SC directs Centre to apprise it of action taken for rice fortification labelling norms

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to apprise it of the steps taken to comply with a provision of the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018, that labels on bags containing fortified rice should carry an advisory that it is harmful for people suffering from sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia. A bench of Justice S K Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the Union of India to file an affidavit within four weeks and inform it about the action taken.

"Counsel has entered appearance for the Union of India and will obtain instructions as to what steps have been taken in respect of the subject matter of the grievance in the present petition and as to whether any action has been taken on the representation already made by the petitioner(s). An affidavit be filed in this behalf within four weeks. List immediately after four weeks," the bench said.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Rajesh Krishnan and others seeking compliance with clause 7(4) of the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018, to carry out mandated labelling on fortified rice sacks.

As per the clause, every package of food, fortified with the micronutrient iron shall carry the statement: "People with Thalassemia may take under medical supervision, and persons with Sickle Cell Anaemia are advised not to consume iron-fortified food products." Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, and Vitamin A and D to staple foods such as rice, milk, and salt to improve their nutritional content.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Holistic and Sustainable Agriculture (ASHA) and the Right to Food Campaign in a statement claimed that fact-finding teams on a visit to two states found that iron rice was being distributed indiscriminately without any screenings or medical supervision and patients of haemo-globinopathies had no idea that the rice was harmful to them.

The state governments had not been given any instructions by the Centre about this warning either, the statement said. Given that the rice was being distributed either in loose or cooked form in some schemes like the mid-day meals, there were no written or verbal warnings, which were only poorly visible on gunny bags. Moreover, no alternative iron-free rice was being provided to such patients.

The beneficiaries of state food schemes eating synthetic iron-fortified rice are mostly poor citizens who rely on state-subsidised food and for whom iron-fortified rice has become mandatory since they cannot afford to buy other (non-fortified) rice in the open market. The scaling up of this program came before a pilot scheme in 15 states was completed, or evaluated independently and rigorously. The evaluation of these pilots was due in late 2022 as per an RTI response by the government, but no evaluation is available till date.

The PIL petitioners have demanded that the government comply with clause 7(4) of the Food Safety Act and provide warnings that reach consumers directly. They also demanded that non-fortified rice is provided for patients with such contraindications.