Religious centres under FSSAI lens

Even though the regulation was mandatory in the FSSAI norms, it used to take no action.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now directed them to follow standard safety practices and made its licence mandatory.

KOZHIKODE: Consuming prasadam or eatables from any religious centres is a practice with a lot of faiths, but for authorities, ensuring its quality is a matter of concern. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now directed them to follow standard safety practices and made its licence mandatory.

Even though the regulation was mandatory in the FSSAI norms, it used to take no action. The FSSAI will now conduct special drives to ensure quality food devotees consume. 

FSSAI assistant commissioner O. Eliyamma said that they are working on how to ensure their safety especially at a time when a lot of festivals and celebrations are coming.

All the religious centres must obtain a license from the FSA for distributing any food. If they outsource the foody, the vendor must also be licensed. 

“Even though no such situation arose at any of the religious centres in our district, we don’t want to take any risk,” she said. 

“Foreseeing the upcoming festival season, we will make it mandatory to ensure the quality of the food supplied. There are even religious centres here distributing food among devotees on a daily basis. We'll take action against those who violate norms.”

Sample of Maganlal chikki had synthetic colour in excess: FDA

Pune: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have initiated an adjudication process and slapped a fine of up to Rs5 lakh on Lonavla-based Maganlal Food Products, the manufacturer of Maganlal’s Chikki, for violating food safety norms.

After issuing the manufacturer a stop production notice for not adhering to quality standards early in December, the FDA officials have now found that the sample of chikki they had drawn from the outlet at the time of surprise inspection in December, contained synthetic edible colour in excess amount.

The officials have tested the chikki samples at designated government laboratory in Pune. Under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, any person using edible colour more than the permissible limit in food products is liable to a penalty which may extend up to Rs 5lakh.

“The sample of Maganlal’s strawberry peanut crush chikki was found to contain thrice the prescribed limit of edible synthetic colour. Hence, we have initiated the legal process against the firm,” Suresh Deshmulkh, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune told TOI.

Food safety official R R Kakade had drawn the sample during inspection of the production unit on December 12. The sample was analysed at the designated laboratory between December 14 and December 26.

Elaborating, Deshmukh said, “As per the food safety norms, the prescribed limit of the edible colour used in the chikki is 100mg/per kg, whereas the colour used in the drawn sample of chikki was 306.55mg/per kg, which is three times more. It is violation of section 51 (penalty for sub-standard food) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.”

Following the inspection in early December 2018, the FDA officials observed grave lapses in sanitation and quality measures at the Lonavala-based production unit of the Maganlal Chikki and issued stop production notice to the manufacturer till it rectified the lacunae.

“The company had stopped production for first 15 days following the notice during which they complied as per the norms after which we allowed them to resume production,” Deshmukh said.

Owner of Maganlal Food Products Ashok Agarwal said, “We have been serving customers for many years and the edible colour we used was always the best. However, food handlers’ visual observation might have prompted them to add more than the required colour in the chikki product. We have decided not to use any edible colour in our products from now on."

33 shops to face action for selling adulterated sweets

GURUGRAM: Around 33 sweet shops-cum-restaurants across the district will face legal cases or administrative action and could be fined up to Rs 5 lakh for allegedly selling adulterated food.

The department of food safety has recommended registration of cases against the sweet shops at the court of the additional deputy commissioner. According to sources, the case proceedings against these commercial establishments will begin by the end of this month. Earlier, the officials had collected samples of sweets and food, such as paneer and other milk products, from these shops around Diwali. 

At the time, over a hundred samples were collected from various shops by the department of food safety and sent to the forensic laboratory in Karnal. The tests carried out subsequently have revealed that around 33 shops were selling adulterated or sub-standard quality edibles. The reports on the same have also been shared with the district and state health departments, said officials concerned.

As per rules, such shops can be asked to pay Rs 1-5 lakh in fines, besides facing other forms of strict action.

59 quintals of spurious ghee seized

Chandigarh: Continuing with its drive against spurious milk products, teams of food and drug administration have seized 59 quintals of spurious desi ghee.

Acting on a tip off, food team form Mansa inspected a dairy at Bareta Mandi village in the district along with CIA staff. The team found that a total of 59 quintals of spurious desi ghee was being prepared by mixing inferior quality product of two types, one of which was being supplied from another manufacturer and one was being prepared by the dairy owner. Huge amount of chemical was also found on the spot that was being mixed with the ghee to make the final product.

Commissioner food safety KS Pannu said during inspection, 10 quintals of adulterated desi ghee was found hidden in a milk tanker that was to be smuggled into nearby areas.