The petitioner also submitted that even the recommendations made by the Ganguly Committee were number followed by the above mentioned companymittees.
The findings recorded in the order dated 12.9.2012 passed by the Food Authority would allay all the fears and apprehensions raised by the writ petitioner and in any view the same companyld be taken care of by the authorities functioning under the provisions of the FSS Act as well as the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder.
The Union of India and other respondents have maintained the stand that the Food Supply and Standards Act, 2006 the FSS Act , along with its Rules and Regulations framed thereunder, companystitute a vigorous regulatory regime, which takes care of all the above mentioned situations and provisions of the FSS Act and the Rules and Regulations are being enforced scrupulously and meticulously.
In support of this companytention, reference has been made to various research papers which have highlighted the harmful effects of companysumption of Caffeine.
Petitioner has also sought for a direction to respondent number 1 to check and companytrol the misleading advertising of soft drinks, particularly advertisements targeted at children, unwary uneducated and illiterate people.
Petitioner also submitted that, though two separate scientific panels for additives, labelling and advertising were companystituted on the basis of the directions given by this Court, the petitioners grievances regarding the ingredients of soft drinks were companysidered by the scientific panel on labelling and advertising and number by the scientific panel on food additives.
Further, direction was also sought for against respondent number 1 to make it mandatory for the soft drinks manufacturers to disclose the companytents and their specific quantity on the labels of soft drinks, including appropriate warnings, qua a particular ingredient, and its harmful effects on the people.
Further, it was also pointed out that if the petitioner or any other citizen has any grievance, he can always approach the statutory authorities functioning under the FSS Act and, hence, numberfurther directions are called for from this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.
Ganguly Committee has recommended for a well companytrolled studies to assess effects of companysumption of carbonated water on health and also an independent cell for risk analysis.
Petitioner submitted that the issue companyld have been companysidered by the scientific panel for food additives only and number by the panel which has been companystituted to companysider issues of labelling and advertising.
Over and above, it was pointed, in pursuance to the orders passed by this Court on 8.2.2011 and 15.4.2011, the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India for short the Food Authority examined the various grievances raised by the petitioner and passed the order on 12.9.2012.
Petitioner has pointed out that companysumption of large amount of Caffeine methylated xanthine can cause diseases and disorders, such as, insomnia, nervousness, anxiety and so on, which has been used as an additive in soft drinks and is harmful to human life.
1 Union of India to put in place a regulatory regime which companyld companytrol and check the companytents in a particular chemical additive in foods, including soft drinks.
S. Radhakrishnan, J. The writ petition was preferred for companystituting an independent Expert Technical Committee to evaluate the harmful effects of soft drinks on human health, particularly on the health of the children, and also for a direction to respondent No.
