Dec 11, 2013

MAALAI MALAR NEWS


738 booked this year for violating Food Safety Act

Jammu, December 10
The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) claims to have booked 738 people, particularity owners of eateries in the city, for dumping solid waste in the open during 2012-13 under the Food Safety Act. 
As per the data, total challans produced by the Health and Sanitation Wing in the municipal court in the year (2012-13) was 617 and during this fiscal a fine of Rs 3,85,360 was imposed on 738 defaulters.
Meanwhile, a team of Sanitation Wing, under the supervision of Dr Vinod Sharma, Health Officer, visited various food Junctions and inspected premises. The team also inspected the Jammu Club, Press Club and Amar Singh Club and directed to them to improve the condition of their kitchens as per the new Food Safety and Standard Act before February 4 next year.
The team also visited Canal Road, Akhnoor Road and Roop Nagar for checking banned items like polythene bags. The team seized 8 kg polythene from 12 defaulters and fined them Rs 5,000.
Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma said any person violating municipal laws regarding sanitation and encroachments would be challaned. To avoid such challans, residents are requested to keep their premises neat and clean and free of encroachments.
Dr Vinod Sharma said, "The Act says that in food business manufacturer has to ensure his premises free from the growth of mould, fungi and infection and workers should wear clean aprons, hand gloves, head wears and keep their nails trimmed, clean and wash their hands with soap and detergent before commencing their work."
The food business operators include small retailers, roadside food vendors, hawkers, stall holders, cottage industries relating to food business, meat/mutton/poultry business operators with the slaughtering capacity of two large animals or 10 small animals or 50 poultry birds per day.

Artificial sweetener aspartame declared 'safe to drink'

London, Dec. 11 (ANI): European Food Safety Authority has ruled out any 'potential risk of aspartame', claiming that the artificial sweetener is safe and poses no threat to health. 
The EFSA said breakdown products of aspartame, which is used in many foods and soft drinks, are safe for human consumption at current levels of exposure, the BBC reported. 
For most products containing aspartame, consumption would need to be exceptionally high and regular over a person's lifetime, in order to exceed the ADI. 
Dr Alicja Mortensen, who chaired the EFSA's aspartame review panel, said that this study is a step forward in strengthening consumer confidence in the scientific underpinning of the EU food safety system and the regulation of food additives.

Delhi to host three-day National Street Food Festival in December

New Delhi, Dec.10 (ANI): Promoting, professionalizing and branding street food, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) is organising a grand National Street Food Festival at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from December 20 to 22.
The theme slogan of this culinary carnival is 'Swad hai, Romanch hai, Street Food ki Baat hi kuchh aur hai'. 
NASVI has invited several union ministers, parliamentarians, development experts, industry representatives, culinary experts, food critics and civil society organizations to join the inaugural ceremony of the festival which would begin at noon on December 20. 
On the last day, an awards ceremony would be organized wherein master street food vendors would be awarded in categories of hygiene, nutrition, serving, customer relation, innovation and popularity by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. 
Every day the festival would be in running rhythm from noon to 10 p.m. at night 
Announcing this at the Press Club of India here today, NASVI national coordinator Arbind Singh said the winter delight is set to attract thousands of foodies over the three days, as master street food vendors of different regions of India would deliver their signature dishes.
More than 100 stalls of street foods of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Meghalaya would be on show at the festival. A stall from Sikkim is also expected. 
The entry would be by ticket only. One time per person entry would cost just Rs. 30. The entry would be from Gate no 14 of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex. 
Metro commuters can easily alight at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium metro station and come out from its gate no.3. 
Timescity, RED FM 93.5 and BuzzinTown have so far announced to be the online media and communication partners of the festival, he added.
"Not just a unique battle of tastes, the carnival will be an advocacy event with a difference wherein the executives and functionaries of tourism, food processing, health, labour and employment departments and boards, and representatives of culinary institutes, development agencies, media and academic institutions would join together to share, acknowledge and celebrate the potentials and the possibilities of street food vending sector", said Mr. Singh. 
"It will be an occasion to reassert that the grassroots street food entrepreneurs play a wonderful role in poverty reduction, employment generation and enterprise building, and they make cities charming for all", he said.

Street delights from across India at Delhi food carnival

Lip-smacking delicacies from the country's streets strewn across West Bengal, Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim among other states are served up by street vendors at a festival here. 
"We are organising this fest for the public to experience street food and also to catch the eye of government officials and private enterprises to help professionalise street food vendors," Arbind Singh, national coordinator, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) said today. 
The three-day festival from December 20 themed "Swad hai, Romanch Hai, Street Foods ki Baat hi Kuch Aur Hai" scheduled at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium has minimum Rs 30 entry ticket. 
"We try to bring in various delicacies and to participate every year we invent new varieties of the street food also. All participants have to undergo rigorous training on safety and hygiene," Vasudev Suneja a vendor from Patiala who had won "Most Popular Street food vendor" award at the 2012 festival. 
The fare ranges from mouth watering delicacies like Pav Bhaji, Golgappa, Chola Batura cuisines like Pitha from West Bengal, or lassun and Piaz ki Kheer (Garlic and Onion Kheer) from Uttar Pradesh or Lobsters and crabs from Odisha to the famous butter Palao from Punjab. 
"It will be an occasion to reassert that the grassroots street food entrepreneurs play a wonderful role in poverty reduction, employment generation and enterprise building and they make cities charming for all," Arbind Singh said. 
Special attractions like interactive competitions for children such as poster making, extempore speech, cooking without fire, sing your own food song, writing slogan on promotion of street food and other cultural programs have also been lined up. 
"A total of 120 vendors are putting up their stalls and We we will be giving awards and prizes in association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to them," Singh said. 
Street food, across the world is widely recognised for being not just palatable, inexpensive and convenient, but also as a large source of employment generation for informal workers. 
NASVI, is a network advocacy platform of 740 street vendor bodies, trade unions and community groups across 23 states. 
It has started engaging with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to train and register street food vendors. In October this year, it organised a huge training of street food vendors on food safety and hygiene here. 
"The carnival will be an advocacy event where executives and functionaries of tourism, food processing, health, labour and employment departments and boards will team up with representatives of culinary institutes, development agencies, media and academic institutions to share, acknowledge and celebrate the potentials and possibilities of street food vending," Singh said

Sea Cherry Mackerel Sowkar (In brine) : Playing the 'Ban' and 'Lift' card Directorate, Secretariat differ on food safety rules

Imphal, December 10 2013: As far as implementation of the Food Safety and Standard Act is concerned, the Health Directorate and Health Department Secretariat are not on the same footing.
The latter has allegedly threw down all the laid down rules and procedures in the gutter in this particular case.
Sea Cherry Mackerel Sowkar (In Brine) manufactured/packaged by M/S Sowkar Canning Company, Udyavara 574, Karnataka was banned on March 25 this year for not complying with the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and its rules and regulations.
The ban was lifted by an order issued by the Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) who is also the Food Safety Commissioner on November 30 .
An independent investigation conducted by The Sangai Express to study on what grounds the ban was lifted revealed differences in the perspectives of Health Directorate officials and Health Department Secretariat with regard to the rules and mandatory provisions of the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 .
File pic of Sea Cherry Mackerel canned fish put on sale at a store
Sea Cherry Mackerel canned fish put on sale at a store
The reason cited by the Food Safety Commissioner in the November 30 order for lifting the ban was not fully comprehensible within the gamut of the Act.
To check whether a food product is complying with the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and Its Rules and Regulations 2011, it sample should be sent to NABL (Accredited Food Testing Laboratories) notified by the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standard Authority of India) .
According to this provision, samples of suspected food products should be sent either to the Mitra SK Private Limited, Kolkata or the Export Inspection Agency Lab, Kolkata.
Notably, Sea Cherry Mackerels Sowkar (In Brine) was banned in Manipur in accordance with the sample test results given by the Mitra SK Private Limited, Kolkata.
However, the order for the lifting the ban was issued based on the test result given by the laboratory of College of Fisheries, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University.
According to rules, for all products found suspect in Manipur, their samples are to be sent to the two Kolkata based laboratories.
As such, it is highly questionable why the particular food sample was sent to the Karnataka based laboratory for the particular food produced (canned fish) was manufactured by Karnataka based Sowkar Canning Company.
Before lifting the ban, the Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) wrote a letter to the Health Directorate on July 17, 2013 seeking the Directorate's opinion on the matter.
In its response sent on July 27, the Directorate maintained that the Sea Cherry Mackerel Sowkar manufactured by Sowkar Canning Company was not only unfit for human consumption but also did not comply with mandatory provision 2.2.2(8) of the Food Safety and Standard (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2011 .
The Health Directorate's letter further pointed out that the particular brand of canned fish was manufactured in unhygienic manner with the sole motive of earning profit.
The canned fish when tested in a laboratory notified by FSSAI, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was found containing excessive quantities of yeast and mould which are harmful to health.
The department cannot make any compromise on the matter for consumption of the particular brand of canned fish would be harmful to the people's health, asserted the director's letter.
However, in spite of the Directorate's succinct negative opinion, the Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) issued the order and allowed marketing of the particular brand of canned fish in Manipur.
For re-introduction of the canned fish after it was banned completely in Manipur, the manufacturer/company should first filed an application to the Health Directorate, Manipur along with an assurance that their food product fully complies with the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and its rules and regulations.
The company should also provide a sample for necessary laboratory test.
Then the Directorate should sent the sample to a qualified laboratory and its officials should also visit the company's units where the canned fish is manufactured.
Only when it is confirmed that the manufacturing unit and its product fully comply with the mandatory provisions of the Act, the ban may be lifted.
But what was done in the case of Sea Cherry Mackerel Sowker (In Brine) was not in line with the general procedure.
The ban was lifted after skipping all the laid down procedures.

Residents want action against soft drink firm

BOKARO: The recovery of huge stock of expired cold drinks and packaged drinking water from godowns of PepsiCo distributors, following massive raids conducted by administrative officials on Monday, has raised concern among the residents here. People are shocked to learn about the recent development in the district and demanded strict action against the company.
The stocks recovered is said to be of worth crores of rupees .The district administration found that the distributors in the town are involved in unethical practice of doling out famous brands of soft drinks like Pepsi, 7UP, Slice, etc after its expiry date.
Different teams led by sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Chas, Sanjay Singh conducted raids in half a dozen godowns in the district. Each of these distributers was found to have kept a huge stock of cold drinks and packaged drinking water which expired three-four months ago.
"However to find out the extent of harm these expired products could cause to the residents, the district health department has sent samples of the stock to State Food and Drug Laboratory, Ranchi for examination," said civil surgeon, Bokaro, Shashi Bhusan.
Meanwhile, the SDM on Tuesday submitted a detail report of the inquiry to Bokaro DC Uma Shanker Singh mentioning the provisions of Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 that was violated.
The food safety officer of the district, B K Sinha has also sent a letter to chief executive officer of the bottling plant of PepsiCo India in Jamshedpur in this connection. The SDM said they have sought reaction of PepsiCo India in this regard.
"We have asked the company to tell who is supposed to recall the stock of cold drinks and packaged waters after expiry? We have also asked how long the expired stock can be considered safe for human consumption," said Sanjay Singh.
The administrative team, however, after conducting raids in the godown has also searched a retail shop in Sector-VIII where expired cold drink bottles were put on sale. This indicates that the distributors have stocked the cold drinks with an aim to circulate in market for money.
Investigating the matter, Singh came to know that these distributors lure retailers giving them lucrative officers to promote sale of cold drink bottles after its expiry date. The DC has appealed people to check the expiry date before consumption to avoid health problem.
The distributors and representatives of PepsiCo India were not available for comment. However, the political leaders, social workers and residents have appreciated the step taken by the administration in this regard and demanded strict action against the company in this connection.

Drastic reduction in malpractices by manufacturers of F&B, says Sankhe


Since the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, came into being on August 5, 2011, manufacturers and retailers of food and beverages in Maharashtra have become extremely careful, stated Kamlesh Sankhe, joint commissioner (food), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra, in an interaction with Abhitash Singh.
Excerpts:
There have been reports alleging that worms are present in certain foods and pieces of plastic floating in a soft-drink bottle. Could you throw some light on this? 
Reports of these kinds have become a thing of the past. Since the implementation of the Food and Safety Standards Act on August 5, 2011, the ambit of our activities has increased, and manufacturers and retailers of food and beverages in Maharashtra have become more than careful. 
The provisions of its predecessor, the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954, only made it possible for the FDA to play a monitoring role. 
What is the aim of FSSA?
FSSA aims at overall improvement in the hygiene of food. It is primarily a promotional act in terms of the quality of food that is being manufactured, distributed and ultimately consumed by the people.
How concerned is FDA Maharashtra about the hygiene of food and the health of people?
FDA Maharashtra is very concerned about the health of every resident of the state, and therefore, the thrust is on safe and hygienic food and beverages being consumed by the people. Right from the manufacturer to the street vendor, anybody dealing with food and beverages is covered under the FSSA.
Nobody can deal without a licence or registration. They have to guarantee that the food is hygienic and safe for consumption. In the last two years, we have noticed that instances of malpractices by food manufacturers and sellers have come down drastically.
What training is FDA Maharashtra imparting to the public?
Useful information to the public, industry and trade is disseminated by the state FDA on a regular basis through meetings, lectures, organisation of seminars, exhibitions, workshops and brainstorming sessions.