LAW MANTRATHINK BEYOND OTHERS

(National Monthly Journal, I.S.S.N 2321 6417)

Consumer protection and food nutrition standard in India:
Special reference to street vendors

Introduction
Abstract
Consumer protection and food nutrition standard in India: Special reference to street vendors
Author- Avinash Singh
Street food are sometimes feed economic preference and a fewer time served the taste
preference but the conspicuous fact lies in the nutrition richness and health hazard that may
pose more severe retention over the concern of health factor. In era of consumer activism it is
noticeable to adhere with the various awareness programs wherein government awakes the
people concerning their relative consumer rights and an effective result have being aftermath of
this awareness but in case of street food, same consumers are waiving the rights just for cheap
and nonetheless unhygienic food being served to them. Although in present paper suggestions
to uphold the right of the consumers are proposed vis--vis upholding the rights of the vendors
who are also in a vulnerable position and are fighting for a decent survival.
Present paper deal with the consumer laws and its effect of the rights of the consumer by
giving several provisions dealing with the same. Paper seeks to entrust the right of health of
consumer as the most significant one and also stated several authorities and instruments that
are responsible for maintenance of food standard on both national and international level. After
which a factual analysis of the consuming pattern of consumers and conditions of vendors is
focused followed by a inclusive suggestive regime that will bring a comprehensive policy
framework that will outcome as the regulation being made for standardization of street food.
Keyword: Consumer; Health; Street food; Standardization regulation; Vendor







Full paper
Consumer protection and food nutrition standard in India: Special reference to street vendors
Author- Avinash Singh

1- Introduction
Consumer protection and food safety issues are often diluted before the consumer dispute
redressal authorities with a hefty grant of compensation. In India, these demands are based
upon some material facts that endorse the application of consumer laws over those issues and
hence make them compatible for security under consumer protection laws. Consumer
protections laws have fragmented in diversified area of action wherein maintenance of food
standard is one among others. Wherein in present paper we basically focus on the aspects of
mortifying level of nutrition value of food in India and its aftermath on consumer health.
Present paper also focuses on several characteristic measures that must be adopted by
government to regularize the food nutrition level vis--vis taking a stringent protectionist effort
to hoard the fundamental rights of vendors. The major hurdle in this endeavor will lie in the
fact where the protection of sacrosanct fundamental rights have been granted to these street
vendors thorough Constitution of India of their life and livelihood as street shops are their key
source of income at the same time the consumers also holds the protection of the constitutional
mandate of right to health being proliferated by the right to life having its expressed presence
in the constitution. The present suggestive measure that enshrine the right of consumer will be
in addition to the recognition of due rights of the street vendors and hawkers. All-pervading
and noticeable presences of these street vendors have raised the concern regarding the trade
they are involved in and its subsequent effect of the rights of the consumers. None the less
Food and Agriculture Organization have recognized the abundance of street vendors as one of


the attribute of urbanization in modern world.
1
World health Organization bear concerns
regarding the legalization of the street vending for increasing the standard of products
2
and
even certain measures have been already suggested by the WHO to maintain the standard and
safety that stretches from preparation, storage to disposal norms after seeking the potential
harm to the food standard due to contamination in open environment
3
and the suggested
measures could be easily achievable if Indian agencies tend to implement the same in national
regulatory structure for which agencies are already present in food standard governance model
of country. Therefore present paper neither shelve any right of the vendors by putting an
impediment on their source of earning nor suggest any kind of economic burdening but only
suggest the government to obligate measure so as to measure the significance of consumers-
vendor relation. This consumer-vendor relation affects consumer in two ways wherein firstly
hampering their statuary consumer right that are unaddressed and secondly to affect the
consumers constitutional right of health that is entrenched with fundamental feature of right to
life.
2- Consolidation of consumer law vis--vis street food
Consumer protection act is meant to be a socio-economic legal document of whose significant
interest is to preserve time and money of consumers who are specific vulnerable class of
people being deprived of their rights and need well recognized treatment. There are several
rights that were used to be the part of MRTP Act, 1969 that is repealed now and Section 2(r)
4

of Consumer protection Act serves the purpose of the specific section 36(A) of MRTP, 1969.
As the present act is in addition to any other law in force
5
and therefore it has effect even if the
suggestions so as provide a framework for regularization of unhygienic food is being made to
that effect. Affirmation by apex court is also present to these effect that consumer could use

1
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION, STREET FOODS. REPORT OF AN FAO EXPERT
CONSULTATION JOGJAKARTA, INDONESIA
FAO FOOD AND NUTRITION PAPER NO.46, (1988)

2
STREET-VENDED FOOD: A HACCP-BASED FOOD SAFETY STRATEGY FOR GOVERNMENTS, FOOD
SAFETY UNIT,
DIVISION OF FOOD AND NUTRITION, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, WHO/FNU/FOS/96.7, 86
(1996)
<http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/streetvend.pdf >accessed on 17 May, 2014
3
THE ROLE OF FOOD SAFETY IN HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, REPORT OF THE JOINT FAO/WHO
EXPERT COMMITTEE ON FOOD SAFETY 705(1984)
<http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/38709>accessed on 17 May, 2014

4
Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 1993

5
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 3



alternative remedy available in time being in time being in force.
6
A buyer of street food is a
customer under section 1(d)
7
of said act as food items are goods that are purchased in lieu of a
consideration and therefore a buyer of edibles from a shop or street outlet is a consumer. In the
landmark case of Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K.Gandhi
8
it was opined by the apex
court that any person who buys any commodity including eatables from any store, fair price
shop etc. will be a consumer. Now a complaint is also sustained as section 2(1)(c)
9
of said act
defines more specifically those complaints wherein either conditions of goods are hazardous or
trader knows with due diligence that the goods so offered are of unsafe for consumption. In the
case of street vendors they are trapped mostly in former condition while the grocery shop
owner is meant to be wrapped in both the criteria. The food being sold by street vendors and
grocery shop are of such a quality that impounds the defect in them concluded by section
2(1)(f)
10
wherein lack of proper sanitation and potential hazard that amount to the
contemptuous health position of the consumer. Therefore the above made brief of core
consumer act provisions are intended to signify the present model of consumer affairs that
could be brought under the present law but due to higher acceptability of the street food
culture it is unpractical that consumers would be complain of the low standard street food as
government themselves is reluctant for the same. Therefore the succeeding parts of paper will
only focus on the suggesting the measures and reasons to adopt a regulatory frame work for the
consumers to provide the better nutrition and healthy food in the same street shops.

3- International and national standards scrutinizing health and nutrition issues
Indian constitution has emphatically enshrined right to life of which profound interpretation
have led to the right of health as the fundamental right and apex court have reached in its
aftermath to provide a smooth protection through cases like Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor
Samity case
11
, Occupational Health and Safety Association case
12
, Suresh Kuamr Kaushal
case
13
, Dr. Balram Prasad and othrs. case
14
among others.

6
The Consumer and Citizens Forum v. Karnataka Power Corporation, 1994 (1) CPR 130

7
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 2(1)(d)

8
AIR 1994 SC 787
9
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 2(1)(c)

10
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 2(1)(f)

11
PaschimBanga Khet Mazdoor Samity Vs. State of West Bengal, (1996) 4 SCC 37



There have been several statues that govern the health issues and food standards wherein Food
Adulteration Act, Coal Mines Regulations, Indian Gas Cylinders Rules apart from the most
significantly material act named as Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1987. These acts basically
achieve their concern toward legal aspects related to food safety and standard wherein the
Bureau of Indian Standards (hereinafter called as BSI) is engaged towards consumer awareness
along with maintain legal standards for products and systems, liaison formation with national
and international organizations for conforming objective etc. BIS runs the products
certification scheme of which numbers of products ranging from food product to electronic
goods are certified but reason for the scheme is voluntary in nature, it limits the scope of
smooth implementation. BIS works with the Central Consumer Protection Council and is
advised by the Consumer Policy Advisory Committee that works to increasing efficacy in the
functioning of the BIS. BIS is also holding a separate department designed for promotion of
consumer welfare and grievance redressal reaching an online complaint mechanism and
follow-ups related thereto. Apart from BIS there is a Central Committee for Food Standards
(CCFS) that advises on the food standards with a Directorate of Marketing and Inspection
(DMI) of whose standard is popularly known as AGMARK that retains the standardization
food products in India.

After raising concern from national legislations and agencies, there are several international
Instruments of which India is a party and ratified several among others that show the intention
and objective of Indian government that implicates a commitment to develop a new era of
consumer protection in realm of health concerns forming a branch of national legislative aim.
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) is the international body working under FAO and
WHO is steadfast to work for food standardization on international level. Keeping in aim to
fulfill the Codex obligation, a national body named as Codex Indian work to adhere and
extend the objective of the international mandate that is basically a following principles of food
standard programs acknowledged by World TradeAgreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary
etc. National Codex installed under The Directorate General of Health Services (Min. of Health
and Family Welfare) is responsible for consultation with expert committee of World Health
Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), preparing shadow reports
and preparing reports for Indian delegation in the Session on Codex Committee on Methods of

12
Occupational Health and Safety Association v Union of India and others, (2014) 3 SCC 547

13
Suresh Kumar Koushal and another v NAZ Foundation and others, AIR 2014 SC 563

14
Dr. BalramPrasad and others v Dr. Kunal Saha and another, (2014) 1 SCC 384



Analysis & Sampling
15
. International instruments like International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights
16
enshrined valuable principles that India have adopted in
accordance into its domestic laws
17
. Article 11(2)(a) of ICESCR categorically states and
obligates the member states To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution
of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge
of the principles of nutrition. to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of
natural resources. Food safety standards are much recognized and obligated to be applied in
case of food security as it was seen in the present legislation that although managed enforce
food security in India but concerns are raising regarding the safety of the food supplies under
Food Security Act, 2013 as was similarly alarmed by Former J ustice V.R. Krishna Iyer who
himself have addressed the matter in the eye of government.
18
With this contention and
concern of J ustice V.R.Krishanan Iyer, a nexus is threaded with our point of submission that if
maintenance of food standard is necessary for the national legislation food security is needed
and then it is presumed to be mandated provision to add a relatable commitment over
government for such standard preservation of food itineraries sold over street outlets and
grocery shops.

The protocols that are set by the national agencies must focus on the actual users
19
rather
than the non-users of that product. Like in case of making a standard for street food the actual
user or consummator of those food items are middle and lower level economically and
demographically young population is more attracted toward the street foods and therefore focal
point should form the original consummator of street foods or non-certified food items and due
adherence must be taken from foreign protocols
20
. As the present issues sustains over to
implement the effort in formation of new regulation or protocol that seek to regulate the
unhygienic food and insanitary place of serving the food and various factors attached thereto

15
INDIAN DELEGATION REPORT, 34
TH
SESSION OF CODEX COMMITTEE ON METHODS OF
ANALYSIS & SAMPLING
<http://www.fssai.gov.in/Codexindia/India's%20Position/CCMAS/34th%20session/34thsessionccmas.pdf>
accessed on 16 may, 2014
16
General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, enforced on 3 January 1976
<http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx>accessed on 12 May, 2014

17
India, Human Rights Act, 1993, Section 2

18
V. R. KRISHNA IYER, Safety in food security, The Hindu, November 7, 2013,
<http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/safety-in-food-security/article5322495.ece>accessed on 14 May, 2014

19
Kirti Joshi, Mechanismof Developing and Fixing Food Standards in India, India Science and Technology 2008
<http://www.nistads.res.in/indiasnt2008/t6rural/t6rur22.htm>accessed on 16 May, 2014

20
Codex. 2001. Code of Hygienic Practice for the Preparation and Sale of Street Foods
(Regional Code Latin America and the Caribbean). CAC/RCP 43-1997, Rev. 1-2001


like health of workers indulged in insanitary environment, licensing of the food shops,
mandatory food standard scrutinizing in a particular interval of time, making civil liabilities for
non-adherence to the conditions mandated etc. the above said bodies are keenly devoted to
maintain the food standard that must have its universal effect rather than its selective effect. In
lieu to provide a basic generality based approach, our national agencies must come in mutual
support with each other and should form machinery to frame the relevant policy that is
suggested by the present paper.
As we have uprooted several legislations and policy making bodies favoring the right to health
and nutrition and consequently its due relativity with the consumer rights, now we will
entrench our research over consuming habits and its implication over the consumers that
basically involves the local food centers and street food.

4- Consumer habits and relevancy of food standardization
In this whole bulk of contentions, the present seek to achieve the factual reasoning of the need
of standardization of food products that basically involves the food standard check at grass root
level of street food and retail food shops and roadside restaurant that are main source of food
consumption in present time. Today despite of an increase in the income of the urban
population and lowering down of percentage of below poverty line population
21
, still 1/10
th
of
the Indian urban population accommodates in the slums.
22
As the hawkers and vendors those
who seem to form a marginalized group
23
is also lagging behind in education sector that
presents them a challenge in the field of occupation.
24
Also the unregulated market and use of
traditional ways
25
have let these street hawkers in a vulnerable position and even create
obstacle to cope up with the formal food industry which serves even high standard of food
products. Through this factual presentation, author prefers to emphasis on skill that needs to be
endowed for street vending and therefore the proper knowledge of hygienic and clean food

21
Planning Commission: Perspective Planning Division. (2012). Report of the Expert Group to
Recommend the Detailed Methodology for Identification of Families Living Below
Poverty Line in the Urban Areas (pp. 125). New Delhi: Government of India

22
Kirit Patel, David Guenther, Kyle Wiebe, and Ruth-Anne Seburn, Conference Paper on Food Sovereignty:
A Critical Dialogue, 82 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE YALE UNIVERSITY 2 (2013)
<http://www.yale.edu/agrarianstudies/foodsovereignty/pprs/82_Patel_2013.pdf> accessed on 17 May, 2014

23
Id. at 12

24
M. Bapat , Informal Sector Street Food Vendors: A Study in Pune (India). Ottawa,
Canada: International Development Research Centre (1990) as cited in Supra note 22

25
K.Hart, Informal income opportunities and urban employment in Ghana, 1 Journal of
Modern African Studies 67 (1973)


preparation is predictable to be absent among the class. A study it was found that there is an
energy deficiency, stunted growth and other hygiene problems
26
that attracts the concern over
the food industry at the urban level. In a study over a particular region
27
, it was found that the
number of male students is more consummators of the street food than girls and also the
quality and taste override other criteria of selection of street food. Although, there is a mixture
of both quality and taste wherein juxtaposition prevails over the preference of one criterion
over other because if people are more conscious for taste will leave the other ineffective in
nature and hence the objective of food standardizations seems to be frustrated. This
demographic pattern shows street vendor food gain popularity among the youth and therefore
any policy should also focuses on youth vis--vis standardization of street food products.
Standard and relative quality of a product is the subjective judgment upon decision of the
producer who more adequately deemed to be known about the said standards of the products.
28

But at the same time, it is the duty of the producer to effectively draw the legality and
sacrosanct standing of its contention and hence to fulfill the implied liability upon him. There
was a conscious approach being adopted by United Nations over the health issues and in
furtherance to that effect, a high level meeting was conducted in 2011 in New York wherein a
declaration regarding Non-communicable disease was adopted wherein measures were
suggested to undertake over the rising concerns on health issues in developing countries.
29

Commitment to reduce these diseases including high-cholesterol, diabetes etc. were of
primarily concern and unhygienic food is the root cause of these diseases that are beyond any
regularization of minimum standards for food products being set in India. Therefore Indian
commitment for the reduction of these diseases also acts a key factor to adopt a regularization
regime on food products of street vendors and groceries shops.
While Indian food market are still hunted by moderate packaging wherein the case in foreign
countries have reached where regulation regarding excessive packaging have to be made as

26
Ghosh, S., & Shah, D, Nutritional problems in urban slum children, 41 Indian Pediatrics 682-696 (2004)

27
Sunita Mishra, Food and Nutrition Security in Developing Countries: A Case Study of City of Varanasi in India,
Paper prepared for presentation at the 84th EAAE Seminar Food Safety in a Dynamic World
(2004) <http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/25000/1/sp04mi01.pdf>accessed on 15 may, 2014

28
V.P.Khari v. Colladas Beverages, (1988) 2Comp LJ 47

29
UN General Assembly, Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the
Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, 24 January 2012 , A/RES/66/2
<http://www.who.int/nmh/events/un_ncd_summit2011/political_declaration_en.pdf?ua=1>accessed on 15 may,
2014



was seen in United Kingdom
30
wherein a ban is put over on excessive packaging of materials.
Indian standards must also be regularized to make packaging of food available before street or
general food outlets accord with a minimum standard so as to protect the nutrition and hygiene
of food. Ministry of health in a joint functioning of Ministry of consumer affairs should be
made the nodal agency for setting up and settle on regulations being suggested through aid of
various other expert groups, agencies, NGOs and concerned field expertise.

5- Suggestions
Minimal standard of packaging of food products will add more credit to the policies of
maintaining food nutrition standards made by governance in interest of consumers. Even the
street food must be served in a hygienic condition and packaging must be done in the interest
of both street vendors and consumers. While the other groceries shops that include general
stores, bakeries and other outlets to maintain a minimum level of quality packing. Over and
above all, packaging must be eco-friendly and sustainable so that a potential harm to
environment should be minimized as use of plastic must be avoided and in necessary
conditions the minimum standard of plastic being set by government must be only used for
packaging purpose.
The product certification scheme that is the systematic procedure to certify the quality and
standard of products lies into vain as being its nature of optional. This is vehemently suggested
that this system of certification must be mandated in food products whether packed or ready to
eat street food so as to uphold a nutritious and healthy living to the inhabitants of country. This
certification although should not constrained to the urban area but a significant prerequisite lies
for such system to be implemented at rural areas also. This certification scheme should be
methodically implemented on pilot project by prioritizing several metropolitan and highly
populated urban areas. In the next step, these programs must be implemented on the
comparatively lower populated areas and sub-urban areas and towns and final step should
reach to the rural areas in the grass root field. By this systematic geographical diversion, the
steps taken will be highly successful and evidently overreaching results will be obtained. This
process is only a regularization of the street vendors and hawkers those who are indulged in
direct consumer satisfaction and are daily infringing various unidentified rights inherited in the

30
Elisabeth Rosenthal, British law spurs scrutiny of excess packaging , The Hindu, December 26, 2010
<http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/british-law-spurs-scrutiny-of-excess-packaging/article981332.ece>
accessed on 15 may, 2014



legal system. Moreover, the government duty under joint reading of Article 38
31
with Article
47
32
secures a constitutional obligated practice and adoption of the regulation regarding the
food vending business and other non certified food items to improve the nutritional level and
health of consumers. These habitual and most easily seen infringements upon consumers have
to be replaced by a correctional measure in outline of present recommended regularization.
Government needs to disburse policy expenditure more on preparatory based investment rather
than the outcome based investment in health sector that expands as the need for a
comprehensive policy on the root level of problem that start form unhygienic food and non-
nutritious substances rather than investing more on health services. Proper concerns over the
ground level problem will automatically the need of health services comparatively and hence
will facilitate the other patients to provide efficient heath service. So far as the consumer rights
are involved, this pre-regulation would form a pattern laying more emphasis on the securing
the event of breach to happen and thus would also help in lowering the burden over courts that
will only act after complaint being made to them under consumer act to district forum
33
, state
commission
34
and national commission
35
. Recurrent overburdening of cases may be protected
through the move of regularization of the street food vending and other non-certified packaged
and non-packaged food items.
Protocols must also be adhered as of other nations those who have successfully legislated upon
the standardization of street foods and then the foreign policy should be re-structured according
to the Indian circumstances. Street food regularization should also contain the guidelines
developed by WHO and other United Nation Organizations that have already worked for the
setting up due procedures and regulation around the world.
6- Conclusion
In the current manuscript the elementary argument surrounds over the health and nutrition
enrichment of food products of which the daily consumption is continued within the huge
population of India. This unhygienic food consumption will not only lead to many health
problems but also burden the health system of our country of which if pre-legalization is

31
Constitution of India,1950, Art. 38

32
Constitution of India,1950, Art. 47

33
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 9

34
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 16

35
India, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Section 20


adopted will make the problem diminish up to much extent. Sustenance of interest of both the
consumer and vendor will be protected by the setting up of new regularization regime for the
upholding the highest quality of product with standardization of same by international
agencies. The present passed legislation named as The Street Vendors (Protection of
Livelihood And Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 doesnt seems much adding to the
present concern as the subject matters if different from the approach of the present paper.
Although for making any regulation regarding the Vendors, the legislation have a role to play
but that would be only formal in nature as the original work is to be functioned by the relating
authorities stanch to maintain standard of food products. Indian social and political situation
will add much intricacy and complexity in means and manner to form and implement the
regulation regarding the standardization of street food. Over and above all minutiae requisite
for the vital accomplishment of effective regularizations, the principles of common good must
be kept on the equivalence next of kin with the constitutional mandates that will attain the
realistic approach toward the formation of apposite regulation for common consumer good.



By:
Avinash Singh, BBA.LL.B (hons.)/ III year, MATS Law School, Raipur (Chhattisgarh)