'Even Farmers have to register under Food Safety Act'

NAGPUR: The CEO of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), S N Mohanty while replying to a question posed by a delegation of Vidarbha Taxpayers Association (VTA) said that under the new Food Safety Act even farmers are required to obtain a registration before selling their produce in the market.

The statement came after the VTA delegation asked as to why farmers and milk societies are excluded from the purview of this law. On this Mohanty replied that FSSAI was formed after the Food Safety Act came into existence and hence only the Parliament can answer this question. However he categorically said that farmers are also required to obtain registration under the act before selling their produce claimed a press release issued by VTA.

VTA claims the new Food Safety Act in force since August this year, is threatening the very existence of several operators in the eatery and other food related businesses. They termed several provisions of the law to practically impossible to comply claiming that it may also lead to Inspector Raj as tremendous powers have been vested with the officials.

Secretary of VTA Tejindersingh Renu, questioned the CEO as to why the law failed in creating a logical balance and gradation between different types of businesses to be covered under the act. The act practically covers all the kinds of businesses including those even slightly related too food or food material. ""Under the new law there will be similar norms for a dhabha (highway eatery) to a seven star hotel,"" said Renu.

Baba Ramdev’s unit given another chance to get products tested

Baba Ramdev may be famous for starting the yoga revolution, but he is also quite well known to be skilled at dodging accusations thrown at him. Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Department department has given Baba Ramdev yet another chance to prove his stand and get his Kankhal-based unit’s food samples re-tested in the central laboratory in Pune within a month. Reacting on reports about his ‘misbranded’ food products, the yoga guru on Wednesday had termed the shocking findings as ‘misleading’ and ‘politically motivated’. He accused the State and Central investigating agencies of trying to defame him and threatened to take legal actions against the Food Safety and Standards Department also.
While addressing the local media, Ramdev said “It is a conspiracy to defame our trust and also sabotage our movement against corruption and black money”.
According to senior officials of the Food Safety and Standards Department, failure to get products re-tested within the given time will instigate adjudication of the case against Baba Ramdev’s unit. The department had collected samples of six food products after conducting a surprise raid at the unit in August this year. The samples were sent to Rudrapur for testing and the laboratory findings that the food products had failed the tests were made public on Tuesday.
District food safety officer RS Rawat admitted that there is no problem with the quality of the products being manufactured by the unit. “However, many products are manufactured elsewhere and their marketing is done here. Like the Patanjali salt is procured from Kutch in Gujarat and mustard oil from Rajasthan and both are sold as Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd products,” Rawat added.
According to sources, the yoga guru could possibly be fined to the tune of Rs 90 lakh for misbranding  six products. The misbranded products include Patanjali salt, Patanjali mustard oil, Patanjali lychee honey, Patanjali gram flour and Patanjali pine-apple jam.

5 penalised for selling substandard food

Fatehabad, September 26
The additional deputy commissioner-cum-adjudicating officer, Rajiv Rattan, has imposed penalties on five persons and firms for keeping substandard food items with them for sale to the public under the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006.
Hearing complaints filed in his court by the Food Safety Officer, Fatehabad, the adjudicating officer imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Manish Kumar from Dangra road Tohana, proprietor of Gem Ice Candy.
Samples of ice candy taken from his factory in April this year were found substandard.
In another case, Om Parkash, a resident of Naya Bazaar Tohana, was ordered to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000 as the sample of ghee taken from his grocery shop was found below the prescribed standards.
Ajit Kumar, a milkman whose sample of milk taken in April this year was found substandard in laboratory tests, has been imposed a penalty of Rs 3,000 by the ADC, while Surinder Kumar from Hansi, whose barfi was found below the prescribed standards, will have to pay Rs 2,000 as penalty.
Gulshan Kumar Grover, who runs Gulshan Hotel opposite the Panchayat Bhawan in Fatehabad, has been penalised by the adjudicating officer for keeping substandard dahi for serving his customers.

750kg of adulterated tea seized

COIMBATORE: A team of officials from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India along with revenue officials and police raided a residence at Gandhipuram third street extension on Wednesday and seized 750kg of low quality tea dust and 100kgs of chemical dye which was ready to be packed and distributed in the open market. The dye according to the officials was to be mixed with the tea dust so that it would have a deep brown tinge when served for consumption. "All these chemicals are carcinogens and prolonged use could lead to serious health complications. We will send the seized samples for detailed lab analysis. The owner of the establishment is absconding at the moment," said R Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
Officials raided the spot on the basis of adulterated tea samples seized from a tea stall near Somanur early Wednesday morning. They traced the location of the tea distributors to Gandhipuram 5th street and later traced the warehouse and packing centre to a rented portion of a residential building on third street extension.
"We have also recovered the packing and blending materials inside. He has been running this business for the past couple of years," said K Chandran, Food Safety Inspector who was part of the operation.
The tea dust packed under the label of 'Three Star' tea was packed in polythene packets and the address of the manufacturers mentioned on it was found to be fake claimed officials. The house owner also claimed that he was unaware that something illegal was being carried out in the rented portion of the building. Officials have sealed the building after collecting samples for examination. The operation was carried out on the orders of district collector M Karunagaran.

FDA to crack down on sale of loose edible oil

PUNE: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) will ensure strict implementation of the ban on the sale of edible oil in loose form across the city and adjoining districts from Thursday.
Almost 45% of the city's population purchases oil in loose form, sale of which is banned as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
"The ban on selling edible oil in loose form will henceforth be enforced in letter and spirit. Our officials will start inspecting shops and firms selling edible oil in loose form," Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune, told TOI on Wednesday.
The officials will fine shops registered with the FDA Rs 25,000 if found selling oil in loose form. If shops/firms having an FDA licence are found indulging in such sale, they will have to pay a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh.
The oil should not only be sold in packets, but must also have proper labelling and information about its package date, type of oil, price, etc, according to the act.
Most shops in and around slums sell oil in loose form. "So we are going to focus on those pockets in city where this practice is rampant. The aim is to enforce the ban across the division," Kekare said.
Currently, 80% of edible oil is sold in loose form in the country, which, according to trade sources, is in the blended form. For example, refined sunflower oil or soybean oil in loose form is a blend of the respective oil and palm oil in the proportion of 65:35.
According to experts, such impurities are difficult to for a layman to identify, as the blending of palm oil does not change the physical property or taste of the product. But it changes the chemical property, which affects the consumers' health in the long run. Selling of loose edible oil is not permitted in developed countries.
What the Act says
No person shall sell or distribute or offer for sale or dispatch to any person for the purpose of sale any edible/vegetable oil
a) which does not conform to the standards of quality as provided in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and rules/regulations made under, and
b) which is not packed in a container, marked and labelled in the manner as specified in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) regulations