Summary of cases of violation of Section 24 of FSS ACT, 2006 & FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation, 2011

Negative media publicity dampened festival business for Andheri sweetmakers

MUMBAI: The increasing concern over adulteration of milk and milk products spelled boom for chocolates and dry fruits industry leading to higher sales this Diwali leaving sweets makers bitter.

Wary of consuming traditional sweets due to negative media reports, many families and corporates in Andheri opted for chocolate or dry fruits. According to Andheri-based Abhiru Biswas, sales and technical advisor, Barry Callebaut, their company witnessed a double-digit growth over the years and the rise was particularly prominent this Diwali reaching a remarkable growth of over 20 percent.

Barry Callebaut distributes chocolates and compounds of European brands in India. According to Biswas, Indian chocolate market has grown tremendously in the last four years leading to increase in sales volume over 20 percent.

Biswas says, "Chocolates being costlier than mithais was not a deterrence for the chocolate industry as customers now looked for deliverables like a longer shelf life and better taste which mithais did not readily offer."

Jagmohan Gupta, director of MM Mithaiwala, renowned sweets maker in Mumbai said, "The media reports shifted consumer inclination from buying sweets to dry fruits and chocolates. We saw an impact of around 5 to 10 percent on Diwali sales, however, we could make up the gap from the sale of dry fruits."

Gupta added, "It is only 0.1 percent of the industry indulging in malpractices but all have suffered its impact." For luring its customers, MM Mithaiwala introduced options like Cadbury Nagina, Cadbury burfi, Cadbury pedas that coat sweets with chocolate powder.

SWEET & SOUR

Many sweets makers in Mumbai though are pointing at the media reports on adulteration for a slump in the business in the festive season.

Just four days prior to Diwali, the greater Mumbai wing of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, reported to have seized 1050 kg of khoya worth Rs 2,10,000 from the godown of M/s Khandelwal Mawawala in Kurla.

Also, Kalakand (popular sweet made out of solidified, sweetened milk) of the Krishna Sweets brand worth Rs 1,26,000 was seized.

Besides, there was continuous media reporting on adulteration throughout the year the most shocking of all being the survey conducted by the apexBSE 0.00 % food regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, stating that most of the milk distributed in India was adulterated to some extent.

Such news reporting triggered the business of the chocolate and dry fruit dealers and dampened the business prospects of sweetsmakers in the country and the dwindling Diwali sales was a case in point.

It’s ‘plum’ season again!

With the cheer and joy of Christmas celebrations only a month away, bakers in the city are gearing up to cater to the Xmas cake demand. What is Xmas without the traditional cake?, they ask.
Leading bakeries in the city have already started mixing the ingredients and prepping them for the large quantity of cakes to be baked for the season. Many are rolling out tweaked versions of the conventional plum cake offering customers a little bit of variety.
The traditional plum cakes will be up for sale as always. “The prices will be fixed around the first week of December but they will be slightly higher as compared to last year because of the rise in prices of the major ingredients such as sugar and eggs,” said Baby, manager of Best Bakers, Kaloor.
According to industrial sources, approximately 200 crore cakes were sold in Kerala during the Christmas season last year and the number is expected to rise despite the soaring prices of essential commodities this year. This will also be the first Christmas with proper implementation of the Foods Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSASAI) Act in local bakeries.
The food safety authorities are vigilant and are carrying out routine checks to ensure that  health and safety standards are being maintained in bakeries, of course without hindering the preparations.
It is a beehive of activites in the bakeries  as they have to put in extra work to keep pace with the daily demands. “Cakes are sought after for domestic use and as gifts, sometimes we get bulk order and must be ready for it. The demand is more for the plum cake and rich plum cake,” said a few bakery owners.

Hoteliers are focussing more on food safety

Eating out is no longer a rare activity you do with your family to celebrate an occasion. It has become a regular feature in our way of life. But what if eating out comes at the cost one's health? Risk of food borne Illness is very real and very serious. Hoteliers think that if their patrons fall ill after eating there, the worst thing that the patron can do is to not visit that establishment again. That's not what happens.

The new law empowers consumer to register complaints against any hotelier. The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India has introduced a reward scheme to promote this. This is a very progressive step by the law, but maybe misused by some consumers. Some consumers may threaten to report the hotelier for every small lapse. They could demand a free meal or even worse, a compensation. This will put the hotelier in a dilemma.

A hotelier's worst nightmare is a consumer who can also be a potential threat.

I have been working with many hoteliers from Andheri East especially to enable them counter these threats. Over the last one year they have started to realise that external third party consultants and trainers can help them to improve their food safety, enrich their customer experience and enhance their brand.

ADVANTAGES OF CONSULTANTS

Specialists - third party consultants are specialists in their domain. They have worked in it for many years and have tremendous amount of experience which can add a lot of value to the hoteliers. Experienced consultants have a lot of examples and real life situations which can be shared with hoteliers which makes the training and consulting very interesting for the participants and enables them to connect better.

Economical - Once a month is cheaper than having one on your payroll. Another problem of having a senior person with a lot of experience on your payroll is that you have to offer them interesting work most of the time. This is not easy as it sounds. A senior consultant loves working with multiple companies as every new company has a different set of challenges.

According to me, the following areas in which hoteliers can use external guidance.

FSSAI Compliance - It is a new law. Most hoteliers still haven't understood. A FSSAI consultant can help them to prepare the food safety management system (FSMS Plan), which is mandatory by FSSA. He can also apply for the FSSAI License.

GAP Audit - The consultant can also conduct a GAP Audit to find out what gaps exist in the system and help the Hotelier to close them quickly and effectively.

DINATHANTHI

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FDA proposal for one mobile laboratory van for every district approved

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, is happy with the state government’s decision to approve the proposal sent by FDA for 37 mobile laboratory vans for food testing in every district.

Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner, FDA, Greater Mumbai, said, “The FDA is planning to set up seven food testing laboratories across the state, including one in Nashik, and also 37 mobile laboratories. We have sent the proposal in this connection to the state government for approval and we are happy that the state government has already given the approval. We are awaiting finance from the state government.”

He added, “Lack of adequate laboratories and manpower is burdensome on the existing labs. The food samples collected by the FSOs are sent to labs of FDA and those of the state health department. According to the law, there is a provision that the labs must submit the food analysis within 14 days but the lack of manpower, infrastructure is making the work difficult.”

“FDA had chalked out a proposal of Rs 800 crore for this purpose and sent it to state for approval. We are happy that at last we got approval for mobile laboratory vans and just awaiting the funds,” informed Dehmukh.

He explained, “Mobile lab vans will be equipped with all the advanced equipments required for food testing so that the FSOs can collect the samples on the spot and can test them immediately on time.”

Your meat shop may not be following food safety norms

 

Chandigarh, November 21
In the land of butter chicken, rogan josh and fried fish, poor hygiene standards at hundreds of thousands of poultry and mutton processing/dressing units seems to be the norm. In spite of the new Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) making it mandatory for meat/mutton/ poultry business operators to register themselves and get a licence from the designated authority, only a miniscule percentage have done the needful.

Information gathered from the Health and Family Welfare Department reveals that just two meat shops in Mohali have registered themselves under the FSSA. The mandatory licence to operate has been issued to just one butchery (in Ludhiana). At least three of the higher capacity poultry manufacturing units have also been issued licences by the Central Licensing Authority. In Chandigarh, no slaughterhouse of poultry birds have either registered themselves or sought a licence under the FSSA.

Violating rules
= Just two meat shops in Mohali have registered themselves under the FSSA 

- The licence to operate has been issued to just one butchery (in Ludhiana)
- At least three of the higher capacity poultry manufacturing units have been issued licences
= In Chandigarh, no slaughterhouse of poultry birds has the mandatory licence


This means that hundreds of meat/ mutton/ poultry operators in the state have failed to register themselves or procure a licence to operate. As a result, hundreds of tonnes of meat and poultry products being consumed by gullible customers across the state is being processed without following the mandatory food hygiene standards as laid down under the FSSA.

Now, the last date for getting themselves registered has been extended to February 6 next year. But the fact remains that these food business operators have exhibited little enthusiasm to follow the new food safety norms. As per the new norms, all hotels, restaurants, hospitals, cash and carry stores are to source their meat and poultry products from a licensed vendor. Sources in the Central Licensing Authority said that even Army slaughterhouses did not have licences from the central licencing authority.

Even as poultry/meat business operators have failed to register themselves, the other food business operators have gone ahead and procured the mandatory licence. Officials in the Health and Family Welfare Department said 28,128 food operators had registered themselves across the state and 4,265 operators were awaiting registration. As many as 4,845 licences had been issued, the maximum in Ludhiana (4282) followed by Sangrur (3,938). As many as 173 applications were pending clearance, the sources said.