Review order on micro/nano plastics warning labels on bottled water, sugar, and salt, FSSAI urges Madras HC
The FSSAI has requested the Madras High Court to review a mandate requiring warning labels about micro/nano plastics on bottled water, sugar, and salt. The authority argues that current scientific evidence is inconclusive and that such labels could cause unnecessary public panic.
Why it matters
This case highlights the tension between precautionary consumer safety regulations and the potential for economic disruption based on emerging, unverified scientific data.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has urged the Madras High Court to review its order mandating that drinking water, sugar, and salt sold in plastic bottles and packets must contain a warning in bold and red letters that read: “This water/sugar/salt may contain micro/nano plastics”.
In the review application filed before the special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, FSSAI has contended that research on the subject remained inconclusive, and hence, it may not be appropriate to cause “public panic” by displaying such warnings.
Filing the application through Central government senior panel counsel V. Chandrasekaran, the FSSAI said all available materials and research articles, invariably and unequivocally, stated that the harmful effects of micro and nano plastics on human body remained inconclusive and the research was at a nascent stage.
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