HC suggests large-scale testing to curb contamination of food

    New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today suggested several measures to curb adulteration of eatables, especially fruits and vegetables, like large-scale testing and sending back contaminated food products to manufacturers or farmers.
    A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar said "something has to be done" to ensure that people do not consume adulterated products as it could 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 national capital and check the agricultural produce coming here from other states.
    "Checking and testing has to be on a vast scale and on a daily basis. High time we have mobile vans to go from place to place for checking and testing," the bench said.
    The court also said that the city government can also take the help of private agencies working in the field of agriculture.
    It asked the government to consider the feasibility of having a system to test 10-20 per cent 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 the sampling and testing carried out by the food safety inspectors.
    The court listed the matter for further hearing on September 27.
    The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it on its own and two other pleas by private individuals seeking directions to the authorities to curb the use of pesticides and other chemicals on food products, especially the agricultural produce, coming into the national capital.
    Earlier, the high court was informed that in a number of vegetables and edible items, pesticide residue was found to be beyond permissible limits.
    The court was also told earlier that owing to the shortage of food inspectors, such vegetables and fruits reach the households and pose a serious threat to people's health.
    According to a report filed by amicus curiae Rajul Jain in July last year, due to excessive usage of pesticides in fruits and vegetable, "various countries have banned the import of Indian vegetables and fruits and many more were under scrutiny".
    The high court had initiated the issue on its own after a non-governmental organisation found that vegetables and fruits sold in the Delhi markets contained poisons capable of causing cancer and harming the nervous system and liver.
    PTI HMP SRY