FSSAI ADVT.

Labels must for GM food

Industry clueless about implementing labelling rule; FSSAI dithers over regulations

A supermarket in Moscow. Label of GM-free food is seen in the foreground (Photo: Reuters)
INDIA MAY NOT have started growing genetically modified (GM) food crops, but it does import food products that contain GM ingredients. Consumers who buy them have no way of knowing what they contain. Recently, the department of consumer affairs under the Union food and consumer affairs ministry decided to take a corrective measure to help consumers make an informed choice. It mandated that all packaged food products containing GM ingredients should carry a GM label from January 1, 2013.
The department notified 19 commodities to be covered by the new labelling rule under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules. These include baby food, biscuits, breads, edible oils, milk powder, cereals and pulses. “Every consumer has a right to know what kind of food he or she is eating, and with the controversy over health impacts of genetically modified food, labelling becomes all the more important,” says B N Dixit, director (legal metrology) with the department of consumer affairs.
Who will monitor?
But how will the new rule get implemented? The consumer affairs department deals only with packaging, and weights and measures. Dixit says it is for the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to decide what information should be displayed and in what manner. FSSAI was mandated by the Food Safety Standards Act of 2006 to regulate GM food and draft regulations for labelling food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These have not been finalised till date.
Down To Earth (DTE) asked FSSAI what specific symbol would be used for GM labelling, how it plans to monitor GM labelling and whether it has drafted rules for implementing it. FSSAI chief executive officer, S N Mohanty, had this to say in his written response: “Regulations for labelling of GM food are under preparation in FSSAI and these would be incorporated in labelling and packaging regulations of FSSAI which is under preparation.”
In 2010, FSSAI had prepared an interim regulation—Operationalising the Regulation of Genetically Modified Foods in India. It says that to manage the regulatory programme for GM foods, FSSAI would establish a new secretariat—GM Foods and Food Safety Assessment Unit (GMFSAU). It would have a multi-disciplinary team of scientists trained in safety assessment.
This unit would assess and decide whether the GM event (gene insertion) for which approval is sought can be considered as safe as non-GM food. The report of GMFSAU would then be reviewed by FSSAI’s expert committee on GM foods, which would also oversee the public consultations process before giving its recommendation (see diagram).
But this interim regulation may end up as an exercise on paper. Mohanty says the department of biotechnology has since mooted the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill for a single regulator for genetically modified food. Since BRAI has come into picture, it is yet to be made clear who will regulate GM food.
The food processing industry, meanwhile, is clueless about what needs to be done before the approaching deadline of January 1. Industry sources say they cannot act unless they get clear instructions. Dixit blames FSSAI for the situation, saying the consumer affairs department had given it more than six months to formulate regulations.
“Our department plans to hold public awareness campaigns through advertisements about GM labelling and we’ll be at work from January 1,” he says. The consumer affairs department has powers to penalise violators and seize consignments of their products.
The one-line rule notified by the consumer affairs department has baffled activists, too. The glut of imported food products is from countries that do not follow GM labelling standards, like the US and Canada. There is no way of tracing the origin of these and indigenous food products, and this is one of the biggest hurdles in implementing a GM labelling regime.
The hurdles
“How will the consumer affairs ministry hold companies and brands liable when there is no system of trace-back (of ingredients used in a product)?” asks Shivani Singh, campaigner for sustainable agriculture with non-profit Greenpeace India. The ministry needs to flesh out the notification to meet the desired objective, she points out.
She says the authorities should adopt zero-tolerance for GMOs that have not been approved for commercialisation in India. “Any traceable amount of GMOs (>0.01 per cent) should be reflected on the packages,” she says.
Kavitha Kuruganti of Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture says the new rule has addressed one aspect of the problem relating to packaged foods. “But the question is how labelling can be implemented when most of the consumption is of food sold in loose form.” She says not a single case has been registered so far against importers of products containing GM ingredients like corn, canola and soy, and there is no system for segregating such products.
She cited the example of import of 64 kg of pickles from Japan, containing GM corn and soy, by a Japanese restaurant in Delhi in 2009. A civil society organisation had complained but the case was never taken to its logical end, says Kuruganti. At present, about 40 countries have the GM labelling system, either mandatory or voluntary (see list).
A major constraint in implementing the GM labelling regime in India is shortage of laboratories equipped to test food products for GM ingredients. There are just a handful of them, like the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) at Mysore, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics at Hyderabad and the National Bureau of Plant and Genetic Resources in Delhi.
A senior official with the department of consumer affairs says upgrading lab facilities will be considered once the practice is established.
Scientists add that DNA-based methods for testing genetic modification are expensive and tedious, requiring highly skilled, trained personnel. Scientists at CFTRI-Mysore say that every company is developing its own genetically modified crop with different genes because of which there is no universal and precise method to detect GMOs. For example, in herbicide tolerant soy (GM soy), two different genes confer resistance to glyphosate and glufosinate, commonly used herbicides.
So, for genetic testing of soy, scientists need to set up different protocols and optimise and standardise procedures for identifying promoter genes that regulate the expression of neighbouring genes. Thus, testing for GMOs needs to be on case-to-case basis. Scientists also enumerate difficulties in obtaining samples of crops like GM soy seed or seed powder from which DNA is to be extracted. These are required to ascertain whether the testing procedure is correct. Effective and efficient sampling plans are needed to get the most representative sample.
The procedure for importing samples of modified and unmodified crops or food stuffs requires clearances from various ministries, beginning with application to the Institutional Biosafety Committee. Once this approval is granted, an import licence and approval is required from the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage under the agriculture ministry. After this, the developer firm has to be approached for seed and leaf powders—and the firm can easily turn down the request. A German company, FLUKA, supplies “certified reference materials” of a few GM crops, but at a high cost of Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 per gram.
Scientists add that in processed food, DNA degradation is very common, and therefore the methodology has to be modified and optimised by simulating processing operations, such as baking and autoclaving.
The absence of a sound regulatory and enforcement regime means consumers may not really have a choice over what they eat even after the new labelling rule comes into force.

Govt takes action against food manufactures for misleading ads

The government has launched prosecution against the manufactures of 19 food items for allegedly making misleading claims in the advertisements for their products, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Health A H K Choudhary said the alleged misguiding claims in the advertisements for 38 food items were monitored by Food Safety Standards and Authority of India (FSSAI).

"So far 38 food items had been identified with misleading claims. Manufacturer of these articles were served with show-cause notices and their replies were examined at FSSAI by a three-member committee. As per recommendations of the committee, prosecutions have been launched in 19 cases by Designated Officers at regional level," he said.
On a querry over sale of soft drinks in hospitals, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that his Ministry has not issued any directive in this regard.

 "Since health is a state subject, it is up to the state governments to take decision in this regard," he said.

Replying to a question on misuse of correction fluids and nail paint removers, Azad said the states have been requested to take action for enforcement of necessary measures by sensitising the industries producing these products.

On the amount spent for conducting research and development by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the Ministry said that Rs 5.21 crore had been spent for the purpose from 2009 till date.

Replying to a question on Child Mortality Rate in the country, Choudhary said India ranks 49 in the under five mortality rate as per UNICEF Progress Report 2012.

Beverage Products

The Food Safety Standards & Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, monitors labels on various food items and claims advertised for food items by different companies in print and electronic media. Such findings and complaints received from stake holders are analysed in FSSAI and show-cause notices are issued to the manufacturers. Their replies are examined at FSSAI by a 3 member Committee constituted for this purpose. As per recommendations of this Committee, actions including prosecution are initiated by Designated Officers at the regional level.

So far, 38 food items have been identified with misleading claims. Manufacturers of these articles have been served with show-cause notices and the replies received, examined at FSSAI by a 3 member Committee constituted for this purpose. As per recommendations of this Committee, prosecutions have been launched in 19 cases by Designated Officers at regional levels.

Under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Food Safety and Standards Regulations have been notified on 1st August 2011. Implementation of provisions of the Act and various Regulations made thereunder is already in progress in the country. Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011 envisage labelling and packaging rules on food items. Actions on misleading label declarations and misleading claims through advertisements through print and electronic media are taken as per Section 24 and 53 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and as per provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.

There is no proposal to change their regulations at present.

This information was given by Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Shri Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Gujarat the first state in the country to operate food laboratory vans

While most of the states are still in the process of getting vans for food testing, Gujarat has already had the distinction of being the first state in the country to start the process of testing food in mobile laboratories.

Confirming this, H G Koshia, food safety commissioner, Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA), told, “This festive season we got a very good response in testing food through these mobile vans.”

Gardens told to abide by safety norms

Guwahati/Silchar Nov. 29: The Tea Board of India today said from February 1 next year no teas can either be exported from or imported into India, without conforming to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) parameters and teas would be subjected to random testing.

The statement issued today comes in the backdrop of various quality issues that have cropped up in recent years.

The Tea Board of India has established a Tea Council for north India and one for south India, under its direction, to put in place an online mandatory mechanism to track all exports and imports of tea and ensure that quality norms are enforced.

The mechanism will be hassle free and paperless.

"We want to ensure that only tea worthy of the tagline 'Indian tea' is exported," the board said in a statement.

Speaking to The Telegraph after addressing an awareness workshop for Cachar tea planters at a leading hotel in Silchar yesterday afternoon, Anirban Basu Mazumdar, a senior research official of the Tea Board, made it clear that his organisation would not hesitate to impose penalties on the gardens which would flout food safety regulations.

He said the penalties for the non-compliant tea estates would range between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh.

The awareness workshop was organised by the board in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Apart from Basu Mazumdar, the other specialist speaker was Pratyasha Chakra-borty, a counsellor of the CII.

R. Kujur, assistant director of the Tea Board's regional office here, inaugurated the programme and set rolling discussions on safety regulations in tea manufacturing.

The tea planters in the Cachar region, comprising 104 tea plantations in the three tea-growing districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, were told by the two experts on the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, and its manifold regulations implemented consequently by the Union health and family welfare ministry to ensure that the tea is processed in such a way that it should always be free of substances that cause health hazards.

The board identified such substances as iron fillings, artificial colours, artificial flavours and dust particles.
Senior board officials said these outside materials pose health hazards and asked tea planters in the Cachar region to "scrupulously" maintain good hygienic practices and proper manufactu-ring devices in the management of food and beverage operations.

A total of 75 senior tea planters, representatives of the bought leaf factories and the tea traders took part in this first exercise in south Assam on the FSSA.

Obtain/renew licences by February 4, dealers told

Sellers and producers of eatables including hawkers selling vegetables and fruits either by head load or through push carts, owners of roadside chilli chicken stalls, tea stalls and other eateries, retail dealers in foodstuffs, owners of rice mills and oil mills and owners of hotels, restaurants, bakeries, mutton stalls, milk producers and sellers, those running canteens in schools, colleges, business establishments and factories and those cooking food in marriage halls in Vellore district have been asked to obtain/renew their licences under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 before February 4, 2013.

According to a release from the Collector of Vellore district, the registration of the names of the dealers and producers and obtaining the licence to sell/supply/produce the eatables have been made compulsory under the Act. The organisations required to obtain licences included fair price shops, Indian Made Foreign Liquor shops run by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, places where ‘annadhanam’ is performed and ‘prasadam’ distributed in temples, and hostels run by the Departments of Adi Dravidar Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare.

The Collector said that all government-owned establishments dealing in edible items have already obtained the licence. Dealing in edible items and foodstuffs without licence is considered a crime under the Act, which is punishable with a maximum of six months imprisonment or maximum fine of Rs.five lakhs.

Small, tiny and medium establishments doing business in edible items and having a turnover of up to Rs.12 lakh should fill Form ‘A’ available with the concerned Food Safety Officer, while those having a turnover of above Rs.12 lakh should fill Form ‘B’ available with the District Designated Officer, Food Safety Department, whose office is located in the 5th floor of the ‘A’ Block of the Collectorate in Sathuvachari, Vellore. The Food Safety and Standards Act requires the food establishments to keep their premises clean and hygienic. Persons afflicted with infectious diseases should not be employed in their establishments. The premises should be free from rats, insects and disease-causing germs. They should not reuse used edible oil.

Existing licence-holders should renew or modify their licences before February 4, 2013. Those who have not so far obtained their licences should apply immediately and obtain their licences before the same date. Exports and importers of food items should apply for licences before December 4, 2012.

Further particulars could be had by contacting the District Designated Officer, Food Safety Department (ph.0416-2252249, 9698938880).

M.S. Sampath Kumar, District Designated Officer told TheHindu that there are 27 block-level Food Safety Officers in Vellore district.

Call for food safety registration

Roadside eateries, petty shops selling food items, vegetable and fruit vendors are now under the food safety net as the district administration is implementing the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
According to the district Food Safety Department, petty operators have to register with the department. All producers of food items, rice mills, edible oils manufacturers and vendors, hotels, tea shops, sweet shops, bakeries, meat shops, milk vendors, marriage halls,. ration shops, annadhanam and prasadham distribution centres in temples are now required to register under the Food Safety Act.
Failure to register would attract penal action of up to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. Business houses with a turn over of up to Rs 12 lakh per year have to file form A and submit it to the food safety officer along with a challan of Rs 100 to get the registration done. Those who make over Rs 12 lakh have to submit form B and pay the appropriate fee to obtain the necessary licence, which is valid for a period of one year.
The last date to register is February 4, 2013. For further details, the district food safety officer can be contacted at 0416-2252249 and 9698938880.

Dinamalar

Misleading ads: food regulator steps in

New Delhi: They are snazzy, slick and smooth but do these ads feed us made up research and even glib outright lies every day?

Such concerns have prompted the food regulator, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India, to send notices to 38 companies for misleading advertisements.

Heinz's popular product Complan faces prosecution for claiming the product helps children grow twice as tall as they would if they had any other another drink. Boost and Horlicks from the GSK stable claim their products provide more stamina and make children smarter. Kellogg's claims on the slimming qualities of their product have also been questioned.
17:5

The government has also initiated prosecution procedure in 19 cases. Dr Shweta Khandelwal, of Public Health Foundation of India says, "This is an eye-opener for all of us. We should realise and understand that whatever claims are being put out in terms of nutrition labels that are being put out are not always what you should believe on. These companies claim that they use a lot of studies to base their studies upon. However in reality, these studies are not conducted in scientific rigueur. They lack many technical qualities. This is a common thing that people experience. They do not even know the difference between ingredients and tag lines for example, so I could say that they (consumers) are fooled every day. Another factor is the mixing of normal terms, terms that we use in everyday language with scientific terms, mislead as well."

Her view is not shared by the world of advertising. Ad gurus feel that consumers are smart enough and point out that there is already a system of checks and balances through the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) that has in the past pulled out a number of ads that have crossed the line.

Executive Director and CEO of Draftfcb + Ulka, Ambi MG Parameswaran told NDTV, "I believe in a free market economy, there is enough competitive pressure to stop you from making false claims. As consumers become more and more aware... and more knowledgeable, as a famous advertising man said - they are not morons. They know what works and what does not work. They know what is an advertising claim, and in their mind they know what is an admissible over claim that brands can do and get away with. The government should help strengthen ASCI's arms. No self-respecting firm will lie about their product. And in the past as well we have seen these hollow claims don't last. These products cater to a section of society that is well read and can see through lies. ASCI is an important body. It is set up by activists, clients and media and the government must instead focus on giving ASCI more teeth. ASCI has in the last one year put in place a tatkal system where you can actually file a complaint and get a panel to review it within a week or so. Finally no company, large or small, wants to sell fraudulent products or make intentionally false claims.

The companies in question could not be reached for comment, and a survey of their consumers showed opinions are diverse.

A young parent said, "People are far more well-read and conscious and I don't think they will simply be taken in by the tall claims made. I'm not fooled by it." Another lady said, "I bought a product after the claims I saw made in the ad. But when I bought it, it didn't live up to the promises it made."

Is one chocolate drink better than another, or can a product really sharpen your child's memory? In this world of claims and counter claims, one may still say the consumer is King, but it seems the King needs to read the fine print to know the real from the imagined so as to not get taken for a ride.

Too good to be believed

Advertisements tend to influence consumers’ choice to a large extent. All products claim to be better and more effective than the other, leaving buyers to fall for them.

In this scenario, the notice of Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) to 19 food products for making misleading and deceptive claims without any studies to substantiate them, would rather make people rethink their beliefs.

FSSAI has sent notices to health drinks Horlicks, Bournvita, Boost, cooking oil Saffola, Today Premium Tea, Maggie Multi-grainz noodles, Kelloggs Extra Muesli and others.
Metrolife talks to consumer rights activists and buyers on the issue as these are the products that make way to almost every household.

While activists feel that government consumer redressal forums are neither capable nor willing to tackle the problem, owing to their political agendas, buyers continue to remain at the receiving end.

Rajeev Yadav, a member of Supreme Court Bar Association and national president of Adhikaar — the rights path, says false claims regarding food products is a very serious matter and a concerns people of all age groups.

“People can approach consumer courts but there is no point doing that too as the decisions given are very weak. In the US, the fines imposed by consumer courts are huge. Here, district consumer forums and state consumer disputes redressal commissions give judgements which suit the government agenda,” he says

“The judgements made by these bodies are weak. That is why multinational companies easily get away despite deficiency in services and unfair trade practices. The  Consumer Protection Act has got all clauses and is good enough but is not implemented strongly,” he adds.

Abhishek Kaushik of Consumers Forum, which works for Consumer Protection Act, 1986, says their experience has been that small companies cooperate, but big and multinational companies are not scared of the law.

“The products to which FSSAI notice has been sent belong to big brands. They spend crores on ads but when it comes to giving compensation, the amount gets shrunk. Thanks to our implementation machinery. It is better if people use their mind for buying things instead of trusting the commercials.”

However, for buyers, advertisements end up becoming a major criteria which help them choose from countless products and services. Many of them are unaware of such notices being sent to the companies whose products they rely blindly.

Rita Sharma, a Delhi-based homemaker, says, “I always thought if  companies are making such claims and that too through TV commercials, there would be some truth in them. We simply go by what they promise without noticing the ingredients. Anyway we, as consumers don’t have any other option than buying these products.”

Ruma, a professional and mother of two schoolchildren, says, “I rely on health drinks which claim to help increase height and in overall development of kids. We are no experts and simply trust such claims. If what they show in ads is far from truth, why should I buy them?”

No tea trade without conforming to FSSAI parameters: Tea Board

Kolkata, (IANS) In a bid to ensure quality and protect the image of India tea globally, the Tea Board of India Thursday said no tea can be exported from or imported into the country from February if it does not conform to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) parameters.
“Effective Feb 1, 2013, no teas can either be exported from or imported into India, without conforming to FSSAI parameters and teas would be subjected to random testing,” a Tea Board of India release said here.
FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a statutory body for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and regulating manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of food so as to ensure safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
Against the backdrop of various quality issues that have cropped up in recent years, the tea board has already taken firm steps to protect and enhance the image of Indian tea globally and to ensure that only tea worthy of the tagline ‘Indian tea’ is exported.
The board has recently established Tea Councils for both north and south India to put in place an online mandatory mechanism to track all exports and imports of tea and ensure that quality norms are enforced.