The Delhi High Court on Thursday suggested several measures to curb adulteration in eatables, especially fruits and vegetables. The suggestions included large-scale testing and returning contaminated food products to manufacturers or farmers.
A Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Chander Shekhar said “something has to be done” to ensure that people do not consume adulterated products as it can lead to “extremely serious health problems”.
The court said testing on a vast scale was the only way to find out if adulteration — like use of ripening agent calcium carbide — was being done by farmers or retailers and traders. It said the Delhi government’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) can carry out the testing exercise by deploying mobile vans, which can go from place to place in the Capital and check agricultural produce coming here from other States.
It asked the government to consider the feasibility of having a system to test 10% to 20% of the food that comes to Delhi from outside.
The Bench directed the Delhi government to file an up-to-date status report indicating details of sampling and testing carried out by the Food Safety Inspectors.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on September 27.
