Delhi HC quashes FSSAI regulation on animal feed, BIS certification

Delhi HC overturns FSSAI's animal feed regulation, clarifying the Food Safety Act pertains only to human food.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (April 7, 2026) struck down a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulation that prohibited the sale of animal feed containing meat or bone meal of bovine or porcine origin for milk-producing animals.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said that the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, are only in relation to regulating food for human consumption, which as per the scheme of the Act and its object, would not include cattle feed or animal feed.

The court explained that the 2006 Act explicitly defined “food” in the Act as any substance, processed or partially processed or unprocessed, which is intended for human consumption.

“At various places in the Act, the expressions like “food safety”, “primary food”, “unsafe food”, “sale of food” etc., occur, however such expressions, in our opinion, could not include any feed or food not meant for human consumption such as cattle feed or animal feed,” the court said.

The court’s direction came on a petition by Godrej Agrovet Limited, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of animal feed, cattle feed, poultry feed etc., and other agricultural inputs, challenging the Note (c) appended to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.

As per the Note, milk and meat-producing animals, excluding poultry, pig and fish, shall not be fed with feed containing meat or bone meal, including internal organs, blood meal and tissue of bovine or porcine origin materials, except milk and milk products. It also mandates that commercial feeds comply with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards).