DINAKARAN NEWS

Food on wheels, how far?

FSAT upholds order of adjudicating officer against Bunge India Pvt Ltd

JAMMU, Mar 23: Food Safety Appellate Tribunal (FSAT), Jammu established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 upheld the judgment of Adjudicating Officers of District Samba in the case titled Food Safety Officer Purmandal V/s Bunge India Pvt. Ltd, Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai wherein penalty of Rs 4.7 lakh has been imposed on the accused parties.

The case was pleaded by Adv Kanav Raina, Standing Council of the department before the Food Safety Appellate Tribunal, Jammu. On June 6, 2015, Food Safety officer Purmandal, Samba, during a routine inspection of Food Park SIDCO Complex Bari Brahamna, inspected the manufacturing unit of M/S Khajuria Food Industry, Food Park SIDCO Complex, Bari Brahmana, district Samba, and observed that Bakery shortening (Lily Vanaspati) manufactured by Bunge India Pvt. Ltd. being used for manufacturing/ selling of food articles like rusk, biscuits, mathi, bakery, etc.

After disclosing his identity, the said Food Safety officer lifted the sample of Bakery Shortening and sent the same to the food testing laboratory Jammu for analysis. The Food Analyst Jammu vide his report No: FSSA/J/827 dated: 10.10.2015, opined that the sample was substandard and did not conform to the requirement of Regulation 2.2.6(2) of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products standards and Food Additive) Regulations 2011. Consequently, a complaint under Section 26(2)(ii) read with Section 51 of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, was lodged against the seller/owner and distributor.

After conducting inquiry, the Adjudicating officer, Samba opined that all the accused parties have contravened Section 26(2) (ii) read with Section 51, Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, for manufacturing, distributing, and selling, the sub standard Bakery Shortening (Lily Vanaspati) and accordingly a penalty of Rs 2.5 lakh was imposed on the manufacturer M/S Bunge India Pvt Ltd MUMBAI, Rs 2 lakh on the distributor M/S AM ENTERPRISES, Ware House Jammu and also Rs 10,000/ each on M/S Khajuria Food Industry, Food Park SIDCO Complex, Bari Brahmana (seller/owner) wherefrom the sample was lifted.

The manufacturer and distributes preferred to file an appeal before the FSAT, Jammu against the order of Adjudicating Officer. The FSAT, Jammu after hearing the Advocate of both the parties is of the opinion that there are no irregularities or procedural infirmity in the impugned order and as such upheld the order of the Adjudicating Officer, Samba.

FDA gears up to ensure mention of ‘maida’, ‘atta’ on food labels

Pune: Officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Pune are gearing up to implement the recent directive of the food regulator mandating packaged-food companies to label refined flour as ‘maida’ and whole wheat as ‘atta’.

“The food manufacturing companies have been told to comply with the order by April 30, 2019. It means that every food item containing the ingredient needs to clearly mention ‘maida’ and ‘atta’ from May 1 onwards,” said Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner (food), FDA

Elaborating, Deshmukh said, “Currently, quite a few food manufacturers in India mention wheat flour when in reality they use refined wheat flour or maida in their products. Again, many consumers confuse refined wheat flour with wheat flour. The directive will dispel this confusion and make it clear to consumers whether they are having maida or atta.”

Dilip Sangat, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Raigad, said, “This is aimed at bringing clarity in labelling as many packaged food companies use ‘wheat flour’ as general English nomenclature for both atta and maida on product labels.”

The move assumes significance as many companies use these nomenclatures to make health claims about their products such as atta, bread and biscuits. This directive on labelling will help consumers make informed choices while buying such products.

The issue came to the fore when FDA officials in Raigad issued notice to a popular biscuit brand’s manufacturing unit in Khopoli (Raigad district) in Maharashtra.

“The biscuit company claimed wheat flour on the label but in reality it used refined wheat flour or maida to make the biscuits. Similar other raids across the country also revealed the same pattern wherein companies cashed in on the confusion between wheat flour and refined wheat flour. The FSSAI then issued the directive to use maida and atta with English words,” Sangat said. The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) issued the order on February 1 this year.

“It has been observed that the food business operators use ‘wheat flour’ as English nomenclature for maida on the label of food products, which does not convey the exact nature of ingredient used for manufacturing of various food items to the consumers as well as enforcement officials,” the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said in an order.

He said, “We are going to initiate drives from May 1 onwards to ensure effective implementation of the FSSAI directive for consumers’ benefit. People can also contact us if they have any complaint in this regard.”