Calling it a “calculated assault on public health”, the Karnataka High Court has refused to set aside a cheating case against a company accused of re-labelling expired food products and reselling them as fresh. It held that it was not merely a food-safety violation warranting investigation despite procedural objections under the Food Safety Act.Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that selling expired products could pose a greater risk to children, pregnant women, elderly people and those with weaker immunity. He added that profit cannot come at the expense of public health.“The re-labelling of expired food products and their re-entry into the stream of commerce is not a mere infraction of food-safety regulation; it is a calculated assault on public health. An expiry date is not an ornamental inscription on a package, capable of being erased and replaced at the whim of a trader. It marks the outer boundary beyond which the safety and quality of the product for human use can no longer be assured,” the August 14 order said.The order added, “To erase an expiry date, affix a fresh label and place such a product back on the shelf is, therefore, to dress decay in the garb of freshness and deception in the attire of trade. The unsuspecting consumer purchases it believing it to be safe, while what is actually sold is an undisclosed and potentially grave risk to health.” Justice M Nagaprasanna said that the kitchen of a hotel may remain beyond the customer’s sight, but it can never remain beyond the reach of the law.When expired gets a makeoverThe case concerns Earth Recycler Private Limited, a business allegedly engaged in the collection and disposal of expired food products, damaged consumer goods and other waste materials. It is the case of the complainant that the business, in the aforesaid engagement of business, has collected expired food products, damaged consumer goods and other waste materials and indulged in re-labelling, re-packing and resale of those products to the general public. It was stated in the complaint that the company is re-labelling and selling the expired products to the general public. This resulted in a notice being issued by the Food Safety Department to the petitioners on April 24. The reported items included Harpic bottle without label, Bathroom Cleaner Bottle (Red Colour) without label, Lizol Bottle without label & Prabhuji Pure Food One box and other material that were allegedly used for re-labelling or repackaging.A criminal case was registered under Section 316(2) and 318(4) read with Section 3(5) of the BNS, besides Sections 23, 24 and 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 relating to packaging and labelling requirements of food products and restrictions on generic additives or processing.Story continues below this adPetitioners deny relabellingB S Sachin, appearing for the petitioners, vehemently contended that the petitioners never indulged in re-labelling, repackaging or sale of expired goods unfit for human consumption to the general public. The food safety authorities have visited the premises and, upon inspection, issued certain notices with regard to storage arrangements and housekeeping measures. It was contended that the mechanism for inspection, collection of samples, analysis and prosecution. The jurisdictional Police cannot throw the procedure as obtained under the Act to the winds by registering a crime under the BNS. The counsel placed reliance on Sections 41, 42 and 47 of the Food Safety Act to buttress his submissions on violation of the procedures since the offences are the ones punishable under Sections 23, 24 and 59 of the Act, and sought setting aside the criminal case.State flags public health riskB N Jagadeesha, appearing for the State Public Prosecutor, submitted that a mere peep into the original records would reveal circumstances which are not merely disturbing, but startling from the standpoint of food safety and public health.He argued that the expired products, which ought to have travelled towards recycling or destruction, were given a fresh lease of commercial life by re-labelling and were thereafter pushed back into the market for sale to an unsuspecting public. Story continues below this adHe argued that the articles allegedly recovered during the spot of mahazar involved milk, curd, fruits, vegetables, eggs, wheat flour, cool drinks, ready-mix products and, beyond food articles, washing powder and shampoo; and the catalogue, according to the prosecution, does not end there. ‘Articles unfit for consumption’The court said it is a sin; the food, which sustains life, is imperilled by the act of such a sinner. It added that recent enforcement actions have disclosed alleged rackets employing precisely such methods to push expired products back into the stream of commerce. Such conduct, if established, is not merely neglect; it is deception dressed as commerce. The court held that food safety requires constant vigilance, rigorous traceability of expired stock, prompt destruction of articles unfit for consumption and consequences sufficiently stringent to ensure that treating the consumer’s health as expendable never becomes a profitable business model. The court observed that the kitchen of a hotel may remain beyond the customer’s sight, but it can never remain beyond the reach of the law and rejected the petition.