Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act 1954
- Topic : Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act 1954
- Language : English
- Time : 60 sec. per question
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PFA ACT 1954
The Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill was passed by both houses of Parliament and received the assent of the President on 29th September, 1954. It came into force on 1st June, 1955 as The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (37 of 1954). To give effect to the provisions of the Act, rules were made in 1955 and called “Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955” (published in Part II, Section 3 of the Gazette of India vide S.R.O. 2106 dated 12 September 1955).
Though the PFA Act and Rules are Central Legislature, the responsibility of implementation has been entrusted to the State Governments and Union Territories. Each State Government and Union Territory has created its own organization for implementation of the Act and Rules framed thereunder.
The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 was notified by the Govt. of India in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Dept. of Health), published in the Gazette of India (extraordinary) dated 21 December 2004, an amendment of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 has come.
DETAILS OF PFA ACT
The salient features of the PFA Act include objectives, definitions of food, meaning of adulterant, concept of adulteration, misbranded items, sale of certain admixtures, relevant committees, analysts, procedure for sampling & analysis, penalties, and important miscellaneous provisions.
Objective
- To make provision for the prevention of adulteration of food.
- To protect the public from poisonous and harmful foods.
- To prevent the sale of substandard foods.
- To protect the interests of consumers by eliminating fraudulent practices.
Concept of Adulteration
An article of food is considered to be adulterated if:
- It is not of the nature, substance, or quality demanded by the purchaser.
- It contains any other substance that affects its nature, substance, or quality injuriously.
- Any inferior or cheaper substance has been substituted wholly or in part.
- Any constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted.
- It has been prepared, packed, or kept under unsanitary conditions.
- It consists of filthy, putrid, rotten, or diseased substances.
- It is obtained from a diseased animal.
- It contains any poisonous or harmful ingredient.
- The container is made of any poisonous or deleterious substance.
- It contains unauthorized coloring matter.
- It contains prohibited preservatives or excess of permitted preservatives.
- Its quality or purity falls below the prescribed standard.
- It falls below the prescribed standard but does not render it injurious to health.
Table of Adulterants
| Article | Adulterant |
|---|---|
| Baking Powder | Citric Acid |
| Spices | Lead or lead chromate in haldi, sawdust, sand |
| Starchy Foods | Arrowroot powder, sand and dust |
| Coffee and Tea | Chicory, husk, used tea dust, grit |
| Milk | Water, abstraction of fat |
| Vanaspati | Excessive hydrogenation, animal fat |
| Arhar Dal | Metanil yellow |
| Mustard Seed | Argemone seeds |
| Non-alcoholic Beverages | Saccharin, copper, lead, and arsenic |
Sale of Certain Admixtures Prohibited
Sale by himself or by his servant or agent is prohibited in case of:
- Cream which has not been prepared exclusively from milk or which contains less than 25% of milk fat.
- Milk which contains added water.
- Ghee which contains any added matter not exclusively derived from milk fat.
- Selling skimmed milk as whole milk.
- Mixture of two or more edible oils as an edible oil.
- Vanaspati to which ghee or any other substance has been added.
- Any article of food which contains any artificial sweetener beyond the prescribed limit.
- Turmeric containing any foreign substance.
- Mixture of coffee and other substances except chicory.
- Dahi or curd not made out of milk.
- Milk or milk products containing constituents other than milk.
Committee for Food Standards
The Central Government shall constitute a Committee called the Central Committee for Food Standards to advise on matters arising out of the administration of this Act.
General Provisions on Food
No person shall import into India:
- Any adulterated food.
- Any misbranded food.
- Any article of food for which a license is prescribed, except in accordance with the conditions of the license.
- Any article of food in contravention of any other provision of this Act.
Public Analysts and Inspectors
The Central Government or the State Government may appoint public analysts and food inspectors to monitor food quality and safety.
Procedure for Sampling, Analysis, and Punishment
Food inspectors can enter and inspect any place where food is manufactured or stored and take samples for analysis.
Important Miscellaneous Provisions
- If any extraneous additions of coloring matter are added, the same should be indicated on the labels.
- From the label, the blending composition of ingredients should be clear to the customer.
- Sale of kesari gram individually or as an admixture is prohibited.
- Prohibition of use of carbide (acetylene) gas in ripening.
- Sale of ghee with Reichert value less than the permitted level.
- Sale of admixture of ghee or butter is prohibited.
- Addition of artificial sweetener should be mentioned on the label.
- Sale of food colors without a license is prohibited.
- Sale of insect-damaged dry fruits and nuts is prohibited.
- Food prepared in rusted containers is treated as unfit for human consumption.
- Containers not made of plastic material which is not according to the standards are not to be used.
- Selling salted fat for any other purpose except for bakery and confectionery is prohibited.
- Storage of insecticides in the same premises where food articles are stored is prohibited.
- Milk powder or condensed milk can be sold only with ISI mark.
- Use of more than one type of preservative is prohibited.
- Crop contaminants beyond certain specified levels are treated as adulterants.
- Naturally occurring toxic substances in food material beyond certain levels are considered unfit for human consumption.
- No anti-oxidant, emulsifiers, and stabilizing agents are permitted beyond the prescribed levels.
- No insecticide should be sprayed on food items.
- Oils can be manufactured only in factories licensed for such purpose.
