It is fair to be on top of consumer interests. But blanket ban for products sold not only in India but globally raises a few fundamental questions. Policy making cannot be carried with an activist mindset. The Mumbai High Court has given relief saying the ban violated the law making a case for fresh testing to establish either guilt or innocence. The Maggi case in retrospective flags three key issues: efficacy of governance standards at the testing labs under the food regulator, government intervention in the role of the ‘independent’ food regulator and overlap between various central ministries on policy issues for the food sector. The food processing ministry, the health ministry, the consumer affairs ministry and the chemicals, petrochemicals and fertilizers ministry, all claim to have a role on setting and enforcement of food standards. This overlap is a recipe for disaster.
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