Observing that “relabelling expired food products and pushing them back into the stream of commerce is not a mere violation of food safety norms but a calculated assault on public health,” the High Court of Karnataka on Friday refused to quash a criminal case against a firm, licensed to collect and recycle expired food products, after allegations that it resold such products by replacing or altering their expiry date labels.

“To erase an expiry date, affix a fresh label, and place such a product back on the shelf is, therefore, to dress decay in the garb of freshness and deception in the attire of trade. The unsuspecting consumer purchases it believing it to be safe, while what is actually sold is an undisclosed and potentially grave risk to health,” the court observed.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by Earth Recycler Pvt. Ltd, and its representatives, Aamir Ahmed Chuna, Mohammed Dawood S., and Abdul Kadhir Kalathoor.

The petitioner had questioned the legality of the criminal case while contending that the authorities had failed to adhere to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, including failing to collect samples of the food items before initiating the proceedings under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. They had claimed that the FSS Act is a complete code, being a special law, and hence invoking provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against them was not proper.

Refusing to accept their contentions, the court said samples of food items could have been taken had the petitioners been ordinary retailers or distributors storing food products which, during the course of storage, were alleged to have become unsafe or expired.

Sampling cannot become the answer to the question in this case, as the petitioners are entitled to possess only expired food and the allegation against them is not for storing expired food items but for re-labelling and reselling expired food items, for which Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of BNS concerning cheating and public mischief are attracted, the court said.

The allegations against the petitioners cannot be viewed through the narrow prism of a mere regulatory infraction, as it strikes at the very heart of consumer confidence and, more importantly, at public health, the court pointed out.

“Food is not an ordinary article of commerce. What reaches the market ultimately reaches the human body. A deceptive label upon an expired food product, therefore, is not merely ink upon a package; it is, if the allegation be true, a deception capable of carrying consequences to the health and safety of an unsuspecting citizen,” the court said while emphasising the need for a proper investigation, involving competent authorities under the FSS Act too, against the petitioners.

Published - August 15, 2026 12:11 am IST