The Supreme Court of India held in its recent judgment that the prohibition imposed by the centre on non-iodised salt for human consumption is unconstitutional. The court however said that the ban will continue for six months.
A bench of Supreme Court including Justice B Sudershan Reddy (since retired) and Justice Raveendran held that Rule 44-I of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955, was unconstitutional. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act was intended to ban the use of adulterated and misbranded products. Therefore, this rule could not be invoked to ban sale of non-iodised salt. The court stated that if the government wanted to ban non-iodised salt it should have come out with different legislation.
The Supreme Court gave the above ruling in response to the writ petition filed by the Academy of Nutrition Improvement challenging the ban on non-iodised salt.
The government had made the consumption of only iodised salt mandatory on the basis that deficiency of iodine caused a lot of disorders like dwarfism, squint eye, lower IQ and mental retardation.
Even though the Supreme Court has annulled the ban on non-iodised salt on legal grounds, there are equally compelling grounds for lifting this ban on pragmatic considerations. The effects of the ban, in its implementation, have been negative. Iodised salt looks, smells and tastes exactly like common salt. However, available testing method and procedure is unscientific and non-specific. At the production centres, the salt officers are incapable of ensuring compliance of the ban.
ReplyDeleteEqually disquieting is the prevalent myth, even among those educated public, that only branded refined salt is iodised. Any type of salt, crystal, crushed, powder etc, could be iodised without too much of an expense. Branded consumer packs are artificially high-priced and those refined are less of a natural product. Its sodium content has been enhanced by leaching out calcium and magnesium contents. It is a moot question whether this is harmless product, especially for those who are victims of hyper-tension.
This writer is Assistant Salt Commissioner, Kakinada. Views expressed are personal.