PUNE: Use of artificial colour in spices and dry snacks and artificial ripening of mangoes are among the food safety and quality norm violations recorded in the last financial year.
According to the latest report of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), about 15% of the food samples drawn between April 2014 and March 2015 were either unsafe or did not comply with the standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The officials drew 934 food samples to check if they were fit for consumption and found 27 unsafe and 114 that failed to meet the standard criteria. "We drew samples of edible oil, milk, jaggery, sugar boiled confectionery, chilli powder and other grocery and prepared food items for testing. Of these, 141 samples accounting for 15% of the total samples drawn, failed safety and quality standard tests," said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food) of FDA, Pune. While 650 samples cleared the test, lab reports of 143 samples are yet to come.
Officials have filed criminal cases against food manufacturers who were found selling unsafe food items.
Food samples found unsafe for consumption included mangoes that were artificially ripened with calcium carbide, and green peas and Indian spices that contained artificial colour. Use of colour is prohibited in these food items. Edible artificial colours exceeding the permissible limit were also found in sweets and farsan. Artificial colour was also found in a sample of prepared 'chilli paneer'. A sample of packaged drinking water with higher bacterial count than the permissible limit was also found, Kekare said.
As per section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, punishment for selling unsafe food item includes a penalty ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and six months to seven years' jail term and even life imprisonment, if consumption of a food item that has been found unsafe in the laboratory test has caused a death.
FDA has started allocating licences and registrations to food business operators to bring them on its monitoring radar since August 2011. Food business operators with an annual turnover of above Rs 12 lakh must possess a licence and those who earn less than Rs 12 lakh a year must get a registration certificate, as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
"So far, we have covered over 65 % of the operators doing food businesses in Pune division. We have given licences to 38,698 operators and registration to 1,60,407 of them. We have collected Rs 32.49 crore towards granting licence, registration and renewal to food business operators," said Shivkumar Kodgire, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Pune.
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