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மக்கள் பயன்படுத்தும் பாலில் 68 சதவீதம் கலப்படம் : மத்திய அரசு தகவல்

புதுடில்லி:பொதுமக்கள் பயன்படுத்தும் பாலில், 68 சதவீதம், கலப்படமாக இருப்பதாக, சுப்ரீம் கோர்ட்டில் மத்திய அரசு தெரிவித்து உள்ளது.

உத்தரகண்ட்டை சேர்ந்த, சுவாமி அச்சியுதானந்த் தீர்த் உள்ளிட்ட சில சமூக ஆர்வலர்கள், சுப்ரீம் கோர்ட்டில் தாக்கல் செய்திருந்த பொதுநல மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டிருந்ததாவது:பொதுமக்கள் பயன்படுத்தும் பாலில், கலப்படம் செய்யப்படுகிறது. செயற்கை முறையிலும் பால் தயாரிக்கப்படுகிறது. இதை பயன்படுத்துவோருக்கு பாதிப்பு ஏற்படும் என்பதால், இதை தடுக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டிருந்தது.இந்த மனுவுக்கு பதில் அளிக்கும்படி, மத்திய அரசுக்கு சுப்ரீம் கோர்ட் நோட்டீஸ் அனுப்பியிருந்தது.

இதையடுத்து, மத்திய அரசு தாக்கல் செய்த, பதில் மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளதாவது: இந்திய உணவு பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் தர நிர்ணய ஆணையமான, எப்.எஸ்.எஸ்.ஏ.ஐ., சார்பில், இந்தியாவில் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் பால் குறித்து ஆய்வு நடத்தப்பட்டது. இதில், பல முக்கியமான விஷயங்கள் தெரியவந்தன.இதன்படி, நகர்ப்புறங்களில், தற்போது மக்கள் பயன்படுத்தும் பாலில், 60 சதவீத பால், கலப்படமாக உள்ளது. எப்.எஸ்.எஸ்.ஏ.ஐ., நிர்ணயித்துள்ள தர விதிமுறைகளை, பூர்த்தி செய்யும் வகையில், இந்த பால் இல்லை. ஆய்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்ட சில மாதிரி பால்களில், குளுகோஸ், தண்ணீர் உள்ளிட்டவை, சேர்க்கப்படுகின்றன. பாலில் உள்ள அழுக்கை நீக்குவதற்காக, டிடெர்ஜென்ட் பவுடர்கள் சேர்க்கப்படுகின்றன.இவ்வாறு, மத்திய அரசின் மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டு உள்ளது.

Bitter pills sold as pricey food items

What if you are told that the tablet prescribed to you by the doctor  and brought from the medical store was not a medicine at all? Strange but true, and the Drugs Control Department is grappling with the phenomenon.
A number of products have flooded the market, packaged like tablets,  sold in conventional medical stores and  produced by established pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to the licences, they do not have drug licence at all. Instead, they are licensed under the category of food items under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), thereby giving the pharmaceutical companies  freedom from all price controls and the quality standards that medicines are subjected to.
Drugs Control Department officials say that it was after  the FSSA notification in 2011, that there was a boom in this trend resulting in skyrocketing drug prices.
“The Drugs Control Department  has 61 cases pending against such drugs in the Kerala High Court. In each case, immediately after we seize the medicines, the  company concerned will obtain a stay from the court and continue to sell the medicine. This is largely because of the immunity that the FSSA has provided. It is now easy for companies to label essential medicines as food supplements and dilute quality standards and price control,” said C S Satheesh Kumar, Drugs Controller and Licensing Authority.
Moreover,  since the majority of the hundreds of pharmaceutical companies produce one or two products under this category, it is also practically impossible to track each of them,”  says an Intelligence Officer from the Drugs Control Department in Ernakulam.
The Drugs Control Department is trying to bring in an amendment to its Drugs and Cosmetics Act making it mandatory for all products to obtain a certification that they are not drugs from the department if they are to get a licence under the FSSA, said the Drugs Controller and Licensing Authority.
But the All-India Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry said that if such practices are going on it was the onus of the government to take action. “There are a few companies which are resorting to this and there are a number of grey areas when one looks at this category. It is for the government to make appropriate Acts if this is done to avoid price controls on essential items or to dilute quality,”  said A M D Namboodiri, Co-Chairman, All-India Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry.

Beware-There Might Be A Lizard In Your Soft-Drink! Pepsico Pays Hefty Compensation For Dead Lizard In Mountain Dew.

Do the Dew…err…lizard!?
Lizard in food items is the stuff urban legends thrive on!
Nobody really believes them. Yet every college mess would have at least one professedly true story about finding a lizard, dead or alive, in a curry which was definitely meant for human consumption as per the mess owners (in most instances, the human consumption part is highly disputed with most of the patrons of the mess insisting otherwise most days…but that is a story for another day).
But imagine if the legend comes alive in your very cola bottle!
It is almost like staring into Bloody Mary’s eyes in your bathroom mirror. But the good thing is, you can’t really claim compensation from..err..Mary but you can definitely do so from the soft drink manufacturers.
An unsuspecting consumer from Kanpur found a dead lizard in his bottle of Mountain Dew right when he was about to break open the seal. Despite the horror, the consumer sensibly sought to return the bottle to the retailer who refused saying it was Pepsico’s mistake as manufacturer.
The matter landed in a consumer forum and mirroring every soft drink lover’s indignation, the forum ordered Pepsico India Holding Private Ltd, Jainpur, Kanpur Dehat to pay Rs 25,000 as damages to complainant Syed Sikandar Alam within 30 days, holding them guilty of supplying adulterated soft drink.

Wormy Troubles! Max Hypermarket Pays Fine For Selling Worm Infested Buns.

Complaint Against Max Hyper Market, To Pay 5K As Fine For Selling Wormy Buns

While the love Walmart, hate Walmart debate continues in the country, the other retail chains are quietly doing what they do best–being a good trouble for the consumers.
Food adulteration is a serious issue. It is not just a matter of in convenience or mental harassment, it actually has a direct bearing and impact on the health and well being of the consumers.
And yet, these issues continue unbated, in most instances brushed aside casually by the Brands in question…unless of course some consumer loses and raises a storm.
This is precisely what happened with Max Hyper Market outlet in Bangalore. One consumer’s 12 year old fell seriously ill after consuming ‘worm’ infested buns sold by the retailer. When the consumer demanded explanation, the retailer agreed with the fact that the buns had worms but was most unapologetic and refused to take them back .
A very miffed consumer dragged them to a consumer forum which held the retailer guilty of stalking stale and dangerous food item, unfit for human consumption despite retailer’s plea that consumer should have checked the item before buying. The retailer was ordered to pay a fine of Rs. 5000 to the consumer for the mental and physical agony he had to undergo.

Insufficient manpower to ensure food safety this Puja

BHUBANESWAR: Apart from shopping and pandal hopping, eating out during Durga Puja is considered a must. However, one must be careful as the food being served outside comes with its own set of risks. But to make the situation worse, the government does not have sufficient staff to do a quality check this festive season.
There are only ten food safety officers (FSOs) for the 30 districts. As each FSO has to take care of at least three districts, the food quality check would remain highly ineffective, sources believed.
Government authorities said despite the manpower crunch, they are trying their best to manage the situation by asking officers to concentrate more on areas which will be inviting the largest of crowds.
"I understand we don't have sufficient staff to undertake effective quality control during the festive rush. However, we have asked officers to concentrate more on cities such as Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where the turnout of people is huge. Special squads have been constituted to check random checks of food samples during the festive season to ensure that these adhere to minimum quality standards," said director public health Dr Alekh Sahoo said.
Sahoo said the staff crunch problem would be over by the end of this year. "We have started the process to recruit 28 more officers. Scrutiny is on. All formalities would be over by the year-end," he said.
After Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011 was notified on August 1, 2011 by the Food Safety Standardization Authority of India (FSSAI), a statutory body under the Union health ministry to handle food related issues, the government re-designated the food inspectors as FSOs. However, because of their dwindling numbers, implementation of the regulations remains almost a non-starter in the state. "As per the notification, we have time till February 2013 to comply with the various provisions," another senior government officer said.
There were 26 posts of food inspectors in state, 16 of which were lying vacant. The government named them FSOs and increased the number of posts to 38. Besides 30 FSOs for the 30 districts, 12 major towns will have one FSO each, government sources said

High mercury level found in people of Sonbhadra in UP

Lucknow: High levels of mercury have been detected in the environment and bodies of the people in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, according to a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment.

"The study, which was initiated after some residents of Sonbhadra approached the CSE in May last year, reflects signs of mercury poisoning among the people," Director General Sunita Narain told reporters while releasing the study in Lucknow.

She said people from the district had approached the CSE to study pollution and health problems in their locality.

Deputy Director General Chandra Bhushan said samples of water, soil, cereals, fish as well as blood, nails and hair of people living in the district were collected for the survey at CSE's pollution monitoring laboratory.

"The area selected for the study was Dhudi sub-division, which has the largest concentration of thermal power plants, coal mines and other polluting agencies," he said.

The samples were tested for presence of mercury and other heavy metals like arsenic, while fish were tested for methyl mercury, the most poisonous form of mercury, he said.

"During the study, mercury was found in 84 percent of the blood samples at a very high level an average level of 34.3 parts per billion. Though India does not have a standard, the safe limit as per the US Environment Protection Agency is 5.8 ppb," he said.

Bhushan said mercury was found in 58 percent samples of human hair, with the average level at 7.39 parts per million.

"According to Health Canada, 6 ppm is considered safe. The highest amount of mercury found in the study was 31.3 ppm - five times the safe limit," he said.

He said mercury has contaminated groundwater in Sonbhadra. "The highest concentration of mercury was found in the hand pump water sample of Dibulganj (0.026 ppm) which is 26 times the standard of .001 ppm set by the Bureau of Indian Standards," he said.

Gobind Ballabh Pant Sagar Reservoir was also contaminated with mercury, he said.

"The fish in the area were found to be contaminated with mercury. Fish near Dongiyanallah had 0.447 ppm of methyl mercury, which is almost twice the standard set by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India," he said.

Tackle milk adulteration problem with urgency

The bulk of milk supplied by vendors across the country could be either contaminated or adulterated

Once again, the issue of milk adulteration has reared its head.
In the course of an ongoing public interest litigation in the Supreme Court, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has given details of a survey it had done on adulteration of milk.
As suspected, it found a large number of samples it had collected from all over the country to be sub-standard or adulterated.

Mixing of water with milk to dilute it has been going on for ages, as we know.
This practice may be relatively harmless since adulteration with water does not make milk unsafe or unhealthy.
However, it reduces its nutrition value and might affect those who solely depend on milk for supply of nutrients.
If the water added is contaminated it could even be dangerous and cause water-borne diseases.
More sinister is the practice of adulteration with detergent and soda particularly during summertime to prevent coagulation of milk when it is boiled.
Bacterial growth during storage could also have harmful health effects.
So, what's the solution?
Clearly the food safety authority must get cracking to check the practice round the year, and not wake up only when there is public hue and cry.
This apart, awareness and education campaigns should be taken up right away among those in the dairy business to promote hygienic conditions for collection and transport of milk.
At the same time, instances of adulteration and contamination should not be used to argue for banning the sale of loose milk altogether and replacing it with packaged milk.
Remember, the bulk of the dairy industry in India is still unorganised and the size of an average dairy is very small.
And most of the milk produced is consumed in rural areas.
Any solution should not overlook these ground realities.