Food additive rules permit lactic acid in sugar boiled confectionery where the broader standards framework allows its use.

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the 2011 Regulations were analysed on whether lactic acid could lawfully be used in sugar boiled confectionery. The regulatory scheme was read to permit additives where specifically allowed, and Rule 3.1.12 was treated as expressly listing lactic acid as an acidulant for miscellaneous foods. The expression "miscellaneous foods" was construed broadly, and the absence of lactic acid from a specific appendix entry did not by itself make its use impermissible where the wider regulatory framework and supporting standards indicated otherwise. The text therefore identifies lactic acid as a permissible ingredient within that scheme.

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Issues: Whether lactic acid was a permissible ingredient in sugar boiled confectionery under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Regulations framed thereunder.

Analysis: The definition of food additive under section 3(1)(k) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, together with the regulatory scheme in Rules 2.7.1, 3.1.1 and 3.1.12 of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards & Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, showed that additives may be used where permitted by the Regulations. Rule 3.1.12 specifically listed lactic acid as an acidulant for miscellaneous foods, and the expression "miscellaneous foods" was construed broadly. The Court also relied on the proviso to Rule 2.7.1, Appendix A, the Bureau of Indian Standards specification for sugar boiled confectionery, and the comparable provisions in the repealed Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955, as supporting materials. The fact that lactic acid was not separately named in Appendix A, Table 13, did not make its use impermissible where the broader regulatory provisions allowed it.

Conclusion: Lactic acid was held to be a permissible ingredient in sugar boiled confectionery, and the challenge to the impugned action on that ground failed.

Final Conclusion: The impugned seizure and notices could not be sustained to the extent they proceeded on the footing that lactic acid was prohibited in the petitioner's product, and relief was granted accordingly.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the regulatory text permits an additive in miscellaneous foods and the scheme of the food standards regulations does not expressly exclude the product, the additive cannot be treated as prohibited merely because it is not separately listed in a specific appendix entry.

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