Madras High Court: In a writ petition filed by Sapphire Foods India Ltd., operators of the fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (‘KFC’) in Thoothukudi against the order issued by the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (‘Food Safety Department’), suspending KFC’s license and quash the same being illegal and thus render justice, G.R. Swaminathan, J. while staying an order passed by the Food Safety Department suspending the license of KFC, said that as per Section 32(1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, initially there should be issuance of improvement notices; and if the food business operator fails to comply with the improvement notice, his licence can be suspended.
The Court said that the order is liable to be faulted on several grounds. After taking note of Section 32(1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Court noted that it provides for the issuance of improvement notices; if the food business operator fails to comply with the improvement notice, his licence can be suspended. In this case, the license has been suspended straightaway in the first instance.
The Court said that the primary ground set out in the impugned order is that Sapphire Foods India Ltd has used Magnesium Silicate Synthetic.
After taking note of the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations 2011, the Court noted that re-use of cooking oil should be avoided and in case of reheating of oil use maximum three times to avoid the formation of trans fat. It is ideal to use once if possible. The Court said the first clause is advisory, and the second is mandatory. The Court rejected the objection raised by the Food Safety Department that reuse of edible oil is prohibited.
Moreover, the Court noted that the Director, Regulation Division, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (‘FSSAI’), has issued circular dated 14-03-2024 calling upon the authorities concerned not to take punitive action on Food Business Operators (‘FBOs’) for using the processing aids listed in Annexure that are yet to be notified for enforcement.
The Court also said that there is also prima facie merit in the petitioner’s contention that Magnesium Silicate Synthetic far being a prohibited agent is a permitted filtration agent.
The Court noted that this Court vide order dated 30-09-2022 had specifically prohibited the designated officers from giving any public interview either at the time of or completion of inspection. The Court said that there is a reason for having issued such direction. The FBO may ultimately turn out to be innocent of any wrong-doing. If the reputation and goodwill of the business is damaged following inspection, the FBO will have difficulty in restoring it.
The Court said that in this case, the Food Safety Department had clearly breached the said direction. However, in view of the undertaking, the Court refrained from initiating contempt action against the Food Safety Department. Thus, the Court stayed the license suspension order.
[Sapphire Foods India Ltd v. The Commissioner, 2024 SCC OnLine Mad 3397, decided on 18-07-2024]
