(a) Whether the Government are aware of the flourishing trade of selling dubious mineral water in the country by unscrupulous traders and distributors;
(b) if so, whether any study has been made by the Government to identify the traders and distributors engaged in the dubious trade of mineral water;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) if not, the action taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (PROF. RITA VERMA)
(a) to (d) Standard has been laid down for mineral water in the Prevention of Food
Adulteration (PFA)Rules, 1955 to ensure its quality. The quality of this product in terms
of the standard is monitored through the State Food authorities who are vested with the
responsibility of enforcing the provisions of the PFA Act, 1954 and the Rules thereunder.
No specific study to identify traders and distributors engaged in dubious trade of mineral
water has been conducted. However, details of mineral water samples lifted and found
adulterated in different States, to the extent information has been furnished by them,
is given at Annexure. To further monitor the quality of this product, Govt. has recently
issued a draft notification under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 to bring
the manufacture, sale or exhibiting for sale of mineral water under the compulsory certification
scheme of Bureau of Indian Standards.
S.No. Name of the States Samples lifted Adultered
1. NCT of Delhi 1996 8 6 1997 6 3 1998 7 3
2. Lakshadweep Mineral water not manufactured or markete.
3. Arunachal Pradesh Random sampling done. No adulteratedSub-standard mineral water detected in the State.
4. Goa 29 2
5. Chandigarh Admn. 1996 6 Nil 1997 6 Nil 1998 9 Nil
6. Rajasthan 16 Nil
7. Kerala 1996-97 7 - 1997-98 70 3 1998-99 72 8
8. Daman & Diu 8 Nil
9. Meghalaya 4 Nil 10. Maharashtra 104 12 11. Mizoram Nil 12. Pondicherry Frequent samples drawn, no sample found adulterated. 13. Orissa 1996 2 - 1997 20 2 adulterated 1 misbranded 1998 34 14
14. Karnataka 1997-98 8 Nil 1998-99 20 3 15. Nagaland Few samples lifted all were within PFA units. 16. Punjab 1 1 17. Tripura Random sampling done. No adulterated mineral water detected. 18. Gujarat 206 24 19. West Bengal 22 3 adulterated 4 misbranded
20. Andhra Pradesh 1997 38 5 1998 209 51 1999 431 103 (upto Aug`99)
21. Andaman & Nicobar 1999 9 Nil
22. Assam 1998 Nil Nil 1999 13 Nil (upto Nov.)