Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,– (a) “adulterant” means any material which is or could be employed for making the food unsafe or sub-standard or mis-branded or containing extraneous matter; (b) “advertisement” means any audio or visual publicity, representation or pronouncement made by means of any light, sound, smoke, gas, print, electronic media, internet or website and includes through any notice, circular, label, wrapper, invoice or other documents; (c) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Food Authority; (d) “claim” means any representation which states, suggests, or implies that a food has particular qualities relating to its origin, nutritional properties, nature, processing, composition or otherwise; (e) “Commissioner of Food Safety” means the Commissioner of Food Safety appointed under section 30; (f) “consumer” means persons and families purchasing and receiving food in order to meet their personal needs; (g) “contaminant” means any substance, whether or not added to food, but which is present in (zg) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (zh) “package” means a pre-packed box, bottle, casket, tin, barrel, case, pouch, receptacle, sack, bag, wrapper or such other things in which an article of food is packed; (zi) “premises” include any shop, stall, hotel, restaurant, airline services and food canteens, place or vehicle or vessel where any article of food is sold or manufactured or stored for sale; (zj) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be under this Act; (zk) “primary food” means an article of food, being a produce of agriculture or horticulture or animal husbandry and dairying or aquaculture in its natural form, resulting from the growing, raising, cultivation, picking, harvesting, collection or catching in the hands of a person other than a farmer or fisherman; (zl) “prohibition order” means an order issued under section 33 of this Act; (zm) “risk”, in relation to any article of food, means the probability of an adverse effect on the health of consumers of such food and the severity of that effect, consequential to a food hazard; (zn) “risk analysis”, in relation to any article of food, means a process consisting of three components, i.e. risk assessment, risk management and risk communication; (zo) “risk assessment” means a scientifically based process consisting of the following steps: (i) hazard identification, (ii) hazard characterisation; (iii) exposure assessment, and (iv) risk characterisation; (zp) “risk communication” means the interactive exchange of information and opinions throughout the risk analysis process concerning risks, risk-related factors and risk perceptions, among risk assessors, risk managers, consumers, industry, the academic community and other interested parties, including the explanation of risk assessment findings and the basis of risk management decisions; (zq) “risk management” means the process, distinct from risk assessment, of evaluating policy alternatives, in consultation with all interested parties considering risk assessment and other factors relevant for the protection of health of consumers and for the promotion of fair trade practices, and, if needed, selecting appropriate prevention and control options; (zr) “sale” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the sale of any article of food, whether for cash or on credit or by way of exchange and whether by wholesale or retail, for human consumption or use, or for analysis, and includes an agreement for sale, an offer for sale, the exposing for sale or having in possession for sale of any such article, and includes also an attempt to sell any such article; (zs) “sample” means a sample of any article of food taken under the provisions of this Act or any rules and regulations made thereunder; (zt) “specified by regulations” means specified by regulations made by the Food Authority; (zu) “standard”, in relation to any article of food, means the standards notified by the Food Authority; (zv) “State Government” in relation to a Union territory means the Administrator of that Union territory appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution; (zw) “substance” includes any natural or artificial substance or other matter, whether it is in a solid state or in liquid form or in the form of gas or vapour; (zx) “sub-standard” an article of food shall be deemed to be sub-standard if it does not meet the specified standards but not so as to render the article of food unsafe; (zy) “Tribunal” means the Food Safety Appellate Tribunal established under section 70; (zz) “unsafe food” means an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health:— (i) by the article itself, or its package thereof, which is composed, whether wholly or in part, of poisonous or deleterious substances; or (ii) by the article consisting, wholly or in part, of any filthy, putrid, rotten, decomposed or diseased animal substance or vegetable substance; or (iii) by virtue of its unhygienic processing or the presence in that article of any harmful substance; or (iv) by the substitution of any inferior or cheaper substance whether wholly or in part; or (v) by addition of a substance directly or as an ingredient which is not permitted; or (vi) by the abstraction, wholly or in part, of any of its constituents; or (vii) by the article being so coloured, flavoured or coated, powdered or polished, as to damage or conceal the article or to make it appear better or of greater value than it really is; or (viii) by the presence of any colouring matter or preservatives other than that specified in respect thereof; or (ix) by the article having been infected or infested with worms, weevils, or insects; or (x) by virtue of its being prepared, packed or kept under insanitary conditions; or (xi) by virtue of its being mis-branded or sub-standard or food containing extraneous matter; or (xii) by virtue of containing pesticides and other contaminants in excess of quantities specified by regulations. (2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall, in relation to that State, be construed as a reference to the corresponding Law, if any, in force in that State.