FSSAI asks food business operators to gear up for rigorous inspection regime

New Delhi, Dec 13 () Food regulator FSSAI will launch "rigorous" inspections on food companies to ensure that best standards are followed as part of its effort to build trust among people about the safety and quality of cooked or packaged products, its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said Thursday.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will also conduct surveys on many food products being sold in the market to check quality, he said, adding a survey on milk and dairy products has recently been done.

"Our mandate is to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. We have taken initiative in last few years to create demand for such foods. Businesses will make it available only if consumer demands," Agarwal said at a CII conference on Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory summit here.

However, he said an average, Indian citizen is still not confident about safety of packaged or cooked food. "We need to do something to bring trust among people".

Agarwal highlighted various initiatives being taken to create visibility of FSSAI, develop new ecosystem for training/audit of food safety officers, strengthen testing labs and energise state enforcing agencies.

Now, he said the FSSAI would focus on creating a "culture of self-compliances" for food businesses as well as for labs and audit agencies.

"Food businesses now have to be geared up for rigorous inspection regime," Agarwal said, adding that regulator through this inspection would verify whether food companies are complying with standards laid by it.

"We will also conduct surveys and huge surveillance to find out risk. We need to find problem area and make efforts to fix it, then only people's trust can be build," he said. The surveys and surveillance effort would help in generating robust data for the regulator.

Agarwal informed that the government has recently permitted creation of about 800 posts in the authority, but still the strength would be lower than many other countries.Therefore, he said, the FSSAI is making efforts to create network of partnerships with scientific, research and academic institutions to fulfil its mandate.

HC wants permissible formaldehyde limit finalised

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa on Thursday asked the 11-member scientific panel of fish and fisheries products of the food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) to go ahead and finalise the permissible limit of naturally occurring formaldehyde in species of fish to clear the existing ambiguity.

The court further gave the government a time frame of three months to place on record a progress report on the same. 

Till then, justice R M Borde observed, an adhoc limits of 4mg/kg of formaldehyde for fresh water origin fish and 100mg/kg for brackish/marine origin fish will prevail for all practical purposes.

He told the petitioners that proper procedure would be followed where they can raise objections and suggestions, before the finalised limit is placed before the parliament to be incorporated in a law.

Advocate Dharmesh Verenkar, who represented the FSSAI, told the court that once the scientific panel decides on naturally occurring formaldehyde in fish, the issue will be forwarded to the scientific committee, which if agreeable, can recommend this for the legislature to decide and frame regulations.

In an earlier affidavit, FSSAI had stated that in order to clear the ambiguity associated with naturally occurring formaldehyde, the panel would have to undertake a nearly two-year-long research project.

Fungus in chilli powder: FSDA notice to grocery store

Bareilly: The Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) has slapped a notice on a grocery store after laboratory test report said chilli powder collected from the establishment located in Nawabganj contained moulds and fungus. 

According to officials, a team of FSDA had collected samples of chilli powder from the store on August 24, 2018. The laboratory report, which arrived on Tuesday, stated the presence of moulds and fungus in the chilli powder which was put up for sale. The adulterated chilli powder is harmful for health if consumed by humans, the report stated.

Dharam Raj Mishra, district designated officer, FSDA, said, “Following the laboratory report, we have served notice to Shirajuddin grocery store located in Meerganj sub-division on Wednesday. We have sought a reply from the store owner in 30 days. If the reply is not found satisfactory, the matter will be taken up in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate. If the accused is found guilty, he can be awarded a prison term of six months or a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh.”

74% of Mumbai eateries have dirty kitchens: FDA

MUMBAI: A peek into kitchens of some of the city’s top restaurants has thrown some extremely unappetising findings. In a special drive, where 500 popular restaurants were surveyed, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials found hygiene and food safety violations in more than 74%.

A swanky café in Kala Ghoda, an iconic kebab place in Colaba, a renowned Mughlai food chain, a famous vegetarian chain with outlets dotting the highways, were among 327 restaurants in the city served improvement notices by FDA. Overall, 3,047 top restaurants were inspected across Maharashtra, of which a staggering 87% lacked cleanliness, sanitation, air quality, ventilation, food packaging and safe distribution.

A significant majority had also ignored mandatory health checks of staff. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) says that sick employees can contaminate food and give rise to health concerns. 

About a year ago, around 240 food safety officers were directed to make a list of the best 20 restaurants in their zones and start inspecting them. “The results are mind-boggling. We found health and hygiene concerns in almost every step of food preparation and distribution. Unfortunately, some renowned restaurants, which families have been frequenting for decades, had very untidy kitchens,” said FDA commissioner Pallavi Darade. She said the exercise began a year back and will continue till over 4000 restaurants are inspected in Maharashtra. “It underlines that restaurants with classy interiors may not have clean kitchens,” she said.

Elaborating on hygiene and sanitary violations found in the city eateries, an FDA official said several did not clean their kitchens regularly even though it’s meant to be done daily as part of good sanitary practices. Many had not refurbished their kitchens in a long time, leading to chipping of walls and ceilings, which could also contaminate food. Many did not have insect- or pest-proof mesh fittings. “Food Safety and Standards Act has very clear guidelines on provision of clean bathrooms for staff. But many had filthy facilities, which raised doubts on whether staff could wash hands properly before preparing, packing or serving food,” said the official. 

FDA joint commissioner Shailesh Adhao said violations at more than 90% Mumbai restaurants were not so critical. “We have given everyone time to comply and many have started sending compliance reports. We will reinspect premises, and if sanitary violations remain, we will suspend or cancel licences,” he said. FDA has kept the names of restaurants under wraps till all file compliance reports.

Darade said consumers too must shoulder responsibility of keeping an eye on hygiene and insist on checking kitchens of restaurants they frequent. “We are bringing in a system of rating,” she said.

FDA asks Maganlal Chikki to suspend production, sale

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has slapped a notice on Lonavla-based chikki manufacturer Maganlal Chikki, asking it to stop the production for alleged violation of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA) at its plants.

Lonavla in Pune district is a hub of production of chikki, a popular confection mainly made from groundnut.

An FDA official said Thursday that raids at Maganlal Chikki's plants found that the company was not complying with food safety norms.

"We found the company neither has its own laboratory to test the food items nor was it getting the products tested at NABL, a lab approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)," said FDA joint commissioner Suresh Deshmukh.

The company also did not have an expert person for supervising the production, he claimed.

"It was also found that conditions at the plant were unhygienic, so we served them a notice to stop the production and sale of food items," he said.

Until the company complies with the norms it will not be able to restart the production, he said.

When contacted, owner of Maganlal Chikki, Ashok Agarwal, said the notice was of "technical nature" and had nothing to do with the quality of its food products.

"We have already started complying with all the norms and we are sure the production will restart soon," he said.

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Eateries at State secretariat yet to give up plastic

HC to state govt: Get jail for food adulterators, penalty not enough

CHENNAI: Just penalty, and no jail, for food and milk adulterators? Raising this question, the Madras high court has directed officials concerned to conduct more surveys, searches and investigations, and initiate stringent prosecution of offenders so that culprits do not get away with mere fines.

A bench of Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice Anitha Sumanth, after perusing a status report filed by commissioner of food safety P Amudha on Wednesday, said, “The report of convictions and the imprisonment prima facie shows that most of the accused persons and convicts are getting away with payment of fine rather than imprisonment for serious offences of food adulteration. That requires serious attention of this court, trial courts and prosecution.”

The bench was issuing the directive on a PIL filed by advocate A P Suryaprakasam, who cited the state dairy development minister’s remarks last year against private milk manufacturers, and demanded direction to the state government to enhance the punishment for adulteration of milk and milk products.

“We direct the authorities represented by the nodal officer, who is present in the Court today, to step up the process of search, surveys and investigation and launch more such prosecution cases, so that those who indulge in such illegal and criminal acts of selling adulterated food and milk in the state are dealt with strongly,” said the bench.

In her report, Amudha had stated that 1,273 milk samples from all 32 districts were lifted and analysed, but no sample had been found unsafe. However, 289 samples were found to be of substandard or misbranded.

Stating that between August 5, 2011, and October 31, 2018, at least 210 civil cases were launched, the officer said that 177 of them ended in conviction. Till October 2018 Rs 18.57 lakh was collected as fine, she said.

In the case of milk products, during the same period 22 criminal cases were launched out of which 5 ended in conviction. A sum of Rs 1 lakh was collected as fine. Total of 158 civil cases were launched against the offenders, and 126 ended in conviction. A sum of Rs 21.2 lakh was collected as fine amount from them, Amudha said.

The judges, calling for a more comprehensive and detailed report on the matter, adjourned the hearing of the case after four weeks and asked the authorities to take proactive steps to produce more comprehensive and a detailed report by January 21, 2019.

High Court grills official on action taken against milk adulteration

The judges wondered why the number of samples tested had declined between 2017 and 2018.

Seeks detailed report by Jan. 21; wants FSDA officials to step up testing of samples

“Has anybody been jailed so far or not? Why the number of samples tested have gone down this year? Are you submitting only figures or doing some real work on the ground?” — this was how the Madras High Court on Wednesday grilled Commissioner of Food Safety P. Amudha in a case related to action taken against milk adulterators in the State.

Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth refused to be persuaded by the figures submitted by the Commissioner in the court and insisted on taking more vigorous action against the adulterators. They said provision of safe food was directly linked to the fundamental right to life guaranteed to citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The judges wanted the Food Safety and Drug Administration department officials to pick up five to 10 samples for testing on a daily basis and take stringent action under the criminal law against those found to be involved in selling substandard milk. They directed the Commissioner to file a comprehensive report with substantial details by January 21.

Though the Commissioner submitted a status report on Wednesday, they wondered why the number of samples tested for 2018-19 (up to October 2018) had gone down to 42, against 402 samples tested in 2017-18. Ms. Justice Sumanth said the size of the samples does not seem to represent a reasonable proportion of the whole.

Criminal action

In her report, the Commissioner stated that 1,273 milk samples were lifted from all 32 districts between 2011-12 and 2018-19. Though none of them were found to be unsafe, about 289 were classified as either substandard or misbranded. However, criminal action was taken against only seven adulterators in 2017-18 and four of them ended up being convicted.

On the other hand, civil proceedings initiated against 210 adulterators had led to conviction in 177 cases and collection of ₹18,57,300 towards penalty. In so far as milk products were concerned, it was reported to the court that 659 samples were lifted since 2011 and 24 of them were found to be unsafe besides 274 classified as substandard/misbranded.

Criminal prosecution launched against 22 adulterators led to conviction of five and collection of penalty of ₹1.07 lakh. Similarly, the civil proceedings initiated against 158 had led to conviction of 126 adulterators from whom a total penalty of ₹ 21.29 lakh was collected in the last seven years.

The report was filed in response to a public interest litigation petition filed by advocte A.P. Suryaprakasam last year seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of some private dairies in the State indulging in large-scale adulteration as claimed by Minister for Milk and Dairy Development K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji.

Chandigarh: Man fined Rs 1 lakh for selling sweets without valid licence

CHANDIGARH: A man who was caught selling food articles like khoya burfi, milk cake, ladoos, sweets, etc. without a valid licence, a Chandigarh district court made one person stand till the rising of the court and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him. 

Manish Rajwanshi was held guilty and convicted for the commission of offence under Sections 26(2)(iii) and 31(1) punishable under Section 63 of the relevant act.

The matter dates back to February 2, when around 1.45 pm, food safety officer inspected the premises of Aaradhya Misthan of Ram Darbar, Chandigarh, and found the accused running the business and selling food articles without a food license for human consumption by way of public sale. He was challaned under Sections 26 (2) (iii) and 31(1) of the Food Safety & Standards Act 2006.

However, the defence counsel contended that neither any sample of food article was taken by the FSO nor raw material for preparation was taken into possession and his client had been falsely implicated. It was also stated that no raid had ever taken place and the accused never sold any of the alleged food articles to any customer.

The prosecution contended that since the accused was challaned for selling food articles without having a food licence, there was no requirement for taking sample of the food articles. After the arguments the court held him guilty and convicted him.

Kitchens in places of worship and catering business similar: FSSAI CEO

Mysuru: Kitchens in places of worship are pretty much like the ones in other catering establishments except that they have different recipe, said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Speaking after inaugurating the four-day International Food Convention 2018 organised by the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) in association with CFTRI-CSIR and DFRL-DRDO, he said, “The response for food safety of prasadam served in temple and in other places of worship places is good. Initially some temples had some reservations, for instance the Tirupathi Temple which has also come under the licensing regime of FSSI. They said that prasadam is being given to the devotees for centuries and they have a tradition to follow. Our opinion was all that is fine but there is no harm in having a double check. At the end of the day, it is consumed by the people. It is not a huge challenge in terms of technology. It is more of a cultural challenge. For the safety of the people, all the food that we eat comes with after a preview by FSSI. All that food requires proper safety management practices and hence we are also working with the temple administrations."

824 posts including that of Central Food Safety Officers sanctioned 

"There is a shortage of food safety officers but not in every state. Some states including Tamil Nadu are having more than the required number. Many states including Mandhya Pradesh and Delhi have the post sanctioned in the recent months. The 824 sanctioned posts include not only food safety officers but also central technical officers and other staff. Once these posts are filled, the country's food safety will be properly manned", he added.

Agarwal also lauded AFST (I) for their support in various aspects of food safety related works including for training food safety supervisors. “We have 2.8 million food businesses across the country. Hence to keep a tab on quality and safety, we need food safety supervisors. Keeping this in mind, we have tied up with various organisations including AFST (I), to build a culture of self compliance in food business and building the competence of the food handlers and supervisors who work in different food businesses. With the help of 150 training partners we have managed to train about 65000 food safety supervisors", he said.

Aashitosh A Inamdar, Secretary of AFST (I) welcomed the dignitaries and briefed about IFCON 2018. Prabodh S Halde, President of AFST (I), Anil Dutt Semwal, Director of DFRL-DRDO, KSMS Raghavarao, Director of CFTRI-CSIR and Chindi Vasdevappa, Vice Chancellor, NIFTEM, Sonepat were also present.

The four-day IFCON will conclude on December 15. Various technical sessions, poster presentations and a food expo have been organised. The public can visit food expo on December 13 and 14 between 9.30 AM and 5 PM for which the entry is free.

Lonavala’s Maganlal Chikki fails FDA test

Maganlal Chikki is a chain of sweet manufacturers popular across the Maharashtrian hill station

Maganlal Chikki, a Lonavala landmark, was pulled off shelves on Tuesday after the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) found it had no quality control measures in place to prove its products were fit for human consumption.

Maganlal Chikki is a chain of sweet manufacturers popular across the Maharashtrian hill station. On December 11, food officers from FDA’s Pune branch raided the manufacturing and packaging unit of Maganlal Food Products and it was violating several rules of the Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006. The unit had no quality-check system, its food safety standards lacked national accreditation, and there were hygiene lapses in the manufacturing process, the FDA’s inpection report, a copy of which is with HT, said.

There is no guarantee that the product manufactured by the company is fit for consumption, as they are not tested by any laboratory approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, or accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the inspection report, by Food Safety Officer of the Pune region,RR Kakade, said.

Mangesh Agarwal, one of the owners of the company, said the issues raised by the FDA were “documentary in nature”. “The fact is, there is no food adulteration or spurious substance. There were small packaging and technical errors against which the FDA took action...,” he said.

His brother and co-owner, Ashok Agarwal, who was present when the unit was raided, said, “We have completed the process of sending products to an NABL accredited laboratory. We have also started hiring a technical person to supervise the products. ..in two days, our factory will start functioning again.”

Another lapse the FDA pointed out was how the superintendent of the manufacturing process was a Bachelor of Commerce, which does not qualify her to head the department. Officials said the company’s license was only valid for packaging. “We are not attacking a certain brand or person..,” said Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner, FDA, Pune

No shortage of food safety officers, says FSSAI CEO

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Agarwal, on Wednesday, said that 824 posts of FSSAI, across the country have been sanctioned. 

Speaking to reporters, here, he said, no state has shortage of food safety officers. “In fact, Tamil Nadu has more number of officers than required. We are trying to rationalise that. The posts of officers, including including Central Food Safety Officer, technicians and other staff, have been sanctioned. With their appointment, the country’s food safety authority will be properly manned,” he said.

When asked about food safety in prasadam distributed in temples, he said, the response is good from the temples. “Initially, a few temples such as Tirupati had some reservations. Our teams are working with the temple managements so that food safety practices are followed in temples and other places of worship,” he said.

When asked about the challenges in checking food safety in places of worship, he said, it’s not a technological challenge, but, a cultural challenge. Kitchens in places of worship are similar to the kitchens of catering establishments. But, with different recipes. It is an issue of sensitivity, he said. 

CEO appreciates state Agarwal appreciated the Food Safety Commissioner of Karnataka and other officials in ensuring safety in the midday meal scheme. “Food safety officials are taking samples and are testing the food items regularly. There are guidelines on food safety and hygiene for the midday meal scheme. The Education department is primarily responsible for following the guidelines. Even the Commissioner of Food Safety has the responsibility. The officials do samplings and tests, regularly,” he said.

FSSAI has created a framework for uplifting the hygiene of food vendors through a scheme called, ‘Theme Street Food hubs’. It’s a cluster approach wherein FSSAI works with ministerial bodies and state government to identify a cluster. The authorities will conduct a survey on the availability of water, electricity, cleanliness of cart among others in the region. “We will give time to the vendors to improve the condition. Later, post audit will be done, before awarding ‘Clean Street Food Hub’, tag,” he said. 

“We had identified a few cities in Karnataka, but, the authorities concerned did not come forward. Mysuru is a good place to implement the Theme Street Food hubs,” he said.

DINAKARAN NEWS

FSSAI to hold event on healthy eating habits

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will organise the first 'National Eat Right Mela' here from December 14-16, aimed at making people aware of safe and healthy eating habits, the food regulator said on Monday.

The three-day mela would provide a complete food experience for the entire family and an opportunity to know everything one needs to know about safe food and healthy diets, including quick tests for adulterants, health and nutrition benefits of different types of food, and dietary advice by experts, as per a statement.

It would allow citizens to engage in dialogues and conversations with food visionaries and experts including celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said the mela would become an annual event and it would be replicated in at least 40 major cities.

Indian vendors keep selling fruit and veg with stickers

India’s State Food Commissioner has made it mandatory that, effective immediately, fruit and vegetables with stickers on them should not be sold in the market. However, as many are still unaware of the guidelines, fruit and vegetable suppliers, vendors and retailers are still selling fruits and vegetables with stickers on them.

Vendors say they were receiving items with stickers from the mandi suppliers and they were not told to remove them. Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said: “These stickers, pasted on fruits and vegetables, usually contain harmful chemicals and buyers consume them without knowing the toxicity of the chemicals. Therefore, to maintain the safety standards, the decision has been taken by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) at the central level.”

The Commissioner said: “The suppliers usually apply these stickers to make the eatables look genuine and earn extra bucks from them. However, these stickers were not needed to reflect the premium quality of the fruits. Sometimes the stickers were applied on the fake products as well.”

Secretary, Mandi Board, Rupinder Minhar: “Usually the imported high-quality food items have stickers applied on the items. But to sell their items on beneficial rates the retailers apply stickers on their items. In other countries such stickers are applied using wax. However, local traders use harmful adhesives, which are used for commercial purposes.”

Tribuneindia.com further quoted Pannu as saying: “The food safety teams have been directed to check the sale of such fruits and vegetables and apprise the traders aware of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, as per which no food business operator will store, sell or distribute any food article which are unsafe.

This week’s flavour: Sugar, spice and everything nice

NEW DELHI: When you finally give into the temptation of having your favourite golgappa from that roadside vendor, how difficult do you find to swat aside concerns related to health and hygiene? Ever wished that you didn’t have to worry about this tradeoff? To change your perception of the mess associated with India’s wide variety of street-food items, the organisers of the 10th National Street Food Festival — integrated with the ‘Eat Right Mela’ — are here to tell you a different story.

The three-day event that kicks off on December 14 is being organised by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in collaboration with the National Association of Street Vendors of India. It aims to bring vendors from 25 states to Delhi in an event where they can display their popular local street-food items and even learn entrepreneurship and hope for a regular customer base. 

Mass mobilisation was needed to ensure that people ate safe and healthy food, said Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI. “We’re working on an outreach programme to engage people and inform them about safe food and healthy diet,” he added. The event will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi with a pavilion on his food choices. There will also be an organic food bazaar, food quiz, cultural shows, food film screening and books, food testing, live demos and even a gastronomic tourism workshop.

Moving on to street food, there will be a huge variety of cuisines with multiple vendors from 25 states serving dishes like dabeli, khakra and khausa from Assam; chila, farah and khurmi from Chhattisgarh; chena poda from Odisha and Jharkhand’s mushroom parantha, chicken pitha and golgappa. Also, look out for tandoori naan and chhole kulche from Rajasthan, or Punjab’s chicken fry and a wide variety of tikkas.

Around 50% of the vendors will be newcomers to the event. “We want to bring in new people for variety and also because they get an opportunity to share their local food items on this platform,” said Sangeeta Singh, head of NASVI street-food programme. 

“While this is just the beginning of an initiative, we plan to expand and help street vendors across India serve hygienic food, the lack of which is usually not under their control if they don’t have access to facilities like clean water, and we aim to provide that,” said Agarwal.

Arbind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI, said, “This event that we started 10 years ago as an initiative for the street vendors has become a sustainable venture and a lot of them are coming to Delhi for the first time. Our aim is to help them earn profit so they can go back to their states and gain the confidence of selling their products in a hygienic environment.”

SOP for FSO's to monitor compliance to the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations, 2017

Ambala: Food safety officials collects milk samples from dairies, milkmen

AMBALA: A team of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Department collected milk samples randomly early in the morning from different dairies and milkmen in Ambala Cantonment and city areas. The samples were collected under the supervision of district FDA officer Subhash Chander.

Many milkmen were witnessed changing the roads after spotting the FDA team collecting samples of the milk.

Subhash, while talking to TOI, said: “So far we have collected nearly 25 samples of milk from different dairies and milkmen and on Saturday we collected eight milk samples, which have been sent to food laboratory in Karnal for tests and reports will be obtained after 14 days. Further action will be taken after receiving the reports. The drive will continue in the coming days and we will collect as many samples as we can.”

As per information, the FDA had been receiving complaints from the residents that some of the milkmen had been supplying them adulterated milk. Acting on these complaints, the FDA team had started to collect the samples randomly from different milkmen and dairies.

Earlier, during the festivals season, the FDA had collected 76 samples of sweets and edible items from different places and out of which, 16 had failed the test at Food Laboratory in Karnal. The department had sent notices to the defaulters to give the justifications of the adulteration in the edible items and fines as per law were collected from them.

No, Delhi's street food is not always unsafe

'Delhi belly' is more or less a myth, which gets debunked when FSSAI presents Street Food Festival, and global chefs share how Delhi street food inspired their various cuisines.

Coming Friday, the 10th National Street Food Festival, a unique advocacy effort by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), will be presented by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) at the Eat Right Mela.

Street food forms the core of our country’s gastronomic heritage. (Photo: Facebook page of Delhi Street Food Festival)

The philosophy driving the change of name is the belief that street food forms the core of our country’s gastronomic heritage — and as chefs and restaurants (from Badmaash in Los Angeles to Dishoom in London and The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai) around the world recognise the power of these culinary jewels, the FSSAI’s stamp of ‘eat right’ debunks the ‘Delhi belly’ myth that street food is intrinsically unsafe.

Having known so many international travellers happily surviving ‘street food walks’, I wholeheartedly stand by the FSSAI’s argument that by regulating street food and projecting a safe image of it, the authority is rescuing this precious part of our gastronomic heritage from the dead weight of misinformed publicity, protecting the means of livelihood of millions as well as a legacy that we are proud to call our own.

These thoughts were swirling in my mind as I entered Comorin, the brightly-lit new brainchild of Rohit Khattar and Manish Mehrotra, creators of Indian Accent, which has consistently been voted by multiple agencies as India’s No.1 restaurant.

Located in the richest part of Gurgaon — that Golf Course Road stretch, where apartment blocks named Aralias, Magnolias, and Camellias loom over the bustle of life around them like the colossi guarding an island of elitism.

Delhi Belly is a myth. (Photo: Facebook page of Delhi Street Food Festival)

Across the road from this triumvirate are the gleaming steel-and-glass superstructures named One Horizon Centre and Two Horizon Centre.

It’s in the latter that Comorin has just opened, unveiling a new side of super chef Manish Mehrotra’s creative genius. Mehrotra may be travelling around the world, feeding the Ambanis and collecting awards, but over the many years I have known him, I have found him rooted in the culture and ethos of his hometown Patna, and the meritocratic values of middleclass Delhi, where he was plunged in the days when his parents sent him to complete his plus 2 education at New Era Public School.

That may explain his aversion to the razzmatazz of molecular gastronomy, his no foam, no sphere, no liquid nitrogen, yet modern Indian culinary philosophy.

Many years ago, in the days when the law did not forbid him from serving his signature mutton galawati foie gras kebabs, served with a dollop of strawberry chilli chutney, at Indian Accent, I had said that his style could be called ‘Inventive Indian’, because he broke the boundaries of regional cuisines, and dipped into the multiplicity of spices and ingredients at the command of the kitchens of India, and came up with dishes that tasted Indian but looked nouvelle.

At Comorin, Mehrotra lets himself be inspired by creative cooks of the less fashionable streets across the country, so it’s street food reinvented to appeal to the eyes and palate of the global Indian.

The menu, as a result, is a melange of items that you may have just seen being sold at mean street restaurants — from champaran meat to seekh kebabs sitting on a pool of molten butter, a style popularised by one of the many Qureshi restaurants across Delhi, and smoked chicken curry, inspired by a dish served at the Dadar Catering College hostel; and then, from the famous Bengali wedding-party dish, ‘plastic’ chutney (made with raw papaya), to the malai cheeni toast.

This is the kind of food that evokes nostalgia and excites conversations. And it is complemented by a new generation of bottled sous vide cocktails (the ingredients are cooked in temperature-controlled hot water baths), created by the bar manager, Varun Sharma. The high-octane energy Sharma exudes typifies the spirit of the cuisine — forever in search of the new and unexpected.

Food safety squad lens on Xmas cake-makers

The Commissionerate has constitutes 38 special squads to crack down on bakeries and shops selling various confectioneries including cake.

Thiruvananthapuram: With Christmas and New Year around the corner, the Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety has constituted special squads to crack down on cake, wine manufacturing units sprouting across the state.

The Commissionerate has constitutes 38 special squads to crack down on bakeries and shops selling various confectioneries including cake.

The squads will collect fine and take legal action against violators using artificial colours. Around 38 designated officers and 76 food safety officers have been deployed for the purpose.

The squad will focus on the quality of the confectioneries sold during Christmas.

According to the food officials, during Christmas and New Year, many temporary cake and wine shops sprout across the state. The squad will take strict action if the food safety guidelines are not followed.

Those having complaints can email their grievance to foodsafetykerala@gmail.com or contact the toll-free number: 1800 425 1125 or can directly contact food safety joint commissioner (enforcement) on 8943341130.

FDA shuts down 3 restaurants run by Russians at Morjim

Those sealed during the raid were Bora Bora, Soma Project and Fish; Marabela Club’s licence cancelled

MORJIM/PANJIM: The State Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Thursday shut down three restaurants run by Russians at Morjim beach. 

The restaurants sealed by the FDA during the raid were Bora Bora, Soma Project and Fish.

Under the Food Safety Act, the FDA has cancelled the licence of a famous joint Marabela Beach Club at Morjim.

The restaurants were operating without licences as mandated under Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act 2006 and have been directed not to carry out any food-related activity, until all the necessary approvals are obtained.

Soma Project Living Room Resort, Morjim was directed not to carry out any food related activity until all the approvals are obtained. Bora Bora Lounge Restaurant and Night Bar at Morjim run by a company with five directors among which four are Russians and a local, Girish Naik was directed to close down. Another restaurant - Fish was shut down for operating without licence mandatory under the FSSAI Act 2006. Both Bora Bora and Fish have been issued notices under Section 31 of FSSAI Act 2006.

Earlier, Health Minister, Vishwajit Rane had warned of crackdown on non-licenced businesses being run by foreigners in Goa. 

He had alleged that non-licenced business establishments were run by foreigners and used as “narcotic havens”.

Vishwajit Rane informed Herald that these three premises have been shut and the police have been directed to maintain a vigil.

“Besides these three premises earlier on Tuesday we have also cancelled the FDA licence under the Food Safety Act to Marabela Club at Morjim. It was found to be operating in absolutely substandard conditions. The food being served was unfit for human consumption. We have taken the decision in public interest and this licence stands cancelled and neither will be it reviewed again,” he said. 

“We are carrying out a crackdown on non-licenced businesses especially those run by foreigners. We will make sure that all of these are shut,” he added. 

The entire raid was conducted along with policemen from Pernem Police Station.

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Sensor to check Food Safety

Milk supplied in pockets of Bengaluru may be unsafe

 

 BENGALURU: There is no guarantee that milk available in several parts of Bengaluru city and the entire Mysuru district is fit for consumption. For, jurisdictional food safety officials have failed to collect a single sample for testing from east and south zones of Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Urban district and Mysuru district (barring Mysuru city) between April 2016 and September 2018, documents accessed by TOI reveal.

Officials from the food safety commissionerate test samples of all kinds of milk, including loose, toned and packaged, as is done with all food items.

TimesView

Non-collection of milk samples from Bengaluru and Mysuru areas is a huge cause of concern, especially when inspections in other regions have thrown up unpalatable revelations. The presence of dead insects in this essential commodity not only makes one cringe in disgust but indicates the gravity of the situation. The government needs to ramp up staff strength in the food safety commissionerate so that regular checks can be conducted. Though fines have been slapped in some cases, stricter punishment is needed to make errant milk producers/suppliers fall in line. The authorities should deal with the issue on priority to ensure everyone — from schoolchildren to senior citizens — can have a glassful of nutrition without worries.

The neglect, however, seems surprising given that milk of suspected quality and with adulterated content is believed to be extensively used by roadside tea shops. The uncovered areas in Bengaluru include Koramangala, Girinagar, JP Nagar, Chamarajpet, Jayanagar, Bommanahalli, Shivajinagar, Fraser Town and Shantinagar. 

“We are too shortstaffed to conduct regular raids and inspections. We are not able to concentrate on adulteration-related issues as well as routine work,” admitted an official part of regular inspection exercises.

Milk samples were collected from 457 places across the state between April 2016 to September 2018, and 12 of them were found to be unsafe for consumption. Cases were filed in respective magistrate courts. “Another 59 cases related to misbranding or substandard quality of milk were filed and in 40 of them, a fine of Rs 42,500 was slapped. The remaining cases are pending,” said the official.

“During the inspections, we found dead insects in loose milk, apart from detergents and low fat content in some cases. Private milk producers were found mixing sugar and sodium chloride salt, which is alarming,” said another official.

The maximum milk samples were collected from Bidar district, where 19 of the 52 samples were reported as substandard and a penalty of Rs 10,000 was collected. In Belagavi district, five of 47 samples were found to be of low quality. From Vijayapura district, 31 samples were collected and 6 were found substandard.

Food safety regulation has been poor in Bengaluru Rural, Chamarajanagar, Davanagere, Dharwad and Mandya districts, with each of them reporting collection of only four samples. Only one sample was collected each from Dakshina Kannada and Hassan. Fourteen samples were collected from BBMP north zone and 13 from west, 29 from Mysuru city 29 and 43 from Ramanagara.

‘Annadhanams’ to come under food safety department radar

Trichy: Annadhanam served at religious functions and other events would come under the radar of the Trichy district food safety department after more than 40 people fell ill, allegedly due to food poisoning after eating in a temple function near Musiri a few days ago.

Officials said that at least three to four incidents of mass food poisoning continue to occur in the district every year during annadhanams and stated that they would intensify monitoring, surveillance and testing especially over the course of the next couple of months. The department officials also mentioned that they would conduct awareness programmes in rural areas of the district, since a few unregistered annadhanams continued to take place there only.

The designated officer (DO) for the district food safety department, Dr R Chitra said that since several religious functions – especially Vaikunda Ekadasi – are scheduled very soon, the department would come up with strict measures so that annadhanams are done hygienically and as per the guidance. On Sunday, 46 people, including children suffered from food poisoning after they consumed food during a Mariamman temple function at Umaiyalpuram village. While a few received treatment at the Musiri government hospital, four children were referred to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH).

“Buttermilk, sundal (chickpeas), pearl millet porridge and curd rice were served for the devotees. We’ve sent the food sample for testing and based on the result, we would take further action,” food safety officer, Musiri block, M Vadivel said. He added that no one had registered with the department for conducting annadhanam at the temple.

In the last three years, Trichy has seen two major mass food poisonings - one during a festival at Samayapuram temple in which more than 100 people fell ill, while about 100 fell sick at a private family function due to contaminated water served there. “After these incidents, the number of people who register with us to organise annadhanams increased,” an official told TOI.

About 750 people have registered to perform annadhanam throughout Trichy district at present. Whenever there’s a registered annadhanam event, the organisers are directed to keep food sample separately which would be tested by the department. While using a different oil was cited as reason for food poisoning this time, generally such cases are due to serving decayed food, spoilt milk, contaminated water or expired ingredients. A source from the department said that most of the cases were unintentional and due to ignorance. “In some cases, items like mutton biryani and other non-vegetarian dishes are served to very young children too,” the official added.

Eatery caught using non-veg premix in vegetarian dish

Ludhiana: The food-safety team of the health department claimed on Tuesday that it caught a restaurant in Satta Bazaar using chicken powder, which had been labelled as non-vegetarian, in a vegetarian dish.

Though chicken powder is mostly vegetarian, the powder that the department caught had been labelled as non-vegetarian, said district health officer Dr Andesh Kang at a press conference here.

The team also found the restaurant using expired sauce and vinegar during the raid it carried out on Monday afternoon, said Dr Kang.

That was not all. The official said they also found that the restaurant did not have a clearance from the health department and its premises lacked pest control. Following the findings, the team collected samples of all items from the restaurant. “The items have been sent for an examination and the result is expected in 15 days,” said Dr Kang.

If the food is found unfit, the restaurant will be fined, he added.

Dr Kang said the team also collected two samples each of paneer and curd. Following the raid, the team also checked a restaurant at Omaxe Mall on Tuesday. The team collected samples of paneer to check for adulteration and water served by the eatery.

Dr Kang said cooking staff at the restaurant in Satta Bazaar had admitted to using chicken powder in preparation of vegetarian dishes. “This is a violation of food-safety norms,” he said. “Samples have been taken of different food items and sent to our laboratory for testing, so that maximum penalty could be imposed on the violator.”

The official added that raids carried out on Tuesday did not reveal many violations.

‘No sticker on fruits, veggies’

The food-safety commissioner of Punjab has sent a letter to all food-safety teams working at the district level, asking them to spread awareness among traders that fruits and vegetables should not be sold with stickers pasted on them. Commissioner K S Pannu said in the letter that stickers are used on food products to provide information on traceability, grades and price as a common practice across the globe, but it was found that such stickers were used on fruits and vegetables just to make them look premium. “Traders use stickers to make their product look premium or sometimes to hide any defect on the product. ‘Tested Ok’, ‘Good Quality’ and so on are some common terms mentioned on the stickers. These do not have any significance at all,” he said. People generally remove stickers from fruits or vegetables and consume without thinking about residues of adhesives present on them, he said. “This is a violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006,” said Pannu.

Goa health minister orders crackdown on non-licenced businesses run by foreigners

Vishwajit Rane alleges that many such establishments were being used as narcotic havens

Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on non-licenced businesses run by foreign nationals in Goa, alleging that many such establishments were being used as narcotic havens along the coastline.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the minister said that clubs along the tourism-centric coastal belt in Goa would be raided by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) for inspection of food safety and hygiene standards.

Mr. Rane said that the Health Act was also in the process of being modified to give it more teeth.

He disclosed that the FDA had drawn up a list of businesses operated by foreign nationals, which would be raided and examined for food and safety standards as well as for inspection of their respective licences.

"We have already formed a list of foreigners doing business in different parts of Goa in North and South. We will ensure that these foreigners who are doing business in Goa without licences will not continue. Most of these outlets, according to the reports that we are getting, are nothing but drug paradises. We do not want people of this type in Goa and we will take steps in that direction," Mr. Rane said.

The Goa coastline has several small outlets run by foreigners, many of them in partnership with local businesses selling hand-tooled goods, cafes, restaurants, alternative health facilities, trinkets, etc.

Mr. Rane had written to the Goa Police for the use of dedicated teams of police personnel to accompany the FDA while raiding parties, fearing the possibility of harm to FDA officials.

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PIL against insecticide used to ripen fruits; HC seeks reply from FSSAI

Plea claims insecticide ethephon is hazardous to health

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Centre and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on a petition seeking directions prohibiting use of insecticide ethephon for artificial ripening of fruits.

A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao issued notices to the Ministry of Agriculture and the FSSAI and sought their stand on the plea, which has claimed that the chemical was being used despite it being banned by several States.

The petition stated that ethephon is an insecticide that also contains Calcium Carbide, which is hazardous to health.

No stay on usage

The High Court observed that the manner in which fruits were being ripened was not correct as even before season mangoes were often available in the market. It, however, did not stay the use of the chemical till the next date of hearing on January 24 next year as urged by the petitioner.

The petition by Shivashish Dwivedi has claimed that while only the use of ethylene gas is permitted for ripening fruits, farmers were allegedly using sachets of ethephon, which is an insecticide.

It has also alleged that the chemical, apart from containing Calcium Carbide, was also mildly explosive and that the FSSAI was not taking steps to prevent its use to ripen fruits.

The FSSAI, represented by advocate Mehmood Pracha, said the Agriculture Ministry has a more important role to play as it controls the use of the insecticide.

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FDA set to crack whip on food aggregators: Girish Bapat

After finding that 122 establishments did not have registration, the FDA issued notices to the food aggregator portals — Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda, and Uber Eats — which delivered food from these outlets.

The State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is mulling action against top food aggregator portals such as Swiggy, Foodpanda, Zomato and Uber Eats after it found that as many as 122 food establishments from where these aggregators delivered food to customers had violated safety norms.

FDA Minister Girish Bapat made a statement to this effect in the Legislative Assembly in response to a question by MLA Bhimrao Tapkir.

According to Bapat, the portals were served notices by the FDA after it found during a drive in Mumbai that of the 366 food establishments selling food on the aggregator websites, as many as 122 did not have the mandatory registration under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. “The FDA carried out the drive in September-October.

After finding that 122 establishments did not have registration, the FDA issued notices to the food aggregator portals — Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda, and Uber Eats — which delivered food from these outlets. These 122 establishments were shut down by officials. The FDA is following up on these cases,” Bapat told the House.

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Adulterated jaggery worth Rs 15 lakh seized

Salem: Food safety officials conducted a surprise raid in a jaggery shandy at Kandampatty here on Saturday and seized 40,000kg adulterated jaggery worth Rs 15 lakh.

The team led by district designated food safety officer S Mariappan said they had been conducting raids to keep the adulterated jaggery out of the market in view of Pongal, the three-day harvest festival that falls in January every year.

The team said they conducted raid at the shandy at Kandampatty based on a tip that jaggery manufacturers were adding chemicals such as hydros (sodium hydrogen sulphate), lime (calcium oxide), sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, super phosphate and alum to jaggery. “The jaggery manufacturers also mix sugar to enrich the sweetness of jaggery. This is harmful to people, especially diabetics,” Mariappan said.

He said the sodium hydrogen sulphate, which is used to whiten jaggery, was meant for the textile industry. “It is used as a bleaching agent in the textile industry,” he said, adding, “Jaggery manufacturers are using sodium hydrogen sulphate to bleach jaggery to make it appear white during the production. Sometimes, they also mix sugar to enrich the sweetness.”

The team has collected a few samples from the shandy and they would be sent to the government testing lab in Chennai to confirm whether they contain any chemical. “Strict action will be initiated against the jaggery manufacturers if the test sample confirms adulteration,” the district designated food safety officer said.

The officials also seized 40,000 kg jaggery from the shandy.

FDA suspends licences of 24 eateries in Pune

FDA inspectors found that the reezers used for storing raw materials were extremely dirty. At many restaurants, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items were kept together

Hotel Naivedyam near Mitra Mandal chowk in Pune, is one among the 24 eateries whoes license was suspended.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the licences of 24 restaurants in the city for failing to comply with cleanliness norms, absence of any record on the use of pesticides and storing of edible food materials in unhygienic conditions.

Poor hygiene standards in the kitchen, failure to maintain and display health check-up record of the staff and failure to present record of pest control measures undertaken in the restaurants were among the reasons for suspension of licence.

Prominent restaurants whose licences were suspended included Naivedyam at Mitra Mandal chowk, Hotel Panchami (Satara Road), The Teres Hotel at Kondhwa, Hotel Samrat on Shankarsheth Road, Hotel Kalpana (Sadashiv peth),and Gokul Pure Veg at Sukhsagar nagar.

FDA inspectors found that the reezers used for storing raw materials were extremely dirty. At many restaurants, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items were kept together.

It was also found that restaurant operators failed to keep waste bins in the kitchen as a result of which there was considerable filth in the kitchen in dirty condition. The kitchen staff was also found to be working without covering their head, food safety officer V V Rupanawar said.

“In the last two months, we carried out raids on a total of 472 restaurants in the city. We had issued notices to 449 restaurants and asked them to take corrective steps within the stipulated time. However, 24 restaurants failed to comply and hence we have taken action against them,” Rupanawar, food safety officer, Pune.

Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner (food) said, “We have ordered inspection of every restaurant in the city. Restaurants which fail to comply will have their licences suspended,” he said.

There are a total of 17,049 restaurants in Pune and 8,166 in Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial township.

Rajesh Shetty, owner of Naivedyam restaurant, Swargate, said , “We have been serving Pune for the last 42 years. There has been no case related hygiene of food or food poisoning. It is true that we have failed to respond to the notice on time but now we have submitted all the documents demanded by the FDA officers. So, there is nothing to worry about the hygiene of the restaurant.”

Sale of food items stopped for now

The licences of restaurants were suspended due to poor hygiene standards in the kitchens

THE NORMS

As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, hotels and restaurants must ensure that the kitchen conditions, as well as the cleanliness and hygiene of the chefs should be maintained as prescribed by FDA.

◼ Routine health check-up of the chef and staff is mandatory

◼ A hotel, restaurant or food stall must cook and serve food in clean utensils

◼ The kitchen serving areas must be kept clean

◼ Only potable drinking water must be used for cooking

◼ People handling food must ensure to cover their hair

◼ A record for use of pesticides must be maintained

◼ Food raw materials must be storied under hygiene conditions

472 restaurants in Pune have been raided in the last two months

449 restaurants have been served notices by the food and drug administration officials during the last two months

24 restaurants failed to submit clearance and hence FDA suspended the licences

135 restaurants have fulfilled hygiene and cleanliness norms

THE HOTELS WHOSE LICENCES WERE SUSPENDED INCLUDE

1. Gokul Veg, Sukhsagar Nagar

2. Atlantic Restaurant, Wanawadi

3. The Teres Restaurant and Banquet,Kondhawa

4. Naivedyam Restaurant, Mitra Mandal Chowk Swargate

5. Hotel Panchami, Satara Road

6. Samrat Hotel, ShankarShet Road, Swargate

7. Vighneshwara Pure Veg, Mandai

8. Hotel Kalpana, Sadashiv Peth

9. Hotel Vijayraj, Near city post

10. Hotel New Ambika, Katraj Chowk.

"We are serving food in Pune for the last 42 years and there is no case related to food hygiene or food poisoning at our hotel. It is true that,we have failed to comply with the norms inspite of being given time but now we have submitted all the documents demanded by FDA officers."

RAJESH SHETTY, owner of Naivedyam restaurant, Swargate

As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, hotels and restaurants must ensure that the kitchen conditions, as well as the cleanliness and hygiene of the chefs should be maintained as prescribed by FDA. Routine health check-ups of the chef and staff are mandatory. A hotel, restaurant or food stall must cook and serve food in clean utensils. The kitchen serving areas must be kept clean and only potable drinking water must used for cooking. Those handling food must also be sure to cover their hair.

FDA may act against food delivery apps

Following the footsteps of Food and Drug Administration, Mumbai, the Pune branch of the body is also likely to take strong action against online food delivery aggregators for delivering food from unlicenced shops, said FDA officials.

“We have asked for a list of restaurants from where the online food aggregators collects food and delivers. On Monday, we received list from two online food delivery platforms. There is a possibility of the food delivering aggregators delivering food from unauthorised restaurants. After scrutinising, we will take action in a week’s time,” said AJ Bhujbal, assistant commissioner (food) FDA, Pune.

Earlier in October, FDA had issued ‘stop work’ notices to more than 100 outlets listed on Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda and Uber Eats platforms. The action was taken under Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) 2006 as the restaurants were found selling food with required permissions.

FDA officers said that online food delivery aggregators were also responsible for the quality of food delivered. In July 2018,Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a directive asking e-commerce sites to delist unlicenced and unregistered restaurants by September 30. Following this, FDA had inspected 347 food outlets in Mumbai where food was prepared. During the investigation, it was revealed that 113 food outlets were working without a license.These outlets were serving food through the food delivery aggregators which is proving hazardous to people.

The hidden killer

The Health Department and the Food Safety wing take a look at the dietary habits of the people and zoom in on checking the trans fat content in food.

You are what you eat.

Unhealthy eating, with excessive intake of processed and fried foods, very less of fresh fruits and vegetables and unhealthy cooking habits at home have been pushing up Kerala’s epidemic of lifestyle diseases and obesity. An estimated 28.5% of men and 32.4% of women are said to be either overweight or obese (NFHS-4, 2015-16). Over 20% of the population has diabetes, while hypertension prevalence has crossed 30%.

Till now, all initiatives launched by the State for the primary prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have focused on screening, early detection and lifestyle changes. For the first time now, the Health Department is looking at the role of dietary interventions in the community as one of the NCD preventive strategies.

Two weeks ago, the Health Department and the Food Safety wing announced that they would launch a joint initiative to rein in the high amount of trans fatty acids (TFA), salt and sugar in foods commercially available in the market.

The State’s initiative has now got a fillip with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) announcing on November 30 a new mass media campaign — Heart Attack Rewind — calling for the elimination of industrially produced TFA in food supply. Heart Attack Rewind warns citizens about the health hazards of consuming trans fat.

The campaign is to support the FSSAI’s global target of eliminating trans fat in India by the year 2022, a year ahead of the global target by the World Health Organization (WHO) for complete elimination of trans fat.

“The mushrooming of eateries, from pricey restaurants to ‘thattukadas’ and the crowds milling around these indicate that eating out as a culture has been growing in the State.

Till now, we have been focussing on preventing food adulteration and in enforcing hygienic norms and standards. But the FSSAI has been increasingly focussing on food quality, nutrition, safe eating and inducing behavioural changes in eating and has launched several nationwide initiatives in this regard. It is time the State stepped in to enforce regulations regarding what constitutes healthy food when it comes to food available in the market,” says K. Anilkumar, Joint Commissioner of Food Safety

With various studies indicating that hypertriglyceridemia (elevated triglycerides in blood) is way too high among Keralites at 45% ,dietary interventions in the community that focus on reducing the consumption of fried and high fat, salt, sugar (HFSS) foods could not have come at a better time..

What are TFAs?

TFAs are naturally found in small amounts in beef, lamb, and full-fat dairy products but it is the artificial TFAs contained in food made using partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVOs) that are the culprit here.

Hydrogenation is a process typically used by the industry to improve the flavour stability and keeping qualities of oil. Partial hydrogenation reduces the amount of saturated fats in oil, which are deemed unhealthy.

By 1990s, various studies said artificial TFAs were worse than saturated fats because while both elevated the bad cholesterol (LDL), TFA also reduced the good cholesterol (HDL).

But the food industry prefers PHVOs as these are inexpensive and renders the desirable taste, texture and long shelf life to food. The typical foods which have a high TFA content are commercially fried foods like chips and baked goods like cakes, biscuits, cookies, puffs and the like.

Reheating of oil above 180 degrees also produces TFAs. Today, the major sources of industrial TFAs in people’s diets come from products which are made using PHVOs and fried food which are prepared in commercial fryers on the street where oil is repeatedly reheated.

Metabolic Syndrome

Reining in in commercially available food — both in organised as well as the unorganised sector — assumes more importance in the Kerala context because TFA has a direct connection to Metabolic Syndrome (MS).

The latest estimates (Harikrishnan. S et al., PLOS One, March 2018) put the prevalence of MS in Kerala between 24% and 33% by various international definitions. The study indicated that one in three or four persons in the State — predominantly women — have this condition. Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, abdominal obesity, abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels — that occur together, increasing one’s risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Literature says that TFA consumption causes metabolic dysfunction. “It adversely affects circulating lipid levels, triggers systemic inflammation, induces endothelial dysfunction... increases visceral adiposity, body weight, and insulin resistance. In fact, TFAs seem to have a unique cardiometabolic imprint that is linked to insulin-resistance and Setabolic Syndrome pathways”.

What regulations say

The WHO recommends that trans fat intake be limited to less than 1% of total energy intake and has called for the total elimination of TFAs in global food supply by 2023.

In 2015, the FSSAI set the maximum TFA limit in foods in the country at 5%. It has now proposed to further limit it to 2% and totally eliminate TFAs from foods by 2022. The FSSAI says that its plan is backed by vanaspathi makers, food companies and bakery associations, who have all supported the move and have pledged to make the necessary changes. However, in the market, even the current upper limit of 5% TFA is not met by many industry players, especially those in the huge network of unorganised food manufacturers, and the enforcement has been pretty lax.

Measuring TFA content

The State Food Safety authorities too admit that measuring the TFA content in food has never been a priority and that the food analysis labs have only recently acquired Gas Chromatography machines that can measure the TFA content in foods.

At a recent consultative workshop on TFA reduction called by the Health Department, it was pointed out that major players in the food industry had already reduced TFA content in their products because they were compelled to follow the labelling declarations. It was the unorganised sector that needed to be educated about the harmful health effects of TFA and the effective alternatives to TFA that they could use .

What consumers need to know about safe food

As the health hazards of trans fats in diet are expounded on, consumers get wary about what foods contain trans fat or how much is too much.

While foods like beef or butter and other dairy products are bound to contain small amount of natural trans fat, it is the industrially generated artificial trans fat that causes health problems. Common sources of artificial trans fat include foods fried in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVOs); margarine and vegetable shortening; prepared foods like pre-fried French fries and doughnuts; and baked goods such as hamburger buns, pizza dough, crackers and pies.

Products made with artificial trans fat will have ‘partially hydrogenated’ oil listed in the ingredients. The WHO recommends that the total fat intake as % of energy should not exceed 30%. The intake of saturated fat as % of energy should not exceed 10% .

For cardiac patients, this is 7% .

Saturated fat

There is evidence that trans fat is worse than saturated fat. When it comes to cooking oil, the healthier options are polyunsaturated fats (vegetable oils) and monounsaturated fats, like olive oil. Sesame oil, which contains both mono and poly unsaturated fats in equal amounts, is also considered healthy. But cooking oils with more saturated fatty acids such as coconut oil are more stable than oils with unsaturated fatty acids.

During deep frying, oil undergoes degradation due to elevated temperatures above 180 degrees which results in changes in the physico-chemical, nutritional and sensory properties of the oil and the release of polar compounds.

Polar compounds

The estimation of Total Polar Compounds (TPC) is an accepted parameter to decide whether the oil is safe for further use. The FSSAI has fixed a limit for TPCs at 25%, beyond which the vegetable oil shall not be used.