Feb 28, 2018
Antibiotic use in poultry sector rampant: CSE
Delhi, Feb 27 A green body today slammed an advertisement highlighting that no antibiotics are used in chicken as an "eye wash" and alleged that the use of antibiotics in poultry sector is "rampant".
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) slammed the All India Poultry Development and Services Private Limited for its advertisement and said it is "complete misrepresentation".
The advertisement refers to the results of a 2014 study conducted by the CSE on chicken, it said while strongly rejecting the way the study results have been twisted to suggest that there is no misuse of antibiotics in the poultry sector and that the chicken produced is safe.
"This is complete misrepresentation of the facts and the antibiotic misuse practices adopted by the Indian poultry industry. Antibiotic use in poultry sector is rampant.
"They are even using life-saving drugs like colistin to fatten the chicken. There seem to be no genuine attempt by the industry to reduce antibiotic misuse and this advertisement is an eyewash,” the Deputy Director General, CSE, Chandra Bhushan, said.
The advertisement which said that chicken should be eaten as it has a lot of benefits, also went on to say that the Indian poultry industry has already adopted usage of prebiotics, probiotics, phytogenic additives, acidifiers and immuno stimulants as an alternative to antibiotics.
The deputy director general of CSE further said that the industry has ignored the results of its latest 2017 study, which show how poultry farms are breeding grounds of superbugs.
"They are misguiding the nation and trying to dilute their contribution to the problem of antibiotic resistance. This will not help the industry in the long-term. They must act responsibly,” Bhushan said.
Referring to the issue of maximum residue limits (MRLs) in the advertisement, Amit Khurana, a senior programme manager, Food Safety and Toxins team, CSE said that it is a "myopic" view as residue level in food is only one part of the problem.
"Resistant bacteria can also get transferred to handlers and consumers. Unabsorbed antibiotics as well as resistant bacteria in chicken droppings which enter into the environment are a big concern. The problem starts with antibiotic misuse," he said.
Chandra Bhushan further added that India does not have any standards on residue levels in chicken meat.
"Comparing residue results with the MRL of the European Union is meaningless. Our study was aimed at establishing the fact that banned, critical and highly prescribed antibiotics are being misused by the poultry industry – we did not make any comparisons with MRL as India does not have an MRL of its own," Bhushan said.
CSE researchers believe that even after so many years of the issue being highlighted, the government response to address the antibiotic resistance crisis has been inadequate so far.
"There is no legal ban on use of antibiotic growth promoters in poultry. The 2014 advisory from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries has no legal binding.
"The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is yet to come up with final standards of antibiotic residues in chicken. We have a National Action Plan on AMR now, but unfortunately there are no funds allocated for it. The plan would have no real functionality without money put behind it," Bhushan added.
GOVT BEGINS DRIVE TO CURB FOOD ADULTERATION BEGINS BEFORE HOLI
In a bid to curb food adulteration here in Capital City, the Food Safety Officers (FSOs) have begun the task of food samples collection under the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) norms. With significant increase in the sale of adulterated edible items (milk and milk products) during the festive seasons Holi and Diwali primarily, the FSOs have been ordered to conduct a massive drive to keep a tab on the defaulters ahead of Holi festival.
“Two teams have been formed to crack the whip on the defaulters. Under each team, three members are there to assist the team leader during the sample collection work and inspection task. The teams which was formed on February 24, through random inspection and survey are enquiring about the condition of edible items,” said, FSO, KP Singh who along with his team are conducting inspection as per the Department’s order here in State Capital.
The team-1 personnel are inspecting and collecting edible product samples from all such confectionery shops falling under the jurisdiction of wards (1 to 35 wards) while another team has been given the responsibility of collecting samples from the shops in wards 36 to 55. As per the FSSAI guidelines, food items sold out in open by the street vendors are supposed to be covered and checked on regular basis as well. However, Singh said that due to lack of trained human resources, they are unable to collect food samples from street vendors.
“In a short notice, we are just able to collect food samples from sweets and confectionary shops only. Besides milk and milk products, the teams are also enquiring about the condition of edible oils being sold ahead of Holi. By far, we have collected six samples from different shops; the checking drive is going on. Street vendors are not being covered.” added Singh.Meanwhile, State Food Analyst, Chatturbhuj Meena said, “All collected food samples are being assessed. At least, 14 days is required for the detailed report preparation. On the basis of the report prepared by lab technicians, actions will be taken accordingly.”Furthermore, the State Food Analyst added that the food safety division is gearing up to launch the first State-of-the-art mobile lab to curb adulteration by facilitating on-the-spot testing of samples at a reasonable price while ensuring timeliness in food samples collection and its assessment.
“The well equipped mobile van will felicitate the need of public in a broad way. The mobile van lab will serve all basic purposes like collecting survey samples, on the spot products verification etc. Soon, it will be formally launched by the State government’s personnel,” Meena further added.
600 Kg Chilli Powder, 100 Kg Salt And 100 Kg Black Gram Seized
Food and Safety officials inspect chilli powder bags that were discarded by unknown persons in Guntur on Saturday.
600 Kg Chilli Powder, 100 Kg Salt And 100 Kg Black Gram Seized
Food safety officials along with Commissioner’s Task Force (CTF) and Bhavanipuram police raided an adulterated chilli manufacturing unit in Bhavanipuram and seized poor quality chilli powder prepared with chilli waste and sawdust. The proprietor was taken into police custody and criminal cases were registered against him.
The officials seized 600 kg chilli powder, 100 kg salt and 100 kg black gram.According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials, proprietor K Narayana Rao was selling adulterated chilli powder under the name Sudha Enterprises, in a rented house on St. Atkinson High School Road in Bhavanipuram, for the past few months.
Acting on a tip-off, assistant food controller N Purnachandra Rao led the raids and said that labels with brand names Krishna, Mango, Surya and a few others were found at the unauthorised manufacturing unit. They are misbranded and do not have permission, he said.
During the raids, food safety officials observed that the accused was mixing the powder derived after crushing the stems of chilli in a greater proportion than the permissible limits.
Food Safety Concerns
“Chilli powder usually is made by grinding chilli and mixing it with certain ingredients. Instead, Narayana was found using cheap quality chilli and chilli stems, procured from Guntur, and was selling them under various brand names. He had not obtained FSSAI licence to sell the products in the market,” said Purnachandra Rao.
Officials collected samples of chilli powder and sent them to the food analyst. Narayana Rao was also found preparing and selling adulterated coriander powder and curry leaves powder and supplying them to nearby hotels and eateries.
FSDA launches extensive checking of food times ahead of Holi
Meerut: To ensure that Holi is free from adulterated sweets, the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) department has formed three teams which will swoop down on shops and pick up samples of edible items for testing. The department will send the samples for testing to a laboratory in Lucknow, and actions against the erring shops will be taken after the test results arrive.
Three teams of five health officials each have been formed, an official privy to the development said. The teams will conduct surprise inspections at shops in rural and urban areas to check adulteration and sale of adulterated items in the market.
With ‘gujhiya’, ‘namkeen’ and cooking oils on their target, the teams will conduct raids in all the busy markets to ensure that people don’t fall prey to adulterated items. The drive will continue till March 5.
“As many as three teams of five persons each have been formed, which will conduct regular checks and send suspicious food items to laboratory for testing. If any sub-standard food item is found, the person will be dealt with as per rules,” said Archana Dheeran, designated officer of FSDA.
The samples will not be sent to the city laboratory, which is situated within the campus of Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU). Rather, they are sent to a laboratory in Lucknow to “avoid any manipulation”.
“The food items are preserved and sent to Lucknow by courier. The result will reach us within 20 days of the courier. But, in some cases, the samples are also sent to local laboratory if they look evidently adulterated,” said Dheeran.
Buyers can also lodge complaints related to food adulteration with the department and their names are kept “under the wraps”, said the official.
“We are focusing mainly on ‘gujhiyas’, ‘mathris’ and other items which are made ahead of Holi,” Dheeran said.
The department officials have also warned people of bright-coloured sweets as they might contain harmful chemicals which cause food poisoning, stomach ache, vomiting and infection.
Petition on food sale without licence: Bombay HC seeks explanation on BMC’s approach to hawkers
The IHRA alleged they cook food without licence and without permission of the municipal corporation. The food is unhygienic and harmful to health and safety of the general public. The petition says it continues despite court orders
The IHRA alleged they cook food without licence and without permission of the municipal corporation
The Bombay High Court Monday directed the municipal commissioner or the assistant municipal commissioner to explain their approach towards hawkers selling food across the city. A petition by the Indian Hotel and Restaurants Association (IHRA) in 2016 had stated that while hotels and restaurant owners need to obtain licences and permissions from various departments of the municipal corporation — heath department, fire brigade and environment department – hawkers on footpaths, public places, roads, gardens or playgrounds prepare food and sell it without any licence and without following rules. The IHRA alleged they cook food without licence and without permission of the municipal corporation.
The food is unhygienic and harmful to health and safety of the general public. The petition says it continues despite court orders. The petition says that hawkers use cooking gas cylinders and electricity unlawfully. Pursuant to an order of the High Court, Neela Patange, Deputy Superintendent of Licence, filed an affidavit Monday stating that the petitioners had not made suppliers of gas cylinders and electricity as parties in the case. The grievance should have been redressed by the company supplying cooking gas to hawkers, said the petition.
A division Bench of AS Oka and RI Chagla said even after the court called these hawkars illegal, no action was taken by BMC officials. The court further said, “It is a complete violation of (rules for) cooking food.” The court pulled up BMC officials and said, “Instead of taking action, you have written to Hindustan Uniliver Limited (the gas cylinder supplier),” The court said it was the duty of BMC officials to go to the spot and inspect, instead of blaming the gas cylinder supplier. The court said, “We direct the municipal commissioner or the assistant commissioner personally to explain the approach of the Mumbai municipal corporation.
Street Food Vendors To Get A Lesson On Hygiene By The FDA
According to the report by the Asian Age, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun a food security campaign to keep hygiene of street food in check. This was done post the recommendation received by the FDA from several hospitals as there have been several cases of abdominal pain, diarrhoea and infections.
MAINTAINING STREET FOOD HYGIENE
The FDA plans to train all the hawkers from all the 24 BMC wards and teach them how to maintain personal and stall hygiene. The food co-commissioner of the FDA, Shailesh Adhav said that at a time, 20 hawkers will be trained about hygiene for 20 days. The hawkers will be trained to maintain food quality and hygiene during this period.
“FDA has initiated a food security campaign to educate roadside food sellers about what hygiene standards should be maintained by them,” said Adhav to Asian Age. “We will be training hawkers of all 24 civic body wards under this campaign. An inquiry of roadside sellers will be conducted across all the wards. FDA officials and inspectors will give them lessons such as wearing caps, aprons and maintaining personal and stall hygiene” The report further says that the campaign is currently going on in Mumbai and will later be stretched out to Navi Mumbai and Thane as well.
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