Are veg meals veg at non-vegetarian eateries?

Your favourite hotels including four and five stars, which serve non-vegetarian food, might not really be serving 100% vegetarian food to you as they claim. Often, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is cooked in common vessels in a common kitchen - which should not happen. Some restaurants even fail to maintain basic hygiene. This is what health department officials of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation found out during raids at hotels and restaurants in the city last week.

The raids were conducted to find out if there were violations of Food Safety and Standard Act 2001. According to this Act, a restaurant serving vegetarian and non-vegetarian food should have separate kitchens and vessels for both. At Upper Crust Café near Vijay Char Rasta, the officials found that vegetarian and non-vegetarian food was prepared
simultaneously in the small kitchen. Not just this, common vessels were used for both cooking as well as serving vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods.

Chief manager of Upper Crust, Arvind Johar, said, "I agree we do not have separate vessels for preparing different kinds of food. But since, we have come to know of it, we will soon have separate vessels." The kitchen had just one fire extinguisher for both the floors, which had expired long back. AMC fined the café Rs5,000 for its ignorance and carelessness and asked them to ensure that proper measures were taken soon.

The raid at Dominos at Prahladnagar, revealed that all types of pizzas were prepared in the same oven and the same vessels were used for baking of vegetarian and non-vegetarian pizzas. "Moreover, many of the cooks are not in proper uniform; they did not put on caps, gloves and aprons. Every restaurant has to maintain proper medical certificates of the staff, which was not done here," said a health department official. Shahid Sheth, the manager of Dominos, Prahladnagar, said, "There were no orders from the superiors for separate ovens.

We follow all orders that we receive, so how can it be our fault?" Dominos was fined Rs20,000.

The kitchen of McDonalds was pretty clean; however, the medical check-up licence of the staff had not been renewed. They were charged a fine of Rs3,000.

The kitchens of a large number of popular new eateries in the Prahladnagar area proved to be the biggest disappointment as far as cleanliness andsegregation of food is concerned.
One of the popular take-away cooks non vegetarian and vegetarian food in the same kitchen and in the same vessels. A health official said, "Children were employed to wash utensils, which is not allowed. The workers were not dressed in proper uniforms and the kitchen was messy."Its manager claimed ignorance of the rule and the restaurant got away with a fine of Rs10,000.

A surprise visit was also made to a recently opened specialitiy non-vegetarian restaurant. The restaurant did not have a health licence; the workers were not in uniform; and food that was to be stored at an appropriate temperature was kept on display in the open. The kitchen was unhygienic and stinking. Leftovers of non-vegetarian food were found strewn carelessly on the ground.

The drainage system was faulty and food was kept uncovered in the kitchen. There was neither any ventilation in the place nor any fire extinguisher. The stench from the kitchen had spread to the dining area. The restaurant was fined Rs20,000. Some of the kitchens where straight from the hell. The officials came across a really unclean kitchen opposite the garden. "Serving vessels were common for both types of food. The gutter and the sink were overflowing with dirty water. The restaurant had also employed children," stated AMC health officials.

Its not that the small eateries were the only violators feigning ignorance of the rules. At some of the popular star and chain hotels on the Ashram road, which claimed that they had separate kitchens for vegetarian and non vegetarian food, there were cases of only one kitchen being used. But their kitchens were certainly not as filthy as those of their counterparts in Prahladnagar. Immediately, the hotel staff ordered the cook to take the food to the respective kitchen.

When DNA asked hotel authorities if they were aware of regulations, manager stated, "Yes, we are aware that vegetarian and non-vegetarian food has to be prepared separately. But, the kitchen on the upper floor might have been closed. It was just a mistake. Otherwise, even utensils are washed separately. Copper vessels are used for non-vegetarian food and steel for vegetarian."

The restaurant did not have separate fire extinguishers for separate floors in the kitchen. The hotel was fined Rs10,000 for preparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian food in the same kitchen. Deputy health officer of west zone Dr Bhavin Solanki stated, "When a restaurant serves both kinds of food, utmost care should be taken. The hotels can at least have separate vessels for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food to maintain hygiene.

We understand that a separate kitchen is difficult for many restaurants, but a partition can be created in the existing kitchen." Dr Milan Naik, deputy health officer of new west zone which includes areas like Prahladnagar, Vastrapur, Bodakdev etc, said, "These raids and the fines are just to warn erring parties. In future we will take stricter action."

Naturally, these mangoes are healthy

Here’s some good news for Bangaloreans. This season, in an attempt to dole out all that’s natural, the Horticultural Producers Cooperative Marketing and Processing Societies (Hopcoms) has ensured that it will only sell those mangoes that have been ripened naturally. What’s more? The king of fruits is being sold at half the market price at Hopcoms.

The advantage of eating naturally ripened mangoes are aplenty. First, the method does not involve the use of any carcinogenic chemicals. According to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, chemicals like calcium carbide/ethephon and oxytocin are reportedly being used in fruit and vegetable farms for artificial ripening and for increasing the size of fruits
and vegetables. Calcium carbide, more commonly known as ‘masala,’ is a carcinogenic agent and banned under Rule 44-AA of PFA Rules, 1955. The chemical, if consumed in large quantities, damages internal organs.

Greedy vendors try to sell artificially ripened mangoes, which use calcium carbide. “The artificially ripened mangoes do not contain proteins. If the carbide level in the body exceeds, it will lead to stomach problems. It’s extremely harmful for children,” said Ayurveda expert Vasundhara Bhoopathi. But at Hopcoms, only those mangoes that have been ripened the natural way are being sold. Hopcoms managing director Shanmugappa explained that mangoes are being sold at highly affordable price in 272 Hopcoms outlets. Mangoes at
Hopcoms are sold at half the price when compared with those sold in other shops in the city. Mangoes—alphonso, badami, rasapuri, sindhoora, totapuri—are grown in Channapattana, Ramnagar and Kanakapura and sent to Hopcoms. So far, Hopcoms has sold 250 tonnes of mangoes.

Natural way of ripening
About 40 kg of mangoes are placed in a box. About 300 ml of ethanol and 5 ml of sodium are kept in plastic bowls besides these boxes. Later, these boxes are covered with tarpaulins and kept aside for three days. While most mangoes will become ripe in three days, alphonso mangoes take four days to ripe.

Frozen desserts by Kwality Walls, Vadilal, Lazza, Cream Bell grab 40% share in ice-cream market

Ahmedabad: Frozen desserts, which look and taste like ice cream but are made out of vegetable fat, have silently grabbed a 40% share in India's 1,800-crore organised ice-cream market without most consumers realizing they are not ice cream.
Led by Hindustan Unilever's Kwality Walls, Vadilal, Lazza Ice Creams and Cream Bell, frozen desserts- served in identical cups, cones and sticks as ice cream-have found a strong foothold in the country in less than two decades since Kwality Walls introduced them.
But food authority officials and original ice-cream makers such as Amul and Mother Dairy feel these companies are misleading consumers by masquerading frozen dessert as ice cream. While real ice cream is made with milk fat, frozen dessert is made with vegetable fat, which is almost 80% cheaper.
"The clandestine manner in which the labelling (of frozen desserts) is done and the way they are marketed in television commercials are a matter of concern," says H G Koshiya, commissioner of Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration.
He says the state authority plans to bring the issue to the notice of the Central Advisory Committee of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. "Let consumers know what frozen dessert is all about and then if they consume it, it is a matter of choice," Koshiya says.
ICE CRIME
Ice-cream makers such as Amul and Mother Dairy that use only dairy fat say frozen dessert makers have been misleading consumers by passing them on as ice cream.
"Consumers have been eating frozen desserts presuming them to be ice creams," says Munish Soni, head (dairy product division) at Mother Dairy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board.
Amul, the category leader in ice creams with 40% market share, says companies are misleading consumers by not mentioning upfront they are frozen desserts and pricing them as much as ice cream despite lower costs.
"Consumers are fooled into buying frozen desserts. It is a lookalike category. Most brands mention frozen desserts in small letters and push the category instead of advertising it as dessert," says R S Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns Amul brand. He says dairy fat costs 300/kg, while vegetable fat is 50-60 a kilo. "Frozen desserts play with huge margins and cheat consumers."
Consumer rights activist Pritee Shah says frozen dessert is masquerading itself as ice cream. "They must mention frozen dessert upfront in their advertisements and the products in lieu of which it amounts to cheating the consumer," says Shah, who is the chief general manager at Ahmedabad-based consumer group Consumer Education and Research Centre.

Food Safety Act cannot include alcohol, claims petition; Notice issued

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has sought response from the central government on a bunch of petitions challenging the inclusion of liquor products in the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, implemented in the state in 2011.
A bench of Justice KK Lahoti and Justice TK Kaushal issued the notice to the centre on petitions filed by liquor distributors of Bhopal and Jabalpur against the inclusion of 'alcoholic drinks' under the definition of food in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Senior Advocate Naman Nagrath appearing for the petitioners, pointed out that the power to frame law relating to alcoholic liquor is a subject matter of State List and that its inclusion in the Food Safety Act 2006 is against the applicable Schedule of the Constitution.
He added that there is already a law governing\ alcoholic products in the state - Madhya Pradesh Excise Act - and that the implementation of the Act will lead to overlapping of powers.
"It is needless to emphasis here that the State government has enacted the Madhya Pradesh Excise Act which regulates the manufacturing, production possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquor and the same is still in force in the entire State of Madhya Pradesh," the petition stated.
The liquor distributors through the petition have sought to declare the particular section of the Act, relating to 'alcoholic liquor' as ultra vies of the Constitution. The petitioners have also sought direction from the court to the central government not to compel them to obtain licenses under section 31 of the 2006 Act.
The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on 17 May 2012.
The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 came into effect from 5 August 2011. The Act was passed in Parliament in 2006 to replace the Prevention of Adulteration Act 1954.

Major upgradation of food & drug testing labs at a cost of Rs 850 cr in Maharashtra

A proposal to set up 9 food testing labs, five drug testing labs and 35 mobile labs in different parts of the state has been submitted to state government by the Food & Drug Administration,Mahrashtra. The total cost of establishing these laboratories is estimated at Rs.850 crores.

According to R R Pol, assistant drug controller, FDA, Maharashtra currently there are only two laboratories in the state, one in Mumbai and another in Aurangabad, hence it would be difficult to carry the tests or to check the samples there. He said that the proposal was sent keeping in view the consumers' safety and to ensure availability of hygienic and good quality food.

He then said that it would be great challenge for the state to set up and carry the tests for which they would have to recruit more food safety officers and that around 500 food safety officers (FSOs) would be appointed for the task of checking estimated 60,000 food and drug samples per annum.

"Our FSOs will collect the samples from across the state on a regular basis and an annual report would be sent to the FDA," said Pol, adding that the mobile labs would also help the FSOs to immediately act on the emergency cases such as food poisoning in the region that currently the country lacked.

The FSOs would then punish the illegal proprietors and also take stringent action against them as per the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, he said.

Surprisingly, in terms of registration and issue of licences to food operators, it is reported that out of the 45 lakh food operators in Maharashtra, only 1.6 lakh possessed valid licences or were registered with FDA.

According to media reports, FDA has started a special drive to ensure that all food operators with an annual turnover of above Rs 12 lakh possess a licence and those who earn less than Rs 12 lakh a year get a registration certificate as per FSSA, 2006.

The reports stated that more than 16,000 food licences in the state had been issued and only 37,000-odd licenses had been issued outside Maharashtra.

On the other hand, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) also informed through its website that the body had given accreditation to a number of food labs, in this regard.

Speaking on the same, Prabodh Halde, vice-president, Associaton of Food Scientists and Technologists of India (AFSTi), confirmed that around 32 labs have been accredited and the process was still going on.

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