Training to bring in hygienic practices in food industry

Food regulator proposes rating restaurants to ensure quality

In an attempt to raise the standards of dining out, the food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will start hygiene rating to restaurants in Coimbatore.

The initiative will also give a chance for restauranters to obtain FSSAI's rating tag and improve their customer base by displaying the level of compliance to food safety norms.

K. Tamilselvan, Designated Food Safety Officer for Coimbatore, said that the hygiene rating will be accorded to restaurants in four grades such as very good, good, fair, needs improvement and poor for scores ranging from zero to 100.

“The hygiene rating system checks compliance to various food safety requirements, including hygiene of the restaurant and its employees, registration with FSSAI, display of the licence at the restaurant, display of the result of periodical water test and food test from a laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL),” he said.

The hygiene ratings will start with a self-assessment by the food business operator to check compliance with various requirements. This will be followed by the verification by the food safety officer, who will accord the rating as per the level of compliance.

The tag ‘Responsible Place to Eat’ will be given to restaurants which get a rating of good and very good. The tag will enhance the commercial viability of the restaurant and it can also be used in the restaurant’s profile in food delivery applications like Swiggy, Zomato and Uber Eats.

“There should be a food safety supervisor for every 25 employees in a restaurant to undergo the hygiene rating. These supervisors should be qualified after undergoing Food Safety Training and Certification (FOSTAC) training. The FOSTAC certificate of the supervisors should be displayed at the restaurant. The restaurants should also display the purple colour Food Safety Display Board of FSSAI which contains the 12 golden rules of food safety,” added Dr. Tamilselvan.

Apart from restaurants, other food business operators like manufacturer, retailer and supplier can also undergo the hygiene rating.

Drive to check milk quality during Onam season

Arrangements made to carry out inspections at multiple locations across the State

The Department of Dairy Development is gearing up to ensure the quality of milk supplied to consumers during the Onam festival season which witnesses peak demand necessitating more imports from neighbouring States.

The department has made arrangements to carry out inspections at multiple locations across the State. Apart from the border checkposts at Meenakshipuram and Aryankavu, temporary checkposts functioning round the clock will be established at Walayar, Kumily and Parassala. Laboratories equipped to test the chemical quality and adulteration of milk will also be set up for the special drive.

An official pressnote quoting Minister for Dairy Development K.Raju said milk found to be of substandard quality would be handed over to the Food Safety Department for legal proceedings. The Minister said quality information centres had been set up at all district headquarters to ensure that consumers are supplied with quality milk. The centres would be equipped to test samples of all the milk brands available in the market. Consumers and dairy farmers can make use of the facility to test samples free of cost.

Trader jailed for selling spurious jaggery

The food safety officials registered a case under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, and the trader faced trial in the court

The Nuzvid court on Wednesday sentenced a trader, Veliveti Appa Rao, to undergo six months simple imprisonment for selling substandard jaggery at his provisional store.

A team, led by Food Inspector M. Srinivasa Rao, raided on Srinivasa General Stores, located at Agiripalli in Krishna district in May, 2011, and seized the samples of the jaggery. The food safety officials registered a case under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, and the trader faced trial in the court, said Assistant Food Controller N. Purhachandra Rao. The court imposed a fine of ₹1,000 on the trader. Additional Public Prosecutor Babu Rao argued the case, Mr. Rao said.

Failed illegal transaction deals behind pan masala ban in Bihar, claims JD(U) MLA

The legislator further said the government should “not ruin Bihar just to gain fame and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should reconsider this ban”

Failure of illegal transaction deals led the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar to ban ‘pan masala’, Janata Dal (United) MLA Amarnath Gami told news agency ANI.

The ruling coalition government of JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state had in August banned 12 pan masala brands in Bihar for a period of one year for containing magnesium carbonate which causes health problems.

The action was criticised by Gami, who claimed the ban was imposed due to “the failure of big illegal transaction deals".

The legislator further said that government should “not ruin Bihar just to gain fame and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should reconsider this ban”.

He further raised concerns of unemployment of those associated with the sale of pan masala, and said the government should have created employment opportunities before announcing the ban.

If the government cannot provide jobs, then it has no right to snatch the livelihood of people associated with the sale of pan masala, said Gami.

The decision was taken by the state government following the presence of magnesium carbonate in all the 20 samples of pan masala collected from nine districts by food safety officers.

Using power under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Food Safety Commissioner Sanjay Kumar banned the manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution, display and sale of pan masala of 12 different brands for a period of one year from August 30, an official release had said.

Pan masala comes under the category of food items and hence the use of magnesium carbonate in pan masala is a violation of clause 3.17 of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011, it added.

The state government had earlier imposed a ban on the manufacture, sale, distribution and storage of gutka and all its variants.

The Bihar government had also enforced the total prohibition on liquor sale in the state from April 5, 2016.