Food Stuff - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition food-stuff

Definition :

Food stuff, the term ' foodstuff' is ambiguous. In one sense it has a narrow meaning and is limited to articles which are eaten as food for purposes of nutrition and nourishment and so would exclude condiments and spices such as yeast, salt, pepper, baking powder and turmeric. In a wider sense, it includes everything that goes in to the preparation of food proper (as understood in the narrow sense) to make it more palatable and digestible In my opinion the problems posed cannot be answered in the abstract and must be viewed in relation to its background and context, State of Bombay v. Virkumar Gulabchand Shah, AIR 1952 SC 335: (1952) SCR 877. [Essential Supplies (Temporary powers) Act, 1946, s. 2(9)]

'Foodstuff' need not necessarily mean only the final food product which is consumed. It also includes raw food articles which may after processing be used as food by human beings, K. Janardhan Pillai v. Union of India, AIR 1981 SC 1485: (1981) 2 SCC 45: (1981) 2 SCR 676.

Expression 'foodstuffs' is made of two expressions 'food' plus 'stuffs'. In other words the stuff which is used as food would be foodstuff. Therefore food stuff is that which is taken into the system to maintain life and growth and to supply waste of tissue. If the raw foodstuff with a view to making it consumable by human beings undergoes a change of its condition by the Process of cooking the derivative is nonetheless foodstuff, Welcome Hotel v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (1983) 4 SCC 575: AIR 1983 SC 1015 (1018). [Essential Commodities Act, 1955, s. 2(a)(v)]

By 'foodstuffs' is meant food of any kind. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition) says that food is 'what one takes into the system to maintain life and growth'. According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 'food' means 'material consisting of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and supplementary substances, that is taken or absorbed into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth, repair, and all vital processes and to furnish energy for all activity of the organism; something that nourishes or develops or sustains'. These dictionary meanings of the word 'food' are not restricted to what is eaten by human beings for nourishment and sustenance. According to them, what one takes into the system to maintain life and growth or what is taken into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth is food, Sat Pal Gupta v. State of Haryana, AIR 1982 SC 798: (1982) 1 SCC 610: (1982) 3 SCR 196. [Essential Commodities Act, (10 of 1955) s. 2(a)(v)]