Moo! Now milk’s a woe

- Samples low on nutrition, but food controller denies chemical hazards

A.S.R.P. MUKESH

Jharkhand’s milky way to good health is in serious jeopardy. All the 13 dairy samples collected from Ranchi last month have tested low on nutrients, corroborating a report collated by a central agency that suggested large-scale adulteration of milk. Though the state food controller has ruled out hazardous chemical contaminants, the veracity of his statement will be determined when the detailed laboratory report comes out on Monday. Alarmed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) findings, Jharkhand High Court had on January 12 initiated a public interest litigation and suo motu directed the state government to inform what steps it was taking to stop the malpractice. This spurred the health department to launch surprise raids in different parts of the state, beginning from Ranchi on January 13. The two-day raids in the capital alone led to the collection of 13 samples of various brands, including Sudha and Medha dairies run by the animal husbandry department. These were put to tests at the Mineral Area Development Authority’s (Mada) laboratory in Dhanbad and none of them proved to be 100 per cent pure. State food controller T.P. Burnwal confirmed that the tests for Ranchi were completed on Friday, but insisted that he was yet to get the detailed report and was tracking lab developments over phone. “All the samples have been found to be substandard. They are low on nutrition values, which means they don’t contain the desired amount of carbohydrates and proteins. The water-milk ratio too is beyond the permissible mark,” he said. Burnwal, however, stressed that the milk samples did not contain hazardous contaminants. “I should make it clear that substandard milk does not mean that it is always harmful to one’s health. That is a misconception. In other words, low on nutrients does not mean dangerous. It means the intake of that milk may not give you benefits as expected,” he added. The FSSAI had conducted a nationwide survey and collected 1,791 samples, of which 1,226 had tested positive for milk adulteration. The reports suggest that most Indians are consuming detergents and other contaminants through milk. The survey found that apart from Jharkhand, milk circulated in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha was also doctored. The first-of-its-kind snapshot survey had found that about 68.4 per cent of the samples carried detergents. Other contaminants were urea, starch, glucose and formalin. However, according to the state food controller, the FSSAI report on Jharkhand didn’t mention harmful chemicals such as detergents in milk. “The report we got from the central agency talked about adulteration but didn’t detail on what kind of contaminants. To our knowledge, the most common form of adulteration in Jharkhand is solid non-fat such as rice powder and flour. They are edible and not harmful to health. But they rob the nutritional value of milk,” he said. If Burnwal is to be believed, the tests at Mada didn’t mention any such solid non-fat and the most common adulteration seems to be water and skimmed milk powder. “When adulteration is in the form of water, one needs to find the source of water. We have to see whether the water was treated. Also, if a milkman washes his hands with detergent before adding water to the milk, there are chances of finding traces of detergent,” he said. But does that mean defaulters (almost all brands in state) won’t be taken to task? “No. As a first step, we will warn them and ask them to adopt corrective measures. For instance, selling skimmed milk isn’t illegal, but the packet should mention it is without cream so that people know what they are buying and do not feel cheated. Thereafter, we will begin a crackdown,” he said. Burnwal further said that random sampling might not reveal the exact causes of adulteration. “We need to conduct regular exercises, but manpower crunch is a hurdle.” So is the defunct state food and drug testing laboratory in Namkum. The health department had initiated the process of recruitment in last week of January to make the centre operational, but in vain. According to Burnwal, the initiative failed because of an age hitch. “The upper age limit for top officials is 65 years. Shortlisted candidates didn’t meet the criterion. So, we have to redo the process,” he added.

Unhygienic restaurants, bakery shops are around

Eat with caution…
Srinagar, Feb 11: Asserting that majority of restaurants and bakery shops in the City didn’t conform to food safety and standard rules as they prepare food under unhygienic conditions, authorities have issued notices to them to improve or face action.
Officials said that around 80 percent restaurants and bakery shops of the City prepare food in unhygienic conditions and majority of them are not aware about the requisite standards.
“During our recent inspection we found majority of the food and bakery units in city not following proper hygienic standards and the most strange thing was that they were not aware about the guidelines and rules,” said Public Analyst, Drugs and Food Control Organization, Hamidullah Dar.
The conditions of rooms in which food is prepared, utensils used, as also the condition of workers have been found sub-standardized in these units.
However, he said that strong note has been taken of the issue and strict guidelines have been issued to restaurants and bakery owners, and in case they fail to comply, strong action will be taken against them.
“It was not possible for them to improve within short period of time so we have given them two month’s time. After that strong action in the form of fine and punishment will follow against those who are found culpable,” said Dar.
He said that special team has been formed to conduct regular inspections and examination to keep these units under check.
He said that with the help of implementation of Food Safety Standards Act, 2006 which came into force in Jammu and Kashmir on August, 05, 2011, several rules and guidelines regarding food safety became clear and awareness of people increased to large extent.
“With the act not only restaurant and bakery owners but other food manufacturing units have also got clear guidelines,” Dar added. 
He said that under the Act, purchaser has also been empowered to have any article of food analyzed by food analyst on payment of small prescribed fee.
He urged the people to lodge complaints in his department if they found anything wrong anywhere.
However, the restaurants and bakery owners in the City refuted the claims of the Public Analyst, and maintained that they are conforming to the rules and regulations properly.
“We strictly follow the rules and have improved hygienic conditions,” claimed Himayun Jan, a local bakery owner. 

Be wary of packed milk in villages

BHOPAL: Go for packed milk in Madhya Pradesh cities, these appear safe, but there is a 48 per cent chance that the same would be adulterated if you buy it from the villages.
Packed milk sold in the cities has been found pure and free from adulteration, but its not so in rural areas in Madhya Pradesh, according to a Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) test report, a senior official disclosed.
"No packed milk sample taken from any of the state's cities by FSSAI was found adulterated, according to its last month report," State Food and Drugs Department Controller AK Rai confirmed to TOI on Friday. But contrary to the perception that food stuff and milk was more pure in rural areas, both packed and unpacked milk sold in the rural areas were found to be spiked with water and having less fat and solids.
Rai said FSSAI took 61 milk samples from MP, out of which 29 were found to be impure. This meant that 48 per cent was not pure, he added.
He however said MP did well in the milk samples tests conducted all over northern India. Not a single sample out of the 61 contained urea that was found in milk samples of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar.
According to the FSSAI report, milk quality was best in the country in Goa and Pondicherry, following by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka. "We are after Karnataka in the list, "he claimed.
He said all the 19 samples collected from Chhattisgarh, carved out of MP, failed in the test.

No safe limit for trans fats

India’s food regulator has been asked to pay a compensation of Rs 2,000 to a RTI for failing to admit that the country does not have safety standards for trans fats in ghee and edible oil.

Right To Information activist KS Swami wanted to know whether the National Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has prescribed any safe percentage of trans fats in ghee and edible oil.

Some western nations such as Denmark have prescribed 2% of trans fats in products as a safe limit. A study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment had showed that most of trusted edible oil brands contain unhealthy levels of trans fat and it is 12 times higher than which is permissible in Netherlands in Vanaspati ghee.

Swami filed an RTI application in July 2011 asking the authority whether they have instructed the manufacturers of ghee and edible oils to exhibit the safe percentage of trans fats on the packets along with its actual percentage. 

Instead of giving a direct reply to the questions, the authority provided a few paras of its labeling regulation which said to claim that a product was trans fats fee may be used only if it was less than 0.2 gram per serving of food.

Unhappy with the reply, Swami filed an appeal with CIC which found the authority deliberately avoiding admission of no safety standard for trans fats. “If the authority has taken no steps about specifying the safe level of trans fats percentages in ghee and edible oils they should at least admit this,” Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said in his order.

Noting that harassment of a common man was “socially abhorring” and “legally impermissible”, Gandhi said awarding a compensation (of Rs 2,000) to an individual satisfies him personally and helps in improving work culture.

The CIC has also issued a notice to authority’s public information officer of imposing penalty blaming him for not furnishing complete information.

CIC rap for Govt over trans-fat in food items

The Chief Information Commissioner has  criticised Union Health Ministry for its ambivalent approach on the issue of declaration of trans-fat content in edible items sold in the market.
RTI applicant KK Swami, who had sought information whether anything concrete had been done by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India on the trans-fat content isuue, was told by the Ministry that it had made it a requirement to declare the content on September 19, 2008.

“However, this letter (from the Ministry) acknowledges that since industry made various representations apprehending commercial implications in terms of their sale of products a corrigendum was issued on Feb 27, 2009 modifying this,” Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi pointed out in his order. When the matter came before the CIC.

He also noted that Prevention of Food Adulteration Department had informed the applicant Swami, in December 2009, that the safe limit specified for trans-fat in food products shall be clarified from Government of India and efforts are being made to get the food laboratory of this department accredited from NABL to have all these testing facilities in near future.

After another year, the Ministry informed him the process of framing regulation by Food Authority of India is on. With no clear reply from the Health Ministry, Swami reached the transparency panel.

Directing the Ministry to give a clear response on the subject before March 15, Gandhi said, “The appellant has been unnecessarily harassed in pursuing this matter. If there is complete neglect of care for citizens health this should at least come out when a citizen uses Right to Information”. The consumption of trans-fat which are commonly found in the edible oils and ghee are known for increasing the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of bad LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.

Food authority backtracks

Says milk adulterated but not unsafe for consumption

Photo: Sayantoni PalchoudhuriSix states and a union territory feed their people milk that does not meet the standards set by India’s food regulatory body at all. Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Daman & Diu are the “100 per cent non-conforming” states. In Delhi, 70 per cent of the samples failed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) test. Yet, the authority claims there is no danger in drinking the milk.
On January 2, FSSAI uploaded on its website the summary report of a snap-shot survey it had conducted across the country. Results of the National Survey on Milk Adulteration, 2011, were startling, leaving the food authority facing a volley of angry questions from all quarters.
Backtracking on its claims, the food authority clarified in a press release on January 12: “Non-conforming to standards does not mean the milk is unsafe for consumption.”
“Most milk samples did not adhere to the fat and the solid-not-fat (SNF) percentages laid down in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. They are sub-standard, but not necessarily unsafe,” it added.
What’s in your milk?
Of the 1,791 samples tested, 70 per cent were adulterated and did not meet the standards the Act sets. Nearly 14 per cent contained detergent, 548 had skimmed milk powder and 477 had glucose. Maximum adulteration—nearly 46 per cent—was because of SNF. Solids like vitamins, minerals and proteins are classified as SNF. Higher the SNF content better is the quality of milk, and therefore the cost. Traders add urea and carbohydrates like starch, potato powder, wheat flour, blotting paper, sugar and glucose which increase the lactometer reading.

Home checks How to test adulteration in milk For Neutraliser In 5 ml of milk add 5 ml of alcohol followed by about five drops of rosalic acid. If the colour changes to pinkish red, the milk is adulterated with sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate and is unfit for human consumptionFor Urea Mix 5 ml of milk with 5 ml of paradimethyl amino benzaldehyde. If the solution turns yellow, the milk is adulterated with urea For Hydrogen Peroxide Add five drops of paraphenylene diamine to 5 ml milk and shake it well. Adulterated milk will turn blue For Formalin In a test tube containing 10 ml of milk add 5 ml of concentrated sulphuric acid from the sides without disturbing it. A violet or blue ring will appear at the intersection of the two layers indicating presence of formalin For Sugar To 10 ml of milk add 5 ml of hydrochloric acid and 0.1 g of resorcinol in a test tube. Shake it well and place the test tube in boiling water for five minutes. Adulterated milk will turn red For Starch Boil 3 ml of milk and then cool to room temperature. Add two to three drops of 1 per cent iodine solution. It will turn blue. For Glucose Dip a diacetic strip in milk for about one minute. If the strip changes colour, the milk contains glucose

Packaged milk performed better than milk sold loose. With only 30 per cent non-compliance, samples collected from rural areas also fared better than urban centres.
A trader, who claims to have stopped adulterating milk, says salt, detergents and glucose increase milk’s thickness and viscosity, and starch prevents it from curdling. Neutralisers like sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonia, carbon trioxide (carbonate) and other alkalis are used to increase the pH value of badly preserved milk.
The immediate effect of drinking adulterated milk with urea and detergent is gastroenteritis. But long-term effects are far more serious. The adulterants irreversibly damage organs. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, some of the adulterants can cause fatal diseases like cancer and heart ailments.
Taking suo moto cognisance of FSSAI’s report, the Delhi High Court has asked the Centre and the Delhi government to explain why 70 per cent of the milk samples lifted from the capital were adulterated. They have been asked to submit their report by January 25.
Cornered FSSAI saves face
The food authority has now instructed big dairy houses to brand their milk correctly. When added with skimmed milk powder or glucose, the milk should be labelled “reconstituted”. But skimmed milk powder has been added to milk for long to reduce its fat content, says N R Bhasin, president of Indian Dairy Association, which comprises milk manufacturers in the organised sector. “Called toned milk, it is not low in nutrition. Only its fat content is reduced by 1.5-2 per cent. It is not hazardous to health,” he adds.
Adulteration can be hazardous only when milk is diluted with water contaminated by pesticides or heavy metals, says Asim Choudhary, director of FSSAI.
The summary report states one of the aims of the survey was to identify common adulterants in milk—fat, vegetable fat, SNF, neutraliser, acidity, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, glucose, urea, salt, detergent and skimmed milk powder. But it later claimed that it was not the commonly occurring contaminants they were targetting, but were reporting only “deviation from standard”. The deviation was found the highest—46.8 per cent—in fat and SNF content.
Keeping the full report under wraps, the food authority has not yet disclosed the quantity of each adulterant found. FSSAI also stated that formalin, or formaldehyde, was found in some samples, but argued that “it is allowed for preservation”.
Bhasin refutes the claim. Adding formalin to milk is against the law, he says. Known to be a carcinogen, the chemical is used for preservation and as a disinfectant. It is illegally used by adulterants to increase milk’s shelf life.
FSSAI made one more change in its claim. The summary report stated that eight per cent of the samples contained detergent. It attributed presence of detergent to lack of hygiene and sanitation in milk handling and packaging. Within 10 days, the food authority increased the figure to 14 per cent. However, it did not explain the change.
Blame game begins
The FSSAI has passed the buck to the states. But the states blame the food authority for a half-baked report.
FSSAI is responsibile for keeping a check on milk’s purity. It is, therefore, preparing an advisory for states to crack down on violators. But the states have no idea who the violators are. “They have not shared the report with us. We have no idea where they collected the samples from. The survey should have been sent to the states first,” says Ashish Kumar, designated officer, Food Safety Authority in Bihar.
Slamming FSSAI’s claims, Kumar says they conduct regular checks but have never found detergent or urea. “Moreover, synthetic milk is found in Meerut and Ghaziabad, not in Bihar,” he adds. FSSAI is aware of it, yet did not collect samples from Meerut or Ghaziabad.
Delhi, too, is disappointed with the report. “None of our samples had problems with either fat or SNF content,” says S K Saxena, Food Safety Commissioner in Delhi. “Nor was detergent or urea found in our milk. The samples had skimmed milk powder. This is added during summers when supply falls. The samples were collected in April and May. Skimmed milk powder is not hazardous to health,” he adds.
About 90 per cent of Delhi’s requirement of 70 million litre milk is met by brands like DMS, Mother Dairy, Parag, Saras and Gopaljee. Yet, only five samples of the 50 collected were packaged milk, says Saxena.
“The authority has created panic,” says Bhasin. The problem is with the unorganised sector, but that is not how it has been reported, he adds. “If clarifications are not issued soon, it will be a huge setback for the good milk production this year owing to good monsoon and winter,” he adds.

FOOD AUTHORITY CRACKDOWN: PROVE ADVERTISING CLAIMS

MULTIGRAIN noodles that claim to be healthier than the regular variety, digestive biscuits that help weight loss and drinks that make champions out of little children -- cracking down on such advertisements, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sent notices to the manufacturers asking them to justify the claims with appropriate evidence of face action for violating the advertising code for food items and supplements.
Among those who have been issued notices are: Maggi multigrain noodles, Top Ramen (which has brought out an oats version), Nutrichoice biscuits, Horlicks, Complan, Heartcare biscuits, Bournvita Lil Champs and Pediasure food supplement. The products were identified after months of monitoring the advertisements. The companies have been told to respond within a fortnight.
“The issue is not of misleading, but there are issues of governance involved. The Ministry of Company Affairs must also seek compliance from such large MNCs on giving declarations in their annual reports that they have not issued any misleading advertisements or have not
been served with any notice from the food regulator about misbranding/ misleading advertisements,” said FSSAI director (administration) Asim Choudhary in an e-mail to The Indian Express.
“Similarly these companies must not not be allowed to telecast such advertisements by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and there should also be a ban on their advertising on social networking sites so that in course of time these misleading advertisements will be monitored at more than one level,” said Choudhary, adding that the notices were sent about “a week-10 days ago”.
Some of the questions that the FSSAI has raised are: what are the sugar and other components used in Nutrichoice by Britannia that make the biscuits healthy; what is the basis of the multigrain claim of Maggi (Nestle product) and oats claim of Top Ramen (Nissin); how Complan (Heinz) makes children grow taller faster; how Bournvita Lil Champs (Cadburys) triggers better brain development.
Nestle spokesperson Himanshu Manglik said the company was yet to receive any notice. But a spokesperson of Cadburys said: “We had received a request for information from the FSSAI on the ingredients of Bournvita Lil Champs. We have provided all relevant scientific facts and data on the composition of our product.”
According to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, “any person who publishes or is party to the publication of an advertisement, which (i) falsely describes any food or (ii) is likely to mislead as to the nature or substance or quality of any food or gives false guarantee, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to Rs 10 lakh.”

FSSAI ADVERTISEMENT

Health ministry pulls up food, pharma companies for tall claims in advertisements

A marketing officer with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex food regulatory body under the health ministry, told that the body has had enough of companies who violated the prescribed advertising codes and has begun initiating action against the violators.

“A number of reputed food product manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are making tall claims about their products in their advertisements. This is tantamount to taking consumers for a ride, and will not be tolerated anymore,” Dr Jitendra P Dongare, FSSAI's marketing officer, said.

He added that these were the findings of a survey conducted by the FSSAI. “The promoters of the products found contravening the advertising codes have been issued showcause notices to justify their claims,” he said.

“If they fail to back their claims with scientific proof within the two-week notice period given to them, stringent action will be taken against them. This will also send a strong message to others,” Dongare warned.

The FSSAI has advised people not to take any advertisement on its face value and to check the label on every product they intend to purchase. After all, nobody would like to compromise on his health.

Food authority to set standards for alcoholic drinks

ADULTERATED TEA SEIZED IN MADURAI

Licensing/registration at FDA speeds up as staff works round the clock

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has set March 31 as the target deadline for undertaking new licensing/registrations and converting from the old Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) to the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA).

This has set the ball rolling at the FDA headquarters in Mumbai. “We are trying our best to expedite work. However, if we just assign ourselves to this work one whole day, the number of licences we will be able to issue is 100 per day. We have around 35,000 applications pending and the deadline is nearing, but the officers are working round-the-clock completing the work,” an officer at the Administration said.

Earlier, these licences were issued by the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). During that time, the task was divided among 25 offices that covered around 227 wards in Mumbai and were backed by sufficient manpower to complete the task. Now, it's just one designated officer who has been appointed as the licensing authority for the entire city.

“The DO (designated officer) has one clerk to help him out but again he is currently assigned on the election duty,” said the officer.

Also, currently the licences are being issued manually in spite of the software being launched for the purpose. In fact, the online system of applying for licences has also not found many takers. “From the time of its launch on Jan 12, online has not registered more than five licences. Most of the traders being electronically-challenged, the software has not lured applicants,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the inspection work has taken a backseat with the ongoing gigantic task of issuing licences. The mandatory clause of inspection of the food business operations before issuance of licences is also being overlooked due to manpower shortage.

There are other concerns with inspection and sample testing. One, the food inspector (now the food safety officer) has to pay from his pocket to the food business operator for the samples he picks up to test. He gets it reimbursed only after months of chasing the clerk at the FDA. Unlike the drugs wing, FDA does not pay the food business operators directly for the samples they pick up for testing. In such a scenario, the trader may offer free samples to the officer for testing which could be clear of adulteration. “Given the money constraints, the officer may be tempted to ignore other adulterated product samples and go for this free sample. This becomes a breeding ground for corruption,” said the official.

He added, “Besides, the inspectors are not even provided standardised equipment for collection of samples. They buy temporary containers for storing the samples picked for testing - these containers sometimes maybe the cause of adulteration as well.”

Meanwhile, new food safety commissioner Mahesh Zagade is being commended from all quarters for his “jet-speed” style of operating. However, FDA being a comparatively niche and underrated subject than his previous plum role as Pune municipal commissioner, Zagade's completion of term at the FDA seems unlikely. If grapevine is to be believed then his transfer is due in the coming months.

Odisha Governor called upon all stakeholders to enhance public understanding of nutrition, food safety

 
Bhubaneswar: Governor M C Bhandare on Saturday called upon all stakeholders to enhance public understanding of nutrition and food safety.
Inaugurating a national seminar on 'Food Safety' at Hotel Mayfair here, he appreciated the efforts of the organisers, Institute of Quality and Environment Services and Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar Heritage.
He spoke of a phased and all-inclusive approach to food safety, especially in capacity building, knowledge dissemination and efficient regulatory mechanism to achieve the desired goals.
On awareness generation, Bhandare said that the role of media, health and nutrition professionals, educators, opinion leaders and food producers was important.
Terming milk adulteration as suicidal and coming down heavily on the offenders, Bhandare said that often milk is contaminated with glucose, contaminated water, starch, detergent, urea, pesticides and toxic ingredients, paving way for many diseases including paralysis.
He appreciated the efforts of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and hoped its findings would help take corrective measures.
FSSAI CEO VN Gaur said that 15 to 20 per cent of hotel food in India was contaminated.
Food-borne diseases in the US caused the nation a loss to the tune of 51 billion dollars and it would be far more in the case of India considering its population and food habits.
Organising committee chairman DN Padhi spelt out the purpose of the seminar, especially on growing apathy towards unsafe food and step a need to reduce the burden on food safety.
Among others, principal secretary, Tourism Ashok Tripathy, DDG of Bhubaneswar Doordarshan Kendra BN Panigrahi, BP Tripathy and Debabrata Panigrahi also spoke.