Instant food mix classification: product made from basic ingredients and mixed with water remained exempt under the tariff entry.

A preparation made from basic food ingredients and consumable after adding water was treated as an instant food mix classifiable under Heading 2106, rather than a food supplement outside the exemption. The exemption entry was read to cover all kinds of food mixes, including instant food mixes, and the product's use as a meal replacement or by patients recovering from illness did not remove it from that scope. An expert certificate supported the classification, and a Board circular on ready-to-eat packaged food was held inapplicable to the food-mix dispute. On that basis, the exemption was applied and the demand and penalty were held unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the product manufactured by the appellant was classifiable as an instant food mix falling under Heading 2106 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and eligible for exemption under Notification No. 3/2006-C.E. dated 01.03.2006, or whether it was a food supplement outside the exemption entry.

Analysis: The product was found to consist of basic food ingredients and to be capable of consumption after merely adding water. The lower authorities had already accepted classification under sub-heading 21069099, which is within Heading 2106 for food preparations. The exemption entry covered all kinds of food mixes, including instant food mixes, and there was no basis to exclude a mix because it was also used as a meal replacement or for patients recovering from illness. The expert certificate supported the appellant's stand, and the Board circular dealing with ready-to-eat packaged food was held inapplicable to a dispute on food-mix classification.

Conclusion: The product was held to be an instant food mix covered by the exemption notification, and the demand and penalty were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A preparation that is composed of basic food ingredients and is capable of being consumed after addition of water remains a food mix for exemption purposes, and its use by sick persons does not exclude it from an entry covering all kinds of food mixes, including instant food mixes.

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