Indian Supreme Court Tuesday ordered Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to monitor and conduct periodic checks of all carbonated soft drinks in the country.

New Delhi, Oct 22/Nationalturk- In order to keep check on quality of soft drink products, Indian Supreme Court Tuesday directed Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to monitor and conduct periodic checks of all carbonated soft drinks in the country.

The division bench comprising Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice A K Sikri while disposing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) said FSSAI must conduct periodic checks of the carbonated drinks.

“The issue relates to fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of Indian Constitution,” it said.

Panel should regulate soft drinks – PIL

The PIL filed by Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) in 2004 had sought constitution of an independent committee to regulate soft drinks to protect citizens from their “harmful effects”.

The petition had also sought directions to cola firms to disclose the contents/ingredients on the label of their bottles and to regulate “misleading” advertisements targeting children.

Earlier, on December 13, 2012 the apex court had reserved its order on a PIL, which had alleged that ingredients of carbonated drinks have serious harmful effects on human health and no action was taken to test and assess the risk posed by such beverages.

However, soft drink giant Pepsi had opposed the PIL through its counsel, saying the Food Safety and Standards Act aimed at regulating the standards of beverages was “sufficient” and all the regulations were in place.

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk India News