Better food safety can make India world's bread basket

Even as India is a major food producer, it's productivity is low. Prabodh Halde, vice president-AFST & head regulatory

Increased consumer awareness, globalisation, FDI in retail policy, health concerns of people are some of the key drivers for focussing more on food safety in India in the recent times. Bharat Lal Meena, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, Government of Karnataka, said, “Food safety is more relevant now than at any other point of time as the government of India allowed FDI in retail. Educated farmers are using integrated farming of many crops in a small area and getting increased yields." He also lamented: "Wastage in agroproducts is over 70 per cent in India and this is a national waste."

The event, organised by the CII titled 'Enhancing Food Safety in Food Retail Chains' mulled over various aspects of improving safety standards in the entire value chain of food processing. Speakers opined that it is very important to follow the best food safety norms to sustain the feeding needs of Indian masses and to stave off several epidemics like diarrohoea.

With sourcing now being globalised, countries like India can become the bread basked of the world if we pay more attention to standards. G Srinivasan, Deputy Director, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said, “Globalisation of food trade necessitated transitional standards."

Even as India is a major food producer, it's productivity is low. Prabodh Halde, vice president-AFST & head regulatory, Marico Industries Ltd, said, “As India has the second largest arable land and has diverse agro-climatic zones that can grow a variety of crops, many global players are coming to India. But, India's share in global food processing is just 2.3 per cent and lags far behind even Pakistan and Bangladesh."

Despite some challenges, food processing industry and food retail chain business in India have been growing and there is a huge investment opportunity in this segment, according to experts, the growth of food retail chains in India as well as anticipated foray of global retail giants into India will require further huge sourcing of food products and this will give a thrust to the food processing industry.

Sunil Awari, General Manager, Namdhari Seeds, said, “Investment opportunities in food processing business are huge and if proper measures are in place, regarding quality assurance, India can cater to many global retail chains."

As of now, India wastes lot of agro produce. The growth of middle class market, low cost of production; change in consumption patterns; encouragement from government agencies like NHB, APEDA, and MPEDA; and FDI policy and food parks are top five factors that are attracting investment opportunities in food processing, he added.

Trick or treat in Diwali mithai?

Sweets are tempting. But, they may be toxic too.

To save you a Diwali of sour sufferings, district administrations in Ranchi and East Singhbhum have decided on random inspection of sweet shops in the capital and the steel city from this week to check harmful chemical adulteration, a common and callous business practice to mint festive money.

Last week, state food controller T.P. Burnwal issued a strict directive, asking all seven food inspectors in charge of 24 districts to collect sweet and ingredient samples for thorough lab tests in the run-up to Diwali so that results could be studied and offenders punished before the festival of lights.

"I have asked inspectors and our food analyst to ensure tests on as many as samples possible to detect any pertinent threat to people. We are trying to conduct random samplings much ahead of Diwali so that shopkeepers think twice before indulging in sale of adulterated sweets. If tests at our Namkum lab show a sample as adulterated but not injurious to health, the shop owner may be let off with a warning.

"However, if the samples are found injurious to health, a hefty fine ranging between Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 lakh will be imposed," Burnwal told The Telegraph on Monday.
Jamshedpur and its fringes host as many as 150 big and small sweet shops, while there are 120 in and around Ranchi.

East Singhbhum additional chief medical officer (ACMO) Swarn Singh, entrusted to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (updated in 2012), said his team ' also comprising district food inspector K.P. Singh ' would get cracking from November 1.

"We have received complaints about adulterated mithai being sold at some shops in Sidhgora, Bhalubhasa and Golmuri. These areas will be our prime targets," the ACMO said, adding that during the raids they would primarily collect samples of oil, flour, khoya, paneer, spices and colours being used to prepare sweets.
The food inspector of Ranchi, who holds additional charge of three other districts, said they would focus on Lalpur-Circular Road, Main Road, Kantatoli, Bahu Bazar, Ashok Nagar and a few other areas in the capital. "It may not be possible to cover the entire city. So, we will plan judiciously. Sampling may begin as early as day after tomorrow," he said.
According to the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning Prevention in India, colours are one of the culprits.
A lead-based, carcinogenic dye called metanil yellow is used to give sweets like laddu and some other food items like biryani their inviting colour instead of the permitted tartrazine, which is more expensive. Metanil yellow is cancer-causing and is known to affect the brain and kidneys.
Similarly, muric acid and lead nitrate in paneer or chhana and formalin in milk are toxic and affect the central nervous system. On a lesser scale, Sudan III ' a contaminant often used in gulabjamun ' can cause skin irritations.

"The tests will confirm whether there are any such harmful chemicals or bacterial contamination in the sweets and other oily Diwali snacks. It will also detect the extent of animal fat mixed in cooking oil," food inspector K.P. Singh said.

Swarn Singh said he had sought police protection from deputy commissioner Himani Pande so that the sampling drive was not hampered. "We fear some shopkeepers may use their henchmen to disrupt our work. We want police to be on standby to prevent any untoward incident," he added.

The same district team had carried out raids on fast food stalls and restaurants in Parsudih, Bistupur and Mango during Durga Puja. The test results are awaited. "We expect them by the first week of November. The deputy commissioner will then be approached for action against the culprits," Singh said.

Have you ever fallen sick after feasting on Diwali sweets?

This milky way flows impure

LUDHIANA: The glass of milk that you consider to be the epitome of nutrition and good health may not be all that pure. In fact it can be harmful when mixed with adulterants like unhygienic water, detergent, urea and soda; and cause abdominal and intestinal diseases.
In Ludhiana, out of 1,900 samples collected by Dairy Development Board in 47 camps organized in municipal corporation wards, more than 50% have failed purity test and are found to have 40-60% contamination or adulteration, mostly water.
Dairy Development Board deputy director Dilbagh Singh said, We organized camps in all 47 wards of city and collected 1,900 milk samples. Out of these, around 1,000 samples failed the purity test, and were found to be adulterated with water. This water could have been taken from the tap or elsewhere and in most probability from unhygienic sources.
Experts say pure milk should not have any water, but the failed samples in Ludhiana had 40-60% water content.

Dilbagh explained that there are around 13 solid contents in pure milk 4.5% fat, 8.5% solid non fat with 3.5% protein, 4.9% lactose and .8% minerals. Around 83-87% is natural fluid. In adulterated milk, most of the times the total solid content is only around 3-4% and the fluid content goes up to 92-93%, added Dilbagh.

According to the Food Safety and Standard Act, food items are examined in three categories, including sub-standard, mixed-branding and contaminated-unsafe.

Food safety officer Ravinder Garg said, a??Adulterated milk comes under sub-standard category and if any vendor is found selling adulterated milk he is liable to face a penalty up to Rs 3 lakh. In case of mixed branding category, if a seller does not have correct information about the contents of the food item he can be penalized up to Rs 2 lakh, while in case of contaminated unsafe food items, which can be life threatening, seller, can face life imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 50 lakh, he added.

We have filed cases for prosecution of the defaulters with the competent authority and are awaiting the verdicts, said Ravinder.

Meanwhile, doctors warn consumers against using a??substandard milk and say the safer bet is to go for products that are certified for quality. There is a better chance of getting quality product if one buys packaged milk, say experts.

Dr Amit Berry, an assistant professor of medicine at DMCH, said, Dilution can take away the nutritive value of milk and can pose serious health risks. When contaminated water is added to milk it can cause gastro-intestinal problems like gastritis, vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea. The best bet is to go in for certified products. In case of kids below one year, intake of adulterated milk can cause stunted growth, warns Dr Naveen Bajaj, neonatologist at Deep Hospital. He said, a??Infants can risk stunted growth if given adulterated milk, while in elder children contaminated milk causes a host of problems like dirrahoea, fever, vomiting and sometimes typhoid.


Time to wake up

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reports that milk adulterant have hazardous health effects. The detergent in milk can cause food poisoning and other gastrointestinal complications. Its high alkaline level can also damage body tissue and destroy proteins. Other synthetic components can cause impairments, heart problems, cancer or even death. While the immediate effect of drinking milk adulterated with urea, caustic soda and formalin is gastroenteritis, the long-term effects are far more serious, reports ICMR. Doctors warn that urea, an adulterant in milk, can cause nausea, gastritis and vomiting. Urea is harmful especially for the kidneys whereas adulterant like caustic soda can be dangerous for hypertension and heart diseases patients, pine experts. Meanwhile, Formalin, which is also one of the common adulterant in milk, can cause severe liver damage. The chemical which contains sodium, can act as a slow poison for the patients suffering from hypertension and heart diseases, warn doctors.