Packaging rules permit sale of Aavin milk in plastic pouches, Food Safety Commissioner tells Madras HC

Also apprises court of rules applicable to sale of drinking water in bubble top cans; says sellers must obtain FSSAI & BSI licences

The Food Safety Commissioner on Monday informed the Madras High Court that Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 permit sale of milk in multiple packaging materials including glass bottles, rigid plastic containers, flexible plastic pouches, paper cartons with aluminium foil liner and therefore Aavin had chosen to sell milk in plastic pouches.

Justices S. Vaidyanathan and P.T. Asha were told by Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran that the 2018 rules permit packaging of milk and milk products even in mud or clay pots. He said the rules list out 18 different materials in which milk and milk products could be packaged and the sellers were free to choose their preferred material.

The submission was made following a query raised by the court, seized of a case related to banned plastics, as to why Aavin does not revert to its old method of selling milk in glass bottles rather than the practice in vogue of using plastic pouches. The judges wondered whether those pouches were being disposed of properly without harming the environment.

Apart from this, the Bench also wanted to know the quality checks related to sale of drinking water in bubble top cans. Replying to this by way of a report, the Food Safety Commissioner R. Lalvena said, the sellers of drinking water must obtain Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) licence as well as Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) licence.

They must also adhere to the provisions of Product Manual for Packaged Drinking Water (other than packaged natural mineral water) according to Indian Standards. As per the 2018 regulations, the transparency level of water containers should not be less than 85% in light transmittance so that impurities if any could be visible to the naked eye, the report said.