Jul 23, 2018
Telangana alerted about formalin on fish
FSSAI asks all states to set up labs to test fish for the chemical.
Traders are asked not to use additives and chemicals to prolong shelf life of fish.
Hyderabad: The state government has to set up a laboratory to check for the adulterant formalin in fish.
Cases of formalin in fish were found in Assam, Odisha and Kochi and this has led Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to issue guidelines to check on the use of formalin to preserve fish.
The FSSAI also wants all states to have a laboratory to test fish for the presence of formalin.
Formalin is used by traders and suppliers to extend the shelf life of both fresh and frozen fish. The World Health Organisation and International Agency for Research on Cancer of the United Nations have confirmed that formaldehyde is carcinogenic and is found to cause nasopharyngeal cancer (upper part of the throat and behind the nose).
When present in large quantities, it can also lead to severe abdominal pain, vomiting, coma, renal injury and even death.
Dr Suvarna Chandrapp-agari, the commissioner of fisheries, explained, “We do not have aquaculture ponds in TS and consumers are used to eating fresh fish. The fish comes within three to four hours from coastal Andhra Pradesh.”
She said the FSSAI had stated that a laboratory has to be set up to test fish for formalin. “We are going to do that as it is important from the health perspective of consumers,” she said.
The consumption of fish is highest in Telangana with 150 tonnes on weekdays and 400 to 500 tonnes on weekends.
Food raid on hotels
Hotel Gargee Grand. Pictures by Manoj Kumar
Patna: The health department's food safety wing has planned to conduct regular raids on city hotels for hygiene standards after two establishments were found lax on Saturday.
Authorities of Hotel Lemon Tree and Gargee Grand have been asked to maintain hygiene standards after raids revealed loopholes. Food safety officer Ajay Kumar, who conducted the raids, said: "Both the hotels were found to not maintain sanitation norms. They have been served notice."
Violation of sanitation and hygiene norms had also drawn the attention of Bihar State Pollution Control Board which recently showcaused seven hotels in the city.
A senior food safety officer said the teams found food products at both hotels not stored properly. "The norms stipulate vegetarian and non-vegetarian raw material to be kept separately, including spices. We didn't find packaging date on products and few ingredients were found kept in open. We have collected oil and spice samples from the hotels and will send them to a Calcutta laboratory," the source said.
He added that a decision has been taken to conduct raids on at least two hotels a day, besides visit to mandis.
"The hotel management has to provide health reports of the staffs to the food safety wing on visits. The idea is that the staff who mainly work in kitchens should be free from infections and diseases," added the official.
The food safety wing will now make it mandatory for hotel and restaurant staffs to undergo training in food safety and hygiene standards.
Sources said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has instructed the food safety wing to ensure one in every 25 staff is trained and serves as certified food safety supervisor.
Restaurants and hotels whose annual turnover is Rs 12 lakh or more will be required to do this, a source said.
On the parameters checked during raids on hotels, restaurants and other eateries, the source said: "We have to check if there is a proper waste disposal system, drainage facility, proper labelling and segregation of raw material, food additives and ingredients. The staff shall wear clean aprons, head cover, gloves and footwear, and not handle food if unwell. Potable water must be available 24x7 and control measures must be taken to prevent insects and rodents contaminating the food."
Nagaland Food Safety unit destroys fruits in Dimapur
Kohima, Jul 22 (UNI) The State Food Safety Authority along with the members of the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the Naga Council of Dimapur inspected the fruit shops in an around Dimapur town and destroyed over 5000 kgs of adulterated ‘fresh’ fruits, which were seized after testing positive for a carcinogenic artificial ripening chemical agent.
According to sources the Food Safety personnel led by the Nagaland Food Safety Commissioner I.
Himato Zhimomi the disposed fruits included mango, pomegranate, water melon and also tomato.
Mangoes comprised the bulk of the impounded items weighing in at around 5000kgs and the condemned fruits were disposed at the DMC Dumping Ground by.
“The fruits and the tomatoes tested positive for (calcium) carbide,” said Zhimomi at the fruits and vegetables wholesale market at Dimapur yesterday.
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