The Most Serious Offenses and Penalties Concerning Unsafe Foods under the Food Safety Laws in Bangladesh, India, and Australia: A Critical Analysis

The right to food is an internationally recognized human right, which inherently denotes the right to safe food simply because unsafe foods cause different diseases resulting in consumer’s disability, organ failure, or even early demise. Food safety currently may not be an issue of public concern in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food and drug law journal 2015-01, Vol.70 (3), p.409-434
Main Authors: Solaiman, S. M., Ali, Abu Noman M. Atahar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Food Industry
Food Safety
Health technology assessment
Humans
India
Legislation, Food
Liability, Legal
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Summary:The right to food is an internationally recognized human right, which inherently denotes the right to safe food simply because unsafe foods cause different diseases resulting in consumer’s disability, organ failure, or even early demise. Food safety currently may not be an issue of public concern in Australia, but it has been a “silent killer” for decades in both Bangladesh and India contributing to deaths of thousands and injuries of millions of others. Unscrupulous businesses have been making money at the cost of immense human casualties with almost complete impunity in Bangladesh. The situation in Bangladesh is so intractable that the government has been making laws one after another; but food traders remain undeterred, and consequently consumers continueto die from adulterated foods. This paper examines the loopholes in the definitions of the most serious offenses under three major pieces of legislation in Bangladesh, India, and Australia. It finds that all three statutes seem flawed to some extent, though they all may mutually benefit from one another in defining and clarifying the most serious food safety offenses and penalties with a view to strengthening their effectiveness.
ISSN:1064-590X