Jul 13, 2018
Temple ‘prasadam’ to be offered first to FSSAI, then God
Divine food: Devotees get ‘prasadam’ at the entrance to the Varadharaja Perumal temple in Kancheepuram. |
Food Safety body to standardise temple prasadams and fix ‘best before’ dates in Tamil Nadu
When it comes to temple prasadams, faith in God has traditionally been a good enough guarantor of food safety. But soon, the sacred offerings made to the deities, such as laddus, murukku, vadai, and adhirasam, will get third party validation of their safety and quality in the form of certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The 47 major temples in Tamil Nadu plan to sell prasadams in food grade containers that will have ‘best before’ dates.
Already, the Sri Dandayudhapani Temple in Palani has gone in for licensing of its Panchamirtham. This famous prasadam now comes packed in containers, along with labelling that enumerates the ingredients, weight, price, FSSAI licence number, and other details stipulated by the Food Safety Department (FSD), said an official from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department.
Regular inspections
The HR and CE Department has directed temples that sell prasadams over the counter to go in for licensing from the FSD, which will test samples to provide a ‘best before’ date. There would also be regular inspections from the FSD to ensure quality and quantity in the prasadams being sold.
Among the major temples in the State, the Palani temple was the first to go in for FSSAI certification. Prasadams in temples are usually made by contractors who get the tender for a year, from July to June. “Contractors have been asked to ensure quality. We are planning to involve experts in the making of sweets and savouries to bring in standardisation. Already, the Food Safety Department has conducted training programmes for the contractors and also for the madapalli staff of temples,” an official said. We have also asked them to ensure that items cooked using rice be sold as soon as possible, he added.
The FSD also ensures the quality of food at major temple festivals.
Food safety appellate body formed
G.O. issued and rules notified; chairperson identified, says senior official
Almost 12 years after the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, was enacted by Parliament, the Tamil Nadu government has established the Food Safety Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against the ruling of the adjudicating officer. The government also notified rules governing the tribunal recently.
“The G.O. for setting up the tribunal has been issued and a person has been identified to be its chairperson; steps are on to set up an office for the tribunal,” a senior officer connected with the development said.
As per Section 70 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Central and State governments are to establish one or more food safety appellate tribunals to hear appeals from the decisions of the adjudicating officer. The one-member panel is to be held by a district judge (the adjudicating officer is in the rank of an additional district magistrate).
Test Your Food Sample
A food-testing facility on wheels has been on the rounds of Chandigarh for almost two years now. The UT food safety department developed this van in 2016 to check adulteration and, after Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) appreciated it, the idea caught on in the entire country.
This mobile laboratory is a one-stop solution for the city residents who need to know the purity of their daily food. Its crew of two technicians and a helper travels to five places in Chandigarh. It stands at the Sector-22 civil hospital on Mondays, Sector-8 civil dispensary on Tuesdays, Sector-40 civil dispensary on Wednesdays, the Sector-45 civil hospital on Thursdays, and the Manimajra civil hospital on Friday.
The van also visits housing societies as and when the resident welfare associations require. It remains at each venue from 11am to 5pm, before returning to the food safety department office in Sector 16.
Items on the hit list
Laboratory technician Kavaljit Singh said: “The most-tested product? It’s the milk samples that people bring to us. It’s a rare occasion when they bring packed milk, as most of the times, it is the loose product they doubt. Also, the chances of getting water-diluted milk are higher when one receives it from open canisters. The next most tested item is pulses, as these can be adulterated easily with chalk powder and are polished with chemicals for artificial lustre.
Quick process
Consumers have to first register their details on the spot. The team requires their name, contact details, including address, and the food item that is to be tested. In case of milk, people should specify whether it is of a buffalo or a cow, and whether it is double-toned, skimmed, toned, full-cream, or mixed.”
The most-used machine aboard the van is the milk tester. Of its two parts, the first reads the ratio of the sub-ingredients and confirms whether these are present in amounts specified by the FSSAI. The second part confirms adulteration. Pulses are mixed with certain chemicals to ascertain the presence of adulterants. The entire process, be it for the testing of milk, pulses, or any other food product, does not exceed 20 minutes. The milk sample is first brought to room temperature before being tested, which takes not more than two minutes.
Results are out
The results are delivered on the spot. The printed reports state the level of adulteration of the tested sample, including the adulterants it was tested for. In case of a failed report, the consumer can approach the consumer court with the printed results as a proof against the seller. The laboratory’s job is limited to producing the report. The issue is to be taken up by the consumers themselves. Along with the results, the consumers are also handed a receipt for their payment.
Food samples that require intensive testing are forwarded to the designated officer and food safety licensing authority. A record of the daily reports goes to the licensing authority, and a nodal officer inspects it.
Cost-effective testing
In order to get milk samples tested, a consumer will have to shell out nothing more than Rs 20. Jasvir Kaur, another lab technician, said, “When it comes to pulses, the cost for testing against each possible adulterant is Rs 20.”
Ample storage
At first glance, it’s difficult to judge from the size of the van the kind of room it has inside. It’s tough also to guess its infrastructure and storage capacity for equipment and samples (some samples brought for testing need cold storage). Even after adjusting several drawers, a refrigerator, pedestal fans and a long countertop holding food sample testing machines, a cylinder, and fire extinguisher, the van is still left with ample space for three-member crew to move around.
With milk being the most tested product, the consumers coming to the mobile laboratory number from eight to 10 daily. The consumers coming up with pulses don’t surpass 13 to 14 cases a month. It is closely followed by the demand for testing several other products in the laboratory. Hey Chandigarh, with a mobile testing laboratory in your neighborhood, why take the chances of being fooled by the shopkeepers?
Box:
Schedule of mobile lab
Monday |Civil Hospital, Sector 22
Tuesday | Civil Dispensary, Sector 8
Wednesday | Civil Dispensary, Sector 40
Thursday | Civil Hospital, Sector 45
Friday | Civil Hospital, Manimajra
Box:
Products tested
Items |Tested for
Milk | Fat, urea, starch, glucose, neutraliser
Desi Ghee | Margarine
Cheese |Starch
Mustard oil |Argan oil, castor oil
Pulses |Metanil yellow colour, lead chromate, chalk powder
Jaggery | Metanil yellow colour, washing soda
Lucknow eateries to be graded on quality and hygiene
Under the new system, the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) will grade Lucknow’s food joints as A+, A, B and so on, based on various inspections.
According to district food officer Suresh Kumar, the system is for all small eateries, restaurants, hotels, resorts and food courts for five categories.
These are: design and facilities, control and operation, maintenance and sanitation, personal hygiene, and lastly, training and keeping records.
Besides, an annual medical examination or fitness certificate is mandatory for the food joint owner and employees.
All employees will also be checked for prescribed vaccination under the personal hygiene category.
The food joint must also have a mechanism to receive customer complaints and make a redressal system. This record will be inspected weekly by FSDA. If any quality-related complaint is found, an investigation will follow and the joint owner could face legal action or the place could be closed down.
The five categories have 47 sub-categories, the maximum marks for which total to 114. There will also be negative marking on the subcategories.
If negative marking exceeds 70 points, the food joint will face legal action.
Food chain owners, executives attend CII food safety training
Kolkata: About 50 owners and executives from hotel and restaurant groups, clubs and canteens, food joints & eateries attended a Food Safety Training and Certificate (FOSTAC) programme organised by CII on Thursday.
The programme, which was inaugurated by Godhuli Mukherjee, the Food Commissioner of Bengal, is a part of its Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan (Safe Food Campaign), included specialized training sessions on how and why one can maintain quality and hygiene – right from the stage of procuring raw materials, cooking, cleaning and storing to serving and transporting food.
"We explained to the participants why they should religiously follow the guidelines formed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ,"said A K Sen, CII FACE Faculty & National Level Resource Person (FoSTaC), Food Safety & Quality, FSSAI.
"All those engaged in the business of preparing, serving and supplying food items need to be quality conscious and responsible," he said.
Sen lauded the efforts of the state government for playing a proactive role in the wake of allegations of carcass meat being sold and served in and around the city. "The Government is taking measures, carrying out regular inspections and taking actions," he said, adding that the implementation of FSSAI standards should remain a priority.
Sagar Daryani, Co-Founder & CEO, Wow Momo Foods Pvt Ltd, and Chair, CII ER Food Safety Core Group, admitted that the "rotten meat scandal" gave a bad blow to the industry as a whole. "In my own company, business was 37 percent negative till May. June saw a revival. July is even better," Daryani said. "Many eateries in Kolkata have been forced to suspend operations, CII strongly advocates regular training in food safety in this backdrop," Daryani added.
The day-long programme ended with a test. "Upon qualifying the test, the participants will be certified as FOSTAC-Trained – a mandatory FSSAI regulation since 2017," said Sen.
Chemical use was in focus 4 yrs ago too
Panaji: The use of the cancer-causing chemical, formalin, to preserve fish in exports from Goa had surfaced in Kerala four years ago, after an advocate filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking compliance of food safety rules. A report submitted before the Kerala high court in January 2014 in connection with the PIL filed by join food safety commissioner K Anil Kumar, had stated that some samples of fish analysed to verify if formalin had been used as a preservative, had tested positive. Advocate A G Basil had filed the PIL alleging malpractices in the food industry and had prayed for a direction to ensure that the food sold adhered to provisions of the Food Safety Act and Rules.
Formalin had been found in the fish brought into Kerala from Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and the governments of the coastal states had been informed, the court was told. But, the Goa food and drugs administration (FDA) had responded to the issue by stating that analysis of some samples had proven negative. “We had taken some samples, but found nothing in the fish samples,” an FDA official had said.
Subsequently, a couple of years ago, the FDA had done more analyses but did not find formalin in the samples, sources said.
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