The court pointed out that the law was silent on the lactic acid, and FDA had not taken action in similar cases.
FDA had raided Parle's factories in Nashik and Raigad in October and seized candies worth Rs 2.36 crore. Terming them as unsafe, FDA had said they contained lactic acid, which was a violation of Food Safety and Standards Act, and a colour beyond the permissible limit.
Parle then moved the High Court. The company said lactic acid is widely used in the production of various foods including curd, paneer, bread, milk powder, ketchup, garlic paste, etc, and FDA had never initiated action against the manufacturers of these products.
"The products in dispute have been manufactured and sold since 2004. This is the first time action has been taken," Parle's lawyer, senior counsel Virag Tulzapurkar argued.
Additional government pleader Sandeep Shinde submitted that of the 48 batches that were seized, only nine batches contained colour in excess. However, all of them contained lactic acid.
The division bench headed by Justice S J Vazifdar pointed out that FSS Act does not mention lactic acid as a banned substance.(More)