A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has directed the State government to ensure that all food business operators obtain necessary food licence/registration in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
The Bench led by Chief Justice S. Manikumar passed the directive while disposing of a public interest litigation. The court also directed that monitoring be done once in three months. The court further ordered that food safety officers send reports to the Commissioner of Food Safety Department who shall consolidate the reports and forward them to the Health Secretary.
In his petition, M.S. Ajith Kumar of Kollam pointed out that even after implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, most food businesses were being run without licence or registration.
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The Commissioner of Food Safety submitted that steps had been taken for effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act. In fact, efforts were being taken for the registration of all food business operators. Besides, adequate number of food safety officers had been appointed in each Assembly constituency.