Protecting the Consumer

Most of us in India spend the highest percentage of our income on food. We would like to get the maximum returns for the money we spend without compromising on quality unless we do so as a matter of choice.  we discussed what food quality means. It would be worth repeating here that among other attributes, it includes nutritional quality, absence of toxicity as well as microbial safety. These attributes must be valuated before declaring any food as wholesome. Food products must be produced under strict hygienic conditions, free from contaminants, processed without much loss of nutritive value, packaged under sanitary conditions and marked with suitable labels. As buyers and consumers it is our right to know what we are consuming. We should also be able to protect our right of acquiring clean and wholesome food. Several laws have been promulgated to protect the interests of consumers in various countries. We, in India, also have certain food lads and minimum standards of quality laid down for a large number of food items. 

Food Laws :

Food laws &re extremely important for providing wholesome, nutritious, poison-free food to the public. Food laws encourage the production and handling  of food under hygienic conditions, and also prevent the chemical and microbiological contamination which are responsible for the outbreak of food-borne  diseases and other health hazards affecting large segments of the population. The main objectives of food laws can be briefly summarized as fallows: 

1. To protect the consumer against any health hazards arising out of adulteration. 
2. To protect the consumer from unfair trade practices. 
3. To ensure and enforce fair trade practices. 
4. The Government of our country has passed a number of laws to protect the interest of the consumers In this regard. We shall discuss some of these which concern us directly .

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Referred to as the PFA Act in short, it came into effect from June 1. 1955. It pertains to food sold. and defines In specific words what is meant by a food adulterant, and what shall be considered to be.an adulterated food. According to it,  food can deemed to be adulterated when any one of the following acts are resorted to: 

•  Admixture of inferior or cheap substances 
•  Extraction of certain quality ingredients  from the food 
•  Preparing and packing under unsanitary conditions 
•  Sale of insect-infested food 
•  Obtaining food from a diseased animal 
•  Incorporation of a poisonous component 
•  Use  of coloring matter or preservatives other than, or in quantities greater than that approved for  the food 
•  Sale  of substandard products which  may or may not be injurious to health. 

These are the prohibited practices under the P.F.A. Act. Persons found guilty of selling such adulterated food can be punished, the severity of punishment depending upon the gravity of the offence. The Act is implemented by the State governments and the local authorities. They provide laboratory facilities for dependable and quick analysis in addition to management facilities for implementing the PFA Act. The local Health or Food Authorities are invested with executive powers to inspect, collect and analyze stored and marketed foodstuffs and finally prohibit the sale of food found to be adulterated.

The PFA Act provides guidelines for the minimum basic requirements of food quality. The guidelines are primarily intended to protect consumers from the health hazards of poisonous food. The Act also.covers requirements for labelling of food products. 

You  may have come across labels which try to trick you into thinking that it is the label for a well-known product. The name-is usually slightly different or the design  of the package imitates that of another product. The PFA Act calls this misbranding and provides for measures to tackle this malpractice. 

The Fruit Products Order: with the exception of traditional items like pickles, chutneys, the fruit and vegetable preservation industry in India started in the early thirties. It gained strength during the Second World War to meet the needs of the defense forces, and a number of units got started all over the country. It was, therefore, Celt that there was need to discipline these units and exercise checks on the quality of fruit products they produced. For this purpose the Fruit Products Order (FPO) was promulgated in 1955. It came under the Essential Commodities Act. For export purposes the fruit products are further subjected to preshipment inspection under the provisions of the Export Act of 1963. 

Food Safety 

Under the provisions of FPO. it is obligatory to obtain a licence for manufacture ot fruit products. The FPO lays down hygienic and sanitary requirements for setting up factories for the manufacture of fruit products, which include: (1) suitable location; (2) minimum fly-proof requirement and adequate storage space; (3) construction and maintenance of factory (41 worker's  amenities. and personal hygiene. 

The order lays down statutory minimum standards in respect  of the quality of various fruit and vegetable products, and processing facilities. Packing fruits and vegetables of a standard below that prescribed by this Order is an offence punishable by law. 

Meat Products Control Order: This makes it illegal to transport meat unless it has been prepared and processed according to the provisions of the order, and carries the mark of inspection. It provides for means to: 

• detect and destroy meat of diseased animals 
• ensure that the preparation and handling of meat and meat products be conducted in a clean and sanitary manner 
• prevent the use of harmful substances in meat foods 
• see that every piece of meat is inspected before sale to ensure its wholesomeness. 

The order also lays down rules and conditions for procedures to be adopted for, the selection of disease-free animals, slaughter house practices and further treatment of the meat so as to maintain the meat in a wholesome manner, devoid of harmful microorganisms. 

Besides these, there are several other orders promulgated  under the Essential Commodities Act of 1946 which provide, in the interest of the general  public, for the control of production, supply and distribution of, and trade and commerce in, certain commodities. 

Food Standards and Certification for Quality Control 

In general, quality is commonly thought of as degree of excellence - 'A'  quality perhaps being the top degree of excellence, 'B'  quality being a little less than 'A'  in excellence, and 'C'  quality being even lesser in excellence. In the broader sense quality is considered as a specification or set of specifications which are to be met. Quality characteristics include those relating to general appearance, size and shape, gloss, colour, consistency, etc. We have two organizations that are empowered to lay down standards of quality for food items, and to certify that these standards are met. These are the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection. The Indian Standards Institution (ISI) now called Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), is the national standards body of our country. It operates the voluntary ISI (Certification Marks) Act of 1952 which has laid down standards of quality of processed food items supported by precise methods of testing these standards. The ISI Act 1952 empowers the Bureau of Indian Standards to establish and publish Indian Standards in relation to any article or process, recognize other standards as Indian Standards, specify the ISI Certification Mark, and grant, renew, suspend, or cancel the licence for the use of certification under the conditions prescribed by BIS. It covers almost all consumer goods from electrical equipment, utensils and cosmetics to processed food products. As regards food items, ISI mark is granted to a food processing unit only if the proper hygienic conditions are maintained, in addition to the availability of testing facilities for quality checking of the products. Food items such as biscuits, baby foods, canned foods are ISI marked. 

The ISI certification scheme though voluntary, becomes mandatory under certain other Acts and statutes. Food colours, for example, cannot be sold under the provisions of the PFA Act if they are not ISI marked. The list of items under mandatory requirements is increasing day by day as the government is going ahead with enforcing minimum standards of quality in consumer goods. Look out for ISI markings! 

The Agmark Standard: This was set up by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection of the Government of India by introducing an Agriculture Produce Act in 1937. Rules under this Act enable the government to lay down grade specifications of quality for raw food items. grade designations, and also methods of marking to indicate various grades. Any one willing to grade and pack in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Rules is authorized to use AGMARK in addition to his own trade brands. The very first standards laid down were for pure ghee, and the AGMARK Label No.  1 (special grade) was first affixed by an authorized packer in Calcutta in February 1938. This heralded an era of food quality control and quality certification under AGMARK, for the first time in India. 

For the  domestic market, grading and quality control under AGMARK is voluntary but for export purposes it has been made compulsory under the provisions of the Export Act of 1963. The commodities for export with mandatory AGMARK certification include food items as well as non-food Items (like wool, tobacco,cotton. etc.). A total of 41 or so different  commodities are certified with the Agmark. Some food items in this list are major spices like black pepper. cardamom, chilies, garlic, onion, ginger and turmeric, minor spices like coriander seeds and cumin seeds, vegetable oils like groundnut oil and safflower oil. Examples of non-food items on this list are sandalwood oil, wool, goat hair, castor oil, tobacco and sun hemp. 

Agencies Involved in Consumer Protection

The Provisions of the PFA Act are drafted with the main purpose of protecting the consumer from adulterated foods which are injurious to him. The drafting of these rules has been the function of the Central Committee for Food Standards. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) formulates standards for food, and these standards are complementary to those adopted by the PFA. These standards apply to the raw materials, the processed foods, the packing material, and even the premises where the food is processed. 

There are four regulatory bodies which determine and control the quality of processed foods. In order of importance these are: (1) the consumer, (2) the research and development (R & D) or the Quality Control (QC) scientists in the country, (3) the Government organizations like the Central Committee for Food Standards (CCFS), the  Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) and the Enforcement Directorate for it. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and (4) the Parliament. The Parliament which has the people's representatives enacts the laws, generally on the recommendations of the CCFS, though it is not bound by such recommendations. 

Governmental agencies: The PEA Departments in Central and state Governments and BIS enforce their regulations and/or keep a check on the standards and quality through various central and state laboratories as mentioned earlier. These include Municipal Laboratories in big cities, the Food and Drug Administration Laboratories of the State Governments, the Central Food Testing Laboratories of the Government of India, and Laboratories of the Export Inspection Council. 

Voluntary agencies: Several voluntary agencies have programmes of educating the consumer so that he can safeguard himself from eating adulterated food. Private food testing laboratories are also available for carrying out food analysis. Most progressive companies have their own quality control laboratories. 

A number of consumer protection organizations have sprung up in urban centers to protect consumers. The Consumer Guidance Society of India is one example of a voluntary consumer protection organization. It was started with Bombay as its headquarters, and branches in major cities. The society tries to create consumer awareness of the various forms of adulteration and develops consumer resistance to such adulterated food products by giving talks over the radio and using other mass media like putting up exhibitions in educational institutions. Enlightened consumers are on the executive of this Society. The Society gets food samples tested and brings out a publication 'Keemat' in which consumers are kept informed about the measures taken to combat malpractices in respect of food. They also try to educate the consumer about simple methods of detecting adulteration in foods. 

Many other consumer organizations  focus on helping the consumer in securing legal redress. If a person buys food,  how does he or she know it is adulterated? What measures can be taken to protect the interest of the consumer who has been cheated of his money's worth? It is issues such as this which are taken up by local consumer organizations who advise the consumer on the best course of action.