Team Herald
PANJIM: On the second day of the hearing on the contentious issue of formalin in fish, the High Court of Bombay at Goa said that the lethargic attitude of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over submission of the research report is frustrating.
Hearing the petition on Thursday, the bench directed the FSSAI Chief Executive Officer to remain present in the court on December 5, along with a timeline detailing compliance of its previous order to determine quantity of inherent natural formalin in fish.
“The attitude of the officials and scientists have frustrated us. Even after one year they are unable to file the research report. We have great respect for scientists but they are acting lazy like government servants,” the bench observed, as the statement left the FSSAI red-faced for delaying submitting the report.
On Wednesday, the bench had pulled up the FSSAI team warning that lethargic attitude would not be tolerated. On the following day too, as the bench slammed the agency for the delay, it further stated that the earlier order about timeline has been misinterpreted. “The formalin issue has great concern in Goa and we cannot afford to be susegado,” the bench said.
FSSAI, in the beginning of this year, had fixed limits of formaldehyde in fish and fisheries products and issued a direction, which stated that the ad hoc limit of formaldehyde in food category of fish, including molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms, shall be 2mg/kg max for freshwater and 100mg/kg for brackish water/marine origin.
“The limits were for natural occurring formaldehyde, and this was a temporary arrangement made by the regulator, as the matter was still under consideration and a final decision shall be taken in the due course of time. The issue was examined by the concerned scientific panel of the FSSAI, which has recommended a detailed assessment of the issue. However, taking into account the instructions of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, as well as the scientific concerns related with the formaldehyde, it has been decided to set an ad hoc limit of naturally occurring formaldehyde till final assessment is done,” the notice had stated.
