Jun 21, 2018
Steps taken to streamline sago production
P. Amudha, Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, addressing sago unit owners at the Salem Collectorate on Wednesday.
The State government has initiated steps to streamline the production of sago and also the starch without adulteration, P. Amudha, Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, said here on Wednesday.
Addressing a meeting of the sago production monitoring committee at the Collectorate here on Wednesday, Ms. Amudha said that the officials of the Sagoserve and the professors of Periyar University will jointly undertake research in this regard and suggest ways for streamlining the sago and starch production without any adulteration.
Good demand
Ms. Amudha said Salem district was a front-runner in production of sago and accounted for about 300 sago manufacturing units. The sago produced here has good demand in many north Indian states.
The sago producers have assured to strictly adhere to the norms of the government in the production of sago and starch once the same were announced. They have also demanded government support for the introduction of alternative methods in the production of starch. The government will favourably consider their demands, she said.
Sago manufacturing units are functioning in seven districts and chemicals and other harmful products should not be mixed in the production of sago. The product should be always in its natural colour.
Ms. Amudha said that the Food Safety Department will take steps for the creation of awareness in this regard among the sago manufacturers, traders and consumers soon.
Farmers and the sago manufacturers have demanded a tapioca board in Salem. She assured to take up this demand to the notice of the government.
The department will also take initiatives for doing research on producing value added products from sago and starch, she said.
Referring to the functioning of the Food Safety Department, Ms. Amudha said that a total of 2,909 complaints on adulteration etc were received through the exclusive WhatsApp number in the recent past. About 68 per cent of the complaints were attended and action taken.
She said that the department was receiving about 20 to 30 complaints a day about hotels, drinking water manufacturing units, anganwadis etc. “We take serious note of the complaints and initiate against them. Even the government-run anganwadis are not left out,” she said.
In this connection Ms. Amudha said that the department ordered the closure of 10 drinking water manufacturing units for the violation of norms.
Rohini R. Bhajibhakare, District Collector, S. Mariappan, Designated officer of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department, and other officials participated in the meeting.
34,000kg adulterated tea worth Rs 70 lakh seized
CHENNAI: In one of its biggest hauls ever, food safety officials seized around 34,000kg of tea adulterated with synthetic colours from a godown in Arumbakkam on Wednesday.
Based on a tip, a team led by R Kathiravan, designated food safety officer, conducted a surprise inspection at BR Tea Company on Senthil Nagar Street, Arumbakkam. Workers were found sitting hunched over the floor, packing low-grade tea leaves mixed with artificial colours.
While 33,291kg of adulterated tea was packed in gunny bags and plastic, 750kg was mixed and kept on the floor. Officials estimate the entire seizure is worth ?70lakh. In addition, they also seized 300kg of tartrazine, carmoisine and sunset yellow –artificial colours that are permitted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in certain types of food that are not consumed on daily basis. “For every kilo of tea leaves, they had added more than 10 grams of these colours,” said Kathiravan.
For the last three months the unit had been under the department’s scanner. “Our inspector had found traces of artificial colours on the shop’s floor when he inspected the facility to renew its license. But we didn’t have concrete proof it was being mixed with the tea,” said Kathiravan. On Wednesday, officials got the breakthrough when a local alerted them.
On interrogation, the proprietor, who operated out of a three-storey complex, revealed that a majority of his clients was tea shop owners across the city. The colours, he said, were sourced from units in Coimbatore. He sold at least 2,000kg of adulterated tea a day. According to the food safety department’s records, there are around 3,000 registered tea shops in Chennai. Officials have lifted samples of tea and adulterants for lab tests. “Once the results are out we will lodge a complaint and initiate action against the owner,” said Kathiravan.
On Tuesday, officials had seized 1,500kg of adulterated tea from a warehouse in Ayanavaram. Workers were found manually mixing tea leaves with artificial colours.
FSSAI permits only eight synthetic colours to be added to specific foods. However, studies have shown that if consumed on a prolonged basis, these could cause cancer, nervous disorders, toxicity or heart diseases as they stay in the body for more than a month. According to the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, the quantity of colour should be a milligram or less for a kg of food.
Food safety experts and dietitians say artificial colours, especially those that lend orange, yellow and red hues, are added to tea leaves that are damaged during manufacturing process or are of inferior quality to improve their appearance and price. “One drop or a pinch of a chemical gives more colour than natural ingredients. It helps them hike the cost of an inferior product,” said dietitian Mini Joseph.
Food poisoning incidents: Officials suspect foul play
Thiruvananthapuram: The food safety department is suspecting foul play over the continuing incidents of food poisoning in GV Raja Sports School, Mylam. In order to rule out the angle, the department has decided to approach sports department to demand for a police inquiry into the issue.
The food safety department has suspended licence of the school’s kitchen on Tuesday night. Subsequently, the school announced leave for all students and suspended all functions until further notice.
Food safety commissioner M G Rajamanickam said that the department was suspecting foul play as cases of food poisoning occurred multiple times in the past years during June-July period. “The mess has been awarded to private parties on contract basis. We are not sure whether the food poisoning incidents happen due to some foul play. In order to clear the suspicion, we feel a police inquiry is necessary,” said Rajamanickam.
Rajamanickam said he would write to sports secretary to direct a police inquiry to clear the suspicion over the incident. The GV Raja Sports School comes under the sports department.
Around 58 students from boys’ and girls’ hostels took treatment from district hospital, Peroorkada over complaints of stomach pain, diarrhoea and vomiting on Sunday night.
The food safety commissioner said that mystery over the issue deepened after food safety officials visited the school kitchen. “In previous years when the food poisoning incidents were reported, the facilities were poor. However, based on the department’s direction, the kitchen was renovated. So we have to find out the reason behind food poisoning,” he said.
Though the department could not take samples of the food that caused poisoning due to late reporting of the issue, it has taken samples of water for testing, the result of which is expected on Thursday.
The food safety department has not taken a decision on when the licence of the kitchen could be renewed. Being a residential school, it could not function if the hostels remain closed.
“As it is a government sports school, we cannot keep the school’s kitchen closed for a continuous period. We are awaiting a lab report of water samples. If the school authorities come up with a satisfactory report of remedial steps, we will consider opening it. We will also explore possibilities whether the contract of running the kitchen could be given to a trusted agency like Kudumbashree,” Rajamanickam said.
Despite repeated attempts to contact school authorities, no one picked up phone at GV Raja School.
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