities any ingredient in whatever measure it may be used,

“The said disclosure is necessary irrespective of exemption granted from making a disclosure on the label of the pre-packaged food article. Thus the authorities would be aware of each and every ingredient/constituent of a compound ingredient and would therefore be aware of the fact that whether any of the ingredients is sourced from animals.”

Background

The Delhi High Court had earlier directed the Centre to respond within three weeks to a petition seeking strict implementation of rules mandating manufacturers to label their products as vegetarian or non-vegetarian according to the ingredients used in it.

The petition filed by Ram Gau Raksha Dal states that the members of the Petitioner Trust adhere to the tenets of Namdhari religion, which is a sect of Sikhism. They state that the community considers cows to be sacred and therefore, the very idea of harming them even in the slightest form, let alone for human consumption or usage, is considered abhorrent.

Further, the petition contends that it is the Fundamental Right of any citizen to know whether or not the food they consume, cosmetics and perfumes they use, clothes/garments they wear, contain, or are manufactured by using, components or parts derived from the body of an animal.

“It can be quite astonishing to observe how many animal by-products are squeezed into cosmetics these days and are given misleading names for the sake of their marketability”, the petition states.

The following grounds were enlisted as causes for the petition:

• The absence of any indication or labeling with respect to the nature of contents of the products and the consequent accidental usage thereof by customers, infringes upon the Fundamental Right to protection of Life and Personal Liberty as guaranteed to every citizen by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
• The inaction on part of the manufacturers is ultra vires Article 25 of the Constitution of India which protects for all persons their Fundamental Right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practice their religion, which implies that it is not only the belief in the philosophy of a religion which is guaranteed by the Constitution but also the acts done in endurance of those beliefs.
• The secrecy claimed by manufacturers, with respect to the components used in manufacturing people is affecting the right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, which grants the citizens of India the fundamental right of full disclosure of the components of products and commodities.
• Section 2 (9) (vi) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, "consumer rights" include the right to consumer awareness, which makes it all the more imperative for the manufacturers to enable a free flow of accurate information about their products.
• The growing global trend of what is popularly called 'Veganism which is the need of the hour and thus, instead of being made to live a life by default, opportunities have to be made available to people to be able to decide for themselves as to what principles would they want to live their lives on.

Thus, the petitioner had prayed for guidelines/policies for mandating manufacturers to label their products according to the nature of the ingredients and also on the basis of the items used during its manufacturing processes. To set up an Expert Committee to examine the feasibility of labeling all items that are used by consumers, to be labeled as vegetarian and non-vegetarian products.

The Court observed that “there can be no denying the fact that every person has the right to know, which springs from the Right to Freedom of Speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The issues raised herein have a bearing on Right to Life preserved under Article 21 in as much as a person is entitled to profess and follow his beliefs, which is also protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.”

In lieu of the same, the government authorities have been ordered to examine the issues and respond to the petition within three weeks.

Cause Title: Ram Gaua Raksha Dal vs Union of India & Others