Primary food classification of imported betel nuts barred sampling for dry-fruit standards under food adulteration law.

Ungarbled betel nuts imported in de-husked form for manufacture of supari retained their natural character and were treated as primary food, not as dry fruits or nuts within Item A.28.04 of Appendix B to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules. Because the goods were not intended for sale as such food, the proviso to Section 10(2) barred sampling for analysis, so the customs authorities had no basis to apply the prescribed dry-fruit-and-nut standards to the consignments. The contrary view was set aside, and the imports were to be cleared without that food-standard test, subject only to ordinary lawful import checks.

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Issues: Whether ungarbled betel nuts imported for manufacture of supari are primary food outside Item A.28.04 of Appendix B to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955, and whether customs authorities can take samples for testing under Section 10(2) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.

Analysis: The imported goods were accepted to be ungarbled betel nuts in de-husked form, requiring further scraping and drying before becoming fit for consumption as supari. On the reasoning that removal of the outer covering does not alter the natural form of an agricultural product, the Court treated the goods as continuing to be primary food. Item A.28.04 applies to dry fruits and nuts obtained by drying sound, clean fruits and nuts of proper maturity, which did not fit the imported ungarbled betel nuts on the record. In view of the proviso to Section 10(2), no sample of primary food not intended for sale as such food could be taken for analysis, and the authorities had no basis to subject the consignments to the prescribed dry-fruit-and-nut standards.

Conclusion: The customs authorities could not test the imported betel nuts under Item A.28.04 and could not take samples for that purpose under Section 10(2) of the Act.

Final Conclusion: The appeals succeeded, the contrary view of the Single Judge was set aside, and the respondents were directed to clear the consignments without applying the disputed food-standard test, while preserving ordinary import-control checks not inconsistent with law.

Ratio Decidendi: An agricultural product that retains its natural form despite removal of its outer covering remains primary food, and if it is not intended for sale as such food, it cannot be sampled under the proviso to Section 10(2) for testing against standards meant for dry fruits and nuts.

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