FDA minister alleges Centre favoured energy drink maker

State Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) minister Manohar Naik wants the Centre to withdraw an amendment to the regulation in the Food Safety and Standards Act, which, he alleged, was made to favour the international brand of energy drink ‘Red Bull’, allowing it to have unsafe caffeine levels.

Naik shot off a letter to Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad last Friday alleging that the Central agency was biased in its approach.
“Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India amended the regulation only for this particular product (Red Bull) and not the class of product, and allowed it to contain 320ppm (parts per million) of caffeine instead of 145ppm.” 
The minister’s letter stated, “The adverse effect of caffeine, if injected [consumed] in quantities is very well known. Accordingly, this brand was being confiscated (by FDA) and legal action taken.”
Red Bull India dismissed the minister’s claim. It said in a statement to HT that one 250ml can of Red Bull energy drink contained about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee (80 mg) – a caffeine level approved by the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India).
Naik, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party, said that under the law any energy drink also classified as non-alcoholic carbonated beverages was not allowed to have caffeine content more than the permissible 145ppm, yet Red Bull was allowed to increase its caffeine quantity to a very unsafe level.
He said the drink would affect the health of young people in particular because they tended to consume such energy drinks in large quantities.
Naik said that though the Food Safety and Standards Act would go a long way in improving the health status of the Indian population, the (Centre) administration would have to make efforts to analyse the ill-effects of new food products being aggressively marketed in the country.
He wants Azad to direct authorities to reconsider and withdraw permission.

SMC suspends FSO on ‘apprehensions of wrongdoing’

Srinagar: Authorities of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) have suspended a Food Safety Officer FSO) merely on ‘apprehensions’ of conducting a raid on a food unit. The documents, however, establish that the officer hadn’t conducted any raid in the area mentioned by the SMC but other branch of the unit located in industrial area Zainakote.
On September 3, FSO Reyaz Ahmad Chowdary conducted a raid on the manufacturing unit of Shakti Sweets at Zainakote, which falls under his jurisdiction. The unit was subsequently sealed after it was established that the unit holder was using expired raw material.
But on September 7, SMC’s Joint Commissioner (admin) in his order (No. PS/Com/SMC/JCA/1180-81) asked Reyaz to file his response as SMC had received complaints from editor of a local newspaper of “wrongdoing during his raid on Shakti Sweets, Residency Road, Srinagar.”
“A complaint has been received that the raid has not been conducted as per norms and there are allegations of wrongdoing,” reads the order.
Reyaz in his response to the Joint Commissioner mentioned that FSO had not raided the unit in Residency Road as it didn’t fall under jurisdiction but at Zainakote unit which was sealed as per proper norms. The Health Officer had endorsed Reyaz’s statement.
“The undersigned (Health Officer) visited the unit (Zainakote) and found the unit properly sealed as per Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA), 2006. The FSO has acted as per Section 38 of FSSA and case under 52 and 56 is being launched against the offender before the adjudicating officer,” the Health Officer said in his report.
Documents also show that the owner of the unit in his undertaking has agreed that his unit situated at Zainakote was raided by FSO on September 3 in his presence and subsequently closed after FSO found expired food material in the unit and found it in unhygienic condition.
But the Joint Commissioner, SMC, without considering these reports, on September 28 issued suspension order of the FSO stating that “there are apprehensions of wrongdoings.”
“Apprehensions that the unit holder has been harassed by the FSO for entering into underhand deals have developed in common public,” said the suspension order.
It also says that the statements of FSO and proprietor of the unit “are different and inconsistent of facts giving rise to the apprehensions and undue coverage material to print media.”
“Therefore, pending detailed enquiry into the matter, FSO is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect and attached with Law Officer,” the order reads.
When the Joint Commissioner (admin), Fayaz Ahmad Bala was contacted, he said the FSO wasn’t suspended for “some other issue”. “There are other issues as well on which the FSO has been suspended,” Bala told Kashmir Reader.
Bala, however, refused to reveal the “other issues”.