The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Monday directed the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) to expedite the process to set the permissible limit of formalin in fish.
The Court has also asked the State Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) to consider 4mg formalin permissible in 1kg of fish whereas the government has been directed to carry out continuous surprise checks across fish markets and file the status report on next date of hearing.
When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, FSSAI argued that it is for the first time any query related to the presence of formalin in fish came before it and as such, there is no standard limit set. The counsel representing the agency submitted to the court that an expert scientific panel has been assigned to examine the issue and the report is awaited.
These set of directions came in response to four public interest litigations on the controversy over formalin in fish.