New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to take a decision in accordance with law on the demand for a stay on the sale and distribution of Johnson & Johnson's product ORSL. A bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel directed the petitioner to convey their demand to FSSAI.
During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel Gurinder Singh said that ORSL is an indication of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS), but its formula is not like ORS. He demanded that it should be written on the label of ORSL that it is not ORS.
The court then asked whether Gurinder Singh whether he has put this matter before the government to which he replied in the negative.
Also read: FSSAI launches pan-India drive against adulterated edible oil
Stating that he had come straight to the court when in fact the government has a complete machinery for dealing with such issues, the court directed him to approach the proper authorities first.
The petition, filed by Rupa Singh, Assistant Professor in Jawaharlal Nehru University, contended that if a drink is purely fruit juice-based or non-carbonated water-based , then selling it under the name ORSL as ORS is misleading to customers.
The petition said that ORS is a drug under class 27 of the Schedule to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 for the treatment of diarrhea. ORS contains sodium, glucose and osmolarity.
The petition stated that common customers get false impression of ORS through the name ORSL. Johnson & Johnson sells three different products under the said brand in the market - ORSL, ORSL Plus and ORSL Rehydrate - but none of these three products use WHO's ORS formula. The petition demanded that under the Food and Safety Standards, the sale of these products should be banned within a radius of 50 metres from schools.
