Kathmandu, April 27

Age-old law, lack of proper monitoring and awareness, or simply sheer negligence? Whatever the reason, numerous mom and pop stores in Kathmandu Valley are still selling food products without any label on the package, despite clear instruction from the government that all packaged food items should carry labels with complete information related to the ingredients and shelf-life of the product.

According to Consumer Protection Act 1998, a producer must mention the ingredients used as well as the weight, among others, on the label of packages of food products. Hence, properly labelling food products before sales is mandatory in Nepal.

However, local food items sold in most ‘convenience’ stores like pulses, sugar, rice, beans, dry fruits, and junk foods like potato chips, bhujiya, etcetera in packages of various sizes lack any such relevant information.

“As per the law, we slap a penalty of Rs 1,000 on the manufacturers found to be producing unlabelled products,” said Purna Chandra Awasti, spokeperson for the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC).

However, a fine of a mere Rs 1,000 for not abiding by the rules may not be sufficient to dissuade the traders, who often work on tight margins and are usually more focused on maximising profits.

“The Food Act 1967 (2023 BS) has long passed its relevance and needs to be amended and updated in tune with the changed times,” opined Prem lal Maharjan, president of National Consumer Forum.

He further said the punishment of Rs 1,000 for businesses flouting the rules is hardly enough to make them mend their ways. “We need to introduce stricter measures.”

According to Awasti, DFTQC also lodges a complaint against the business producing unlabelled products or if the manufactured product is found to contain any ingredient that is harmful to the human health with the help of a government lawyer at Chief District Office.

The progress report published by DFTQC on April 14, shows the department has filed 14 lawsuits against businesses regarding labelling as of mid-March of current fiscal. However, it can take years for the court to decide on these cases.

While some could argue that manufacturers not providing proper information in the packaging is direct violation of consumers’ right to information, the practice could be downright dangerous as well since some consumers might be allergic to the ingredients used in producing the consumable items.

It is not clear how many people suffer from food allergies because different studies provide different results due to the diversity in study designs. However, as per a medical journal, a recent review showed most studies have found that clinically proven allergy to any food occurs in one to five per cent of total population.

Stating that lack of awareness is the main reason for businesseses not labelling the products properly, Awasti said, “So, we have been organising different awareness programmes regarding the importance of labelling, targeting both businesses as well as consumers and there is good progress on this front.”

According to him, DFTQC runs awareness programmes on television, radio and various newspapers as well.

However, consumer rights activists seem to be at a loss about the effectiveness of such programmes.

“What awareness programme? I haven’t seen any such programme till date,” said Maharjan.