Andhra family falls ill after eating Rs 260 ice cream with no date label, gets Rs 18,000

“The complainant that they suffered from Ill health after consuming the ice-creams and were treated by an RMP doctor, but however, the complainant failed to produce any prescription to establish that they suffered from ill health,” the August 31 order said.

The order added, “The opposite party sold the ice-creams in package form without batch number, manufacturing date, amounts to unfair trade practice.”

Nine ice creams, Rs 260 and a complaint

On December 31, 2023, Chigurupati Trinadh bought six butter-scotch and three vanilla cone ice creams for Rs 260. He and his family consumed the ice creams and later experienced drowsiness, vomiting and loose motions. A local doctor allegedly told them it was food poisoning.

Trinadh then checked the ice-cream packets and found that they did not mention the manufacturing date or batch number. He approached the manufacturer, Jyothi Food, but was allegedly given an evasive reply. 

He contended that selling the product without mentioning the manufacturing date amounts to unfair trade practice and that he and his family members fell ill due to consuming ice-creams; hence, he claimed damages of Rs 1 lakh towards deficiency of service and false labelling and Rs 25,000 towards mental agony.

Commission awards Rs 18,000 

The manufacturer denied Trinadh’s averments and said that the retailer, who sold the product, had been carrying on business for 15 years and had 200 distributors and thousands of customers who are consuming ice-creams manufactured by them, and there is no complaint about unfair trade practice till now.

The manufacturer alleged that Trinadh had earlier approached them for a job, but they refused to hire them afte rlearning about his affair with a woman working in the company. They claimed that he threatened them and later filed a false complaint with the Weights and Measures Department. The manufacturer denied any deficiency of service on their part and sought dismissal of the complaint.

The commission said that the complaint is allowed in part by directing the manufacturer to pay Rs 15,000 towards compensation for deficiency of service and mental agony and Rs 3,000 towards costs to the complainant. 

Takeaway

The ruling highlights that the manufacturer cannot sell the ice-creams in package form without a batch number or manufacturing date, as it is a clear violation of the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act and amounts to unfair trade practice.

For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and Union territories (Andhra Pradesh: 1800-425-0082 ) or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.  

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