Letters: A lesson in food safety

This refers to the report "As Maggi goes off menu, Nestle gears up for damage control" (May 28). Economic governance in the form of a more proactive and decisive regulation in the food & beverages segment is the need of the hour. Big global brands are better organised to safeguard their pecuniary business interests. They also have more options such as reinforced promotional campaigns and legal support. Looking at the manner in which some of these 'value' products and brands are getting pulled up for non-compliance with safety standards, I feel that there could be a more transparent and unambiguous set of procedures at the national level. Multinationals are known to use this shortcoming in developing nations to market same or similar products with varying compositions, and sometimes to market products that have been banned elsewhere.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is one of many regulators with a pan-India jurisdiction. Many of the procedures for dealing with regulatory standards and their implementation are also common (especially where there is a possibility of information-asymmetry and health hazards). It would, therefore, make a lot of sense to evolve a nationwide regulatory code. The specifics for each segment such as food, fast-moving consumer goods, drugs and utilities/services would all be then covered under one broad framework. If the central government already has such a mechanism, it should be made more visible and accessible.

Tallury Syama Sundar Hyderabad

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