Mar 31, 2013
Eat nutritious food to stay healthy: judge
Instead of consuming nutritious food, which is essential for good health, people are in the habit of consuming junk food, Principal District and Sessions judge Srinivas Harishkumar has said.
Inaugurating a one-day workshop on Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 organised by the zilla panchayat, the District Health and Family Welfare Department and the district administration here on Saturday, Mr. Harishkumar said that the food that people consumed had a direct impact on their mind as well as body.
‘Ascertain quality’
“Instead of being taken in by advertisements, people should ascertain the quality of food before consuming it,” he said.
Presiding over the programme, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Mahalingappa said that people should have a clear idea about what they were consuming.
“If wealth is lost, it can be earned again, but if the health is lost, it cannot be regained,” he said.
District Surgeon Vijaykumar, Information Officer Maheshwariah and Hotel Owners’ Association secretary Arun Kumar were among those present.
Inaugurating a one-day workshop on Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 organised by the zilla panchayat, the District Health and Family Welfare Department and the district administration here on Saturday, Mr. Harishkumar said that the food that people consumed had a direct impact on their mind as well as body.
‘Ascertain quality’
“Instead of being taken in by advertisements, people should ascertain the quality of food before consuming it,” he said.
Presiding over the programme, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Mahalingappa said that people should have a clear idea about what they were consuming.
“If wealth is lost, it can be earned again, but if the health is lost, it cannot be regained,” he said.
District Surgeon Vijaykumar, Information Officer Maheshwariah and Hotel Owners’ Association secretary Arun Kumar were among those present.
Mar 30, 2013
Ripe enough, but not fit for consumption yet
In spite of being a major health hazard, Food Safety authorities admit it is a difficult proposition stopping chemically-ripened mangoes from flooding the markets of the State.
The best option for consumers is to identify such mangoes and avoid them in the larger interests of health. Apart from causing a wide range of health problems, such mangoes are also carcinogenic because they are artificially ripened through treatment with calcium carbide (CaC2). But when these mangoes reach the markets they are washed clean of all CaC2 traces. With the existing facilities of the State Food Safety Commission, no traces of CaC2 will be revealed if these mangoes are subjected to any chemical analyses.
In such a situation, seizure or action against sale of mangoes ripened by CaC2 treatment will get branded as bureaucratic harassment, said the State Food Safety Commissioner Biju Prabhakar. And for that matter, fruit vendors and traders of the State are well organised and capable of countering and crying foul if chemical analyses of any seized lot fail to prove the presence of CaC2, said Mr. Prabhakar Talking toThe Hinduhe, however, said that the Food Safety authorities will not stand mute spectators to the situation.
Drive to check quality of food
Rajahmundry: Food safety authorities are going to take up a drive to keep check on quality of various kinds of food items including edible oils, dal, milk and milk products, packaged drinking water, spices, tea powder and others in East Godavari shortly.
In a recent meeting held in Hyderabad by the food safety commissioner Poonam Malakondaiah with all the senior officials, she learnt to have instructed the officials to conduct inspection on all food items and expedite the efforts to penalise the guilty by imposing penalty in case of minor violation and also to file cases for major violations.
Accordingly, the officials are working out a plan of action to inspect edible oil refineries, packaged drinking water supply plants, milk dairies, manufacturing units of tea powder and other food items.
They are also going to keep a close watch on stockists, wholesale and retail dealers of the food items.
The officials will be touring all over the district to collect samples of food items and send them for analysis to the State Food Laboratory in Hyderabad.
The authorities at the lab are supposed to send the report within 15 days after receiving the samples to the concerned authorities.
The food safety authorities based on the nature of violations including misbranded, sub-standard, not of standard quality, unsafe and sale of prohibited items, will file such cases with the adjudicating authority like the joint collector in the district. The JC’s court is having the authority to penalise the guilty. However, in case of serious violation of the food safety and standard rules, the authorities will file case in the competent court.
Food safety designated officer B.V.S.R.K. Prasad said, “We appeal to people to alert us in case they find food items of substandard quality being sold to help us take the culprits to task.” Meanwhile, the food safety authorities are facing shortage of man power and vehicles to carry out the drive.
In a recent meeting held in Hyderabad by the food safety commissioner Poonam Malakondaiah with all the senior officials, she learnt to have instructed the officials to conduct inspection on all food items and expedite the efforts to penalise the guilty by imposing penalty in case of minor violation and also to file cases for major violations.
Accordingly, the officials are working out a plan of action to inspect edible oil refineries, packaged drinking water supply plants, milk dairies, manufacturing units of tea powder and other food items.
They are also going to keep a close watch on stockists, wholesale and retail dealers of the food items.
The officials will be touring all over the district to collect samples of food items and send them for analysis to the State Food Laboratory in Hyderabad.
The authorities at the lab are supposed to send the report within 15 days after receiving the samples to the concerned authorities.
The food safety authorities based on the nature of violations including misbranded, sub-standard, not of standard quality, unsafe and sale of prohibited items, will file such cases with the adjudicating authority like the joint collector in the district. The JC’s court is having the authority to penalise the guilty. However, in case of serious violation of the food safety and standard rules, the authorities will file case in the competent court.
Food safety designated officer B.V.S.R.K. Prasad said, “We appeal to people to alert us in case they find food items of substandard quality being sold to help us take the culprits to task.” Meanwhile, the food safety authorities are facing shortage of man power and vehicles to carry out the drive.
Adulterants seized from ‘rice mill’
They are used to mix with tea, coffee
Officials inspecting the tea and coffee adulterants seized at a unit near Kodumudi in Erode on Friday.— PHOTO: M.GOVARTHAN
Officials have detected a large unit producing the substances used for adulterating tea and coffee, near Kodumudi here, on Friday.
Acting on a tip off, a team of officials led by District Supply and Consumer Protection officer Durga Moorthi conducted a surprise check at a rice mill in Karumandampalayam village near Kodumudi.
The team found the mill being used to produce adulterants for tea and coffee.
“We found large quantities of tamarind seed powder, saw dust, soda ash, and chemical colouring agents in the mill. These materials were blended and processed at the mill to produce adulterants for tea and coffee,” Ms. Durga toldThe Hinduover phone.
Officials seized 26 bags of tea and coffee adulterants and a little over 270 bags of raw materials including tamarind seed powder, saw dust and colouring agents used for producing the adulterants.
“The owner of the unit went underground. He had taken the rice mill for rent stating that he was going to manufacture footwear polishing materials. What we found inside the mill are tea and coffee adulterants. These substances are harmful to human health,” said District Revenue Officer S. Ganesh after inspecting the unit.
Mr. Ganesh said that the district administration had not given any licence or approval for the functioning of the unit.
“It has been functioning illegally,” he said.
An investigation is on to find out those who were buying adulterants from the unit.
“The process of adulteration is not being carried out at the unit. It seems to be done in different places. So we are going to find out the customers of the unit,” Mr. Ganesh said.
Officials said they would register a complaint against the owner of the unit with Kodumudi police and initiate action under the Essential Commodities Act.
They are mixed with tea, coffee
Probe on to find out customers
போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரித்த ஆலைக்கு அதிகாரிகள் சீல்
மொடக்குறிச்சி, மார்ச் 30:
மொடக்குறிச்சி அருகே கருமாண்டாம்பாளையத்தில் போலி டீத் தூள் தயாரித்த ஆலைக்கு அதிகாரிகள் அதிரடியாக சீல் வைத்தனர்.
ஈரோடு
மாவட்டம் மொடக்குறிச்சி அடுத்த நடுப்பாளையம் வடுகனூரைச் சேர்ந்தவர்
தனவேல் (40). இவருக்கு சொந்தமான வெங்கடேஸ்வரா அரிசி ஆலை,
கருமாண்டாம்பாளையம் அருகில் உள்ளது. கடந்த 2 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு,
விருதுநகர் மாவட்டத்தைச் சேர்ந்த காமராஜ் என்பவருக்கு அரிசி ஆலையை லீசுக்கு
கொடுத்துள்ளார்.
ஆலையை காமராஜ் நடத்தி
வந்த நிலையில் சில மாதமாக பூட்டிக் கிடந்துள்ளது. இந்த நிலையில் கடந்த
ஜனவரி மாதம் முதல் அரிசி ஆலைக்கு மூட்டை மூட்டையாக லாரிகளில் லோடு
வந்திறங்குவதும் ஏற்றிச் செல்வதுமாக இருந்துள்ளது. சந்தேகம் அடைந்த
பொதுமக்கள் விசாரித்தபோது போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரிப்பதாக தகவல் அம்பலமானது. இது
குறித்து மாவட்ட நிர்வாகத்துக்கு பொதுமக்கள் தகவல் அளித்தனர்.
இதனைத்
தொடர்ந்து மாவட்ட வருவாய் அலுவலர் கணேஷ், மாவட்ட வழங்கல் அலுவலர்
துர்காதேவி, ஈரோடு தாசில்தார் சுசீலா, விஏஓ சபாபதி ஆகியோர் நேற்று மதியம்
அந்த அரிசி ஆலைக்கு சென்று திடீரென சென்றனர். கொடுமுடி இன்ஸ்பெக்டர்
சண்முகம், மலையம்பாளையம் இன்ஸ்பெக்டர் சிவகுமார் தலைமையில் போலீசாரும்
விரைந்து வந்தனர். அப்போது ஆலையில் யாருமே இல்லை.
அதிகாரிகள்
சோதனை நடத்தியதில் அங்கு போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரித்து வந்தது தெரியவந்தது. தலா
50 கிலோ எடை கொண்ட 24 போலி டீத்தூள் மூட்டைகள் விற்பனைக்கு தயாராக
இருந்தது.
மேலும் போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரிக்க
பயன்படுத்துவதற்காக வைத்திருந்த அரப்பு தூள், மரத்தூள், சலவை சோடா, வெனைசட் என்ற ரசாயன பொருள் தலா 50 கிலோ கொண்ட 256 மூட்டைகள் பதுக்கி
வைக்கப்பட்டு இருந்தன. அனைத்தையும் அதிகாரிகள் பறிமுதல் செய்தனர்.
போலி
டீத்தூள் தயாரிக்க அரிசி ஆலையின் அரவை இயந்திரம், களம் உள்ளிட்டவற்றை
பயன்படுத்தியுள்ளனர். பின்னர் போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரிக்கும் பணி நடந்த அரிசி
ஆலைக்கு அதிகாரிகள் சீல் வைத்தனர்.
விஏஓ
சபாபதி புகாரின்பேரில் மலையம்பாளையம் போலீசார் வழக்குப்பதிவு செய்து
விசாரணை மேற்கொண்டனர். அரப்புத்தூள், மரத்தூள் உள்ளிட்டவற்றை அரைத்து
வைத்திருந்த கலவை தூள், பார்க்க அசல் டீத்தூள் போலவே தோற்றமளித்தது.
ஒரு
மடங்கு தரம் குறைந்த ஒரிஜினல் டீத்தூளுடன் பல மடங்கு இந்த தூளை கலப்படம்
செய்து டீத்தூள் என மாநிலம் முழுவதும் விற்பனை செய்து வந்தது
தெரியவந்துள்ளது.
கலப்பட டீத்தூள் எந்த
இடத்தில் தயாரித்து பேக்கிங் செய்யப்படுகிறது என்பது குறித்து போலீசார்
தீவிர விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர். தலைமறைவாக இருக்கும் காமராஜை போலீசார்
தேடி வருகின்றனர்.
ஈரோடு மாவட்டம்
மொடக்குறிச்சி அருகே கருமாண்டாம்பாளையத்தில் போலி டீத்தூள் தயாரிக்கும் ஆலை
கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. மாவட்ட வருவாய் அலுவலர் கணேஷ், மாவட்ட வழங்கல்
அலுவலர் துர்காதேவி ஆகியோர் திடீர் சோதனை நடத்தி ஆலைக்கு சீல் வைத்தனர்.
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FSSAI reconstitutes nutraceutical panel; Anantha Narayana member again
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex food regulator, has reconstituted its scientific panel for functional foods, nutraceuticals, dietetic products and other similar products. This is the third reshuffle of the panel set up to provide scientific opinions to the authority. This will be the third term on the panel for D B Anantha Narayana, expert member, Indian Pharmacopeia Commission.
The panel also comprises V Prakash, former director, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), distinguished scientist, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and director, JSS Technical Institution Campus, JSS Centre for Management Studies (JSSCMS), Mysore; K Madhavan Nair, scientist, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad; Anuja Agarwal, head, dietician, All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Premendra Dhar Dwivedi, principal scientist, Food Toxicology Division, Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow; Kumar Bhatia, chief consultant, post-harvest management and marketing, ministry of agriculture and cooperation; Bikash Chandra Ghosh, principal scientist, Dairy Technology Section, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Bengaluru; Partha, Roy, assistant professor, department of biotechnology, IIT Roorkee; A G Appu Rao, CSIR scientist emeritus, University of Mysore; S Venkata Rao, former area coordinator and head, department of nutrition and food safety, CFTRI, and Sandhya Kulshreshtha, consultant, directorate general of health, New Delhi.
The panel also comprises V Prakash, former director, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), distinguished scientist, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and director, JSS Technical Institution Campus, JSS Centre for Management Studies (JSSCMS), Mysore; K Madhavan Nair, scientist, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad; Anuja Agarwal, head, dietician, All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Premendra Dhar Dwivedi, principal scientist, Food Toxicology Division, Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow; Kumar Bhatia, chief consultant, post-harvest management and marketing, ministry of agriculture and cooperation; Bikash Chandra Ghosh, principal scientist, Dairy Technology Section, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Bengaluru; Partha, Roy, assistant professor, department of biotechnology, IIT Roorkee; A G Appu Rao, CSIR scientist emeritus, University of Mysore; S Venkata Rao, former area coordinator and head, department of nutrition and food safety, CFTRI, and Sandhya Kulshreshtha, consultant, directorate general of health, New Delhi.
Mar 29, 2013
Blocked in UK, Complan & Horlicks feed on kids’ exam fears here
“Yeh history, geography badi bewafa, raat ko rato kal safaa.”
“Yeh zaalim maths ke formulae, ghar mein yaad rahe exam mein bhule.”These are two ditties from a milk supplement advertisement currently playing on television. Companies marketing products pegged to season have now latched on to the one that holds households in grip around this time of the year: the exam season. What they are counting on is the nervousness and anxiety of intended consumers to sell their wares — based on dodgy “studies.” A Horlicks commercial on these lines, ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’, which has been running on Indian television for years, incidentally had to be withdrawn in the UK after the advertising standards authority objected.After raising the bogey of history, geography and maths, an advertisement has a voice-over asking parents: “Do your children forget things they learn for their exams?” The reason, it says, “could be incomplete nutrition”. To fill the gap, the advertisement adds, what is needed is “Complan memory”. “Make your children drink it at least twice a day. It has five brain chargers that will charge your children’s brain and improve their ability to retain what they learn.”“It is such a crafty move,” says Bejon Mishra, former member of the Food Safety Authority of India and the founder of non-profit organisation Healthyyou. “You sell your product playing on your target audiences’ insecurities and anxities and instill a sense of guilt.”Heinz India, the company that owns the Complan brand, did not respond to phone calls and email sent by The Indian Express.However, Complan isn’t the only one playing on the fear of exams. With a tagline ‘Exams ka bhoot bhagao’, a Horlicks ad features “ghosts” reminding children of exams. The voice in the background directs children to drink two cups of Horlicks every day to be “exam ready”. It adds that Horlicks “builds up attention, concentration and makes children stronger by making both the brain and the body ready for exams”.In an email response to The Indian Express, Jayant Singh, Marketing Director, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), the company that owns the brand Horlicks, said: “The claims on our products are backed by extensive scientific evidence and research. Stringent tests and scientific reviews are conducted on the product prior to it being released commercially.”He further cites a study on micronutrient fortified beverage conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition that works under the Indian Council of Medical Research. According to him, the study was reviewed and approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.Misra challenges the validity of such studies. “There are several issues. One, any fortified nutrient will have benefits over non-fortified food, so to say a product is better than others is stating half truth. Secondly, such studies are not representative and are commissioned on a small, closed set of subjects. Their results, therefore, cannot be universal.”While he was a member of the Food Safety Authority of India, Misra says, he had suggested that the scientific committee of the authority be reconstituted to include people with a proper scientific background and that all studies on nutritional benefits of products be validated by it.Misra also points out that “Horlicks or Complan will not be allowed to air such ads in any of the developed countires whatever be the basis of their study”.In 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority of the UK had forced Horlicks to withdraw an ad on ‘Taller, Shaper, Stronger’ lines that claimed that a test done on 869 children had shown that the group among them that was fed Horlicks was better at all kinds of activities than the rest.Horlicks’s official defence in the case was that the ad was not meant for the UK market and was aired by mistake. GlaxoSmithKline’s Singh doesn’t deny that the same ad now runs in India. “The ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’ claim on Horlicks is restricted to the Indian subcontinent. GSK has not authorised anyone to air this advertisement outside the Indian subcontinent,” he says, arguing that claims in ads are decided by the relevance for their geography.The counterpart of the British authority in India, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), says it has not taken any action against the two brands because there has been no complaint. “There has been no complaint against the ads in question of the two brands,” says Allan Collaco, secretary general of ASCI.Misra, who is a member of the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI, says therein lies a loophole. “Consumers rarely file any complaints. Most complaints that come to the ASCI are from rivals, but when rivals are partners in crime, how could there be any complaint?”
“Yeh zaalim maths ke formulae, ghar mein yaad rahe exam mein bhule.”These are two ditties from a milk supplement advertisement currently playing on television. Companies marketing products pegged to season have now latched on to the one that holds households in grip around this time of the year: the exam season. What they are counting on is the nervousness and anxiety of intended consumers to sell their wares — based on dodgy “studies.” A Horlicks commercial on these lines, ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’, which has been running on Indian television for years, incidentally had to be withdrawn in the UK after the advertising standards authority objected.After raising the bogey of history, geography and maths, an advertisement has a voice-over asking parents: “Do your children forget things they learn for their exams?” The reason, it says, “could be incomplete nutrition”. To fill the gap, the advertisement adds, what is needed is “Complan memory”. “Make your children drink it at least twice a day. It has five brain chargers that will charge your children’s brain and improve their ability to retain what they learn.”“It is such a crafty move,” says Bejon Mishra, former member of the Food Safety Authority of India and the founder of non-profit organisation Healthyyou. “You sell your product playing on your target audiences’ insecurities and anxities and instill a sense of guilt.”Heinz India, the company that owns the Complan brand, did not respond to phone calls and email sent by The Indian Express.However, Complan isn’t the only one playing on the fear of exams. With a tagline ‘Exams ka bhoot bhagao’, a Horlicks ad features “ghosts” reminding children of exams. The voice in the background directs children to drink two cups of Horlicks every day to be “exam ready”. It adds that Horlicks “builds up attention, concentration and makes children stronger by making both the brain and the body ready for exams”.In an email response to The Indian Express, Jayant Singh, Marketing Director, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), the company that owns the brand Horlicks, said: “The claims on our products are backed by extensive scientific evidence and research. Stringent tests and scientific reviews are conducted on the product prior to it being released commercially.”He further cites a study on micronutrient fortified beverage conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition that works under the Indian Council of Medical Research. According to him, the study was reviewed and approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.Misra challenges the validity of such studies. “There are several issues. One, any fortified nutrient will have benefits over non-fortified food, so to say a product is better than others is stating half truth. Secondly, such studies are not representative and are commissioned on a small, closed set of subjects. Their results, therefore, cannot be universal.”While he was a member of the Food Safety Authority of India, Misra says, he had suggested that the scientific committee of the authority be reconstituted to include people with a proper scientific background and that all studies on nutritional benefits of products be validated by it.Misra also points out that “Horlicks or Complan will not be allowed to air such ads in any of the developed countires whatever be the basis of their study”.In 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority of the UK had forced Horlicks to withdraw an ad on ‘Taller, Shaper, Stronger’ lines that claimed that a test done on 869 children had shown that the group among them that was fed Horlicks was better at all kinds of activities than the rest.Horlicks’s official defence in the case was that the ad was not meant for the UK market and was aired by mistake. GlaxoSmithKline’s Singh doesn’t deny that the same ad now runs in India. “The ‘Taller, Stronger, Sharper’ claim on Horlicks is restricted to the Indian subcontinent. GSK has not authorised anyone to air this advertisement outside the Indian subcontinent,” he says, arguing that claims in ads are decided by the relevance for their geography.The counterpart of the British authority in India, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), says it has not taken any action against the two brands because there has been no complaint. “There has been no complaint against the ads in question of the two brands,” says Allan Collaco, secretary general of ASCI.Misra, who is a member of the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI, says therein lies a loophole. “Consumers rarely file any complaints. Most complaints that come to the ASCI are from rivals, but when rivals are partners in crime, how could there be any complaint?”
Alcohol content in wine, beer, whiskey set to be regulated in India
For the first time, India's food regulator FSSAI has finalised draft standards for all categories of alcoholic beverages like wine, beer, whiskey, rum, gin and vodka to set the maximum permissible limits of alcohol in these drinks and thus, mandate safety standards.The draft standards will come up for final discussions at the forthcoming meeting of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex food regulator, which plans to notify these by July 1.So far, there was no benchmarking in place for prescribing safe and permissible limits of alcohol in drinks.The new standards will apply to practically all branded alcoholic beverages that are permitted for sale in India as per the current licencing regulations. Sources in the FSSAI said the new draft food standards finalised for alcoholic drinks would prescribe standards for the content of alcohol, grains and water in drinks.“These standards have already been approved by the FSSAI scientific committee and are expected to be taken up at the Authority's forthcoming meeting before their final approval.After approvals, these will be put in the public domain and objections will be invited,” FSSAI officers said.The move has a potential to impact sales of the alcohol industry, a major revenue earner for states, with the total annual sales pegged at over USD 10 billion in the country.The industry is stiffly resisting any move from the food regulator to set standards on alcohol content in branded drinks.The current levels in India allow a maximum of 45.5 per cent alcohol content in distilled spirits such as whisky, rum, gin or vodka, 12 per cent for wine and 8 per cent for beer.While the FSSAI says setting of standards for food products is part of its mandate by law, alcoholic beverage manufacturers say the Authority has no such power and the state governments alone had the legislative competence to govern the manufacture and sale of these products. Citing the existing state laws governing the manufacture and sale of liquor under the Excise Act, the manufacturers of alcoholic drinks under the banner of Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies have moved the Bombay High Court challenging FSSAI's move to set alcohol content standards.Liquor manufacturers have also moved the Jabalpur High Court challenging the inclusion of alcoholic drinks in the definition of food under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which was implemented last year in August. The Act says anything consumed would be considered as food.FSSAI officers maintain they have the requisite powers under the FSSAI Act to set standards for anything consumed by humans as food or drink items and ensure that whatever is consumed is fit for human consumption. “We are simply trying to tell consumers what is fit for their consumption. These standards are directed to safeguard public health,” an FSSAI official said.Developed countries have safety standards for all alcoholic drinks and these are enforced strictly in the interest of public health. The FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a statutory body to lay down science- based food safety standards and regulating manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of food so as to ensure safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
Food licence must for operating liquor shops
Excise department makes it compulsory for liquor shop owners seeking renewal to attach a copy or issuance receipt of food licence, as alcoholic beverages are now included under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
In order to ensure that liquor shops owners in the district are registered with the Food and Drug Administration, the excise department made it mandatory for those seeking new licences or renewal to attach a copy of food licence or its issuance receipt, as alcoholic beverages are now classified under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Time for renewal: A wine shop in Camp. Representation Pic
While the officials from the excise department claimed that circulars to inform shop owners were issued in January itself, a few of the shop owners claimed ignorance about reading or hearing of any such circular.
Taken by surprise
“We were unaware that a food licence is required to run a liquor shop. When we approached the excise department for renewing our licence, its officials asked us to first get a licence from the FDA. This surprised us. The excise officials said renewal will be processed only if we attach a copy of the licence or its issuance receipt along with the application,” Mahesh Punde, owner of Arya Beer Shoppee, said. While there were few who claimed ignorance about the circular, there were others who applied for a food licence from the FDA.
Prior knowledge
Vicky Mulchandani, owner of Khushboo Wines in Karvenagar, said, “I knew about the requirement of food licence for running a liquor shop so I applied for one and got it. I have now applied for the renewal of the liquor licence with the excise department.”
Owner of Antique Wines in Pimple Saudagar said, “We recently came to know about submitting a copy of food licence or the receipt of application why applying for renewal of our liquor licence.”
A senior official from the excise department said the FDA officials had approached the department and requested them to help spread awareness about the importance of having a food licence for running a liquor shop.
“Based on their request, the department informed liquor shop owners in the district about it. We told them to get a food licence before applying for renewal of liquor licence,” the officials said.
When asked whether it was compulsory to have a food licence, a few of the excise officials said it was the FDA’s decision and they were helping it to get liquor shop registered under the FSSA Act.
Officialspeak
FDA Joint Commissioner (Food) Shashikant Kekare said, “Though alcoholic beverages are now included in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, very few liquor shop owners are aware of it and are registering with the FDA. So we approached to the excise department and requested them to spread awareness amongst shop owners. Based on our request, they circulated the information.”
Repeated calls to Superintendent of Excise Department A B Chaskar went unanswered.
Mar 28, 2013
Ice from fast food restaurants dirtier than toilet water
Washington: Ice from fast food restaurants is dirtier than toilet water, a school science project by a 12-year-old found.
Jasmine Roberts collected ice samples from five restaurants in South Florida for her award-winning project-from both self-serve machines inside the restaurant and from drive-thru windows.
She then collected toilet water samples from the same restaurants and tested all of them for bacteria at the University of South Florida.
In several cases, the ice tested positive for E. coli bacteria, which comes from human waste and has been linked to several illness outbreaks across the country, ABC News reported.
"These [bacteria] don`t belong there. It`s not cause for panic, although it is alarming because what she found is nothing new. You`re not more likely to get sick now. But she`s done us a favor by sounding the alarm," Dr. David Katz, medical contributor to `Good Morning America` said.
Both Roberts and Katz said that the ice is likely dirtier because machines aren`t cleaned and people use unwashed hands to scoop ice.
Toilet water is also surprisingly bacteria-free, because it comes from sanitized city water supplies.
Roberts got interested in the project after reading a newspaper article about bacteria in airplane water and decided to do something similar. Plus, she said, all of her friends chew on ice, and it drives her crazy.
To stay in shape, junk fast food, exercise
Weight gain is a result of chemical imbalance in the body and getting the balance right holds the key to a perfect shape.
Weight gain is a result of chemical imbalance in the body and getting the balance right holds the key to a perfect shape.
Research has found automation in job, decreased exercise due to easy transportation has dramatically reduced calorie-burning. This, coupled with consumption of high-calorie food in excess is making us obsese.
To shape up, changing lifestyle is the way. Reduce calorie intake, choose home-cooked food over processed food, cut down on hours spent watching TV or working on PC, maintain a balanced diet of nutrients , learn to manage stress, relax and meditate and last but not the least, exercising an hour daily to get your dream shape. Easy, isn’t it? Start now.
- Tanushree Amrute, std IX–C
In the absence of a healthy mind, a healthy body is useless. A person with a fit body can work long hours and complete multiple tasks in quick time.
‘Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’.
Indeed, proper rest is essential for physical fitness. A balanced diet and exercise are also equally important. We should avoid junk food because it has excess calories and anything in excess is bad. A glutton can never be healthy.
Happiness comes from the heart and mind. If we are happy we will definitely be in shape. A healthy mind and healthy body keep us happy.
- Anjali Ved, 8–A
Lady Ratanbai and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy
Health is important than wealth. A brisk walk and other exercises are a way to fitness. One should maintain a balanced diet, avoid junk food and sleep well. Many people say one must eat to live rather than live to eat.
These days, fast food joints have cropped up everywhere and the food they serve has excess calories. Excess calories are not good for the heart and health in general. One should realise it is quality, not quantity, that matters.
Going to the gym and aerobics keep muscles and joints in shape.
Yoga helps in weight management and keeps one stress-free. Keeping fit is not an option but a necessity for a happy and healthy life.
- Palak Vesmawala, 8–A
Lady Ratanbai and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy
A healthy mind in a healthy body is my motto. But it requires self-discipline to practice what we preach. An important way of keeping in shape is consuming a healthy and balanced diet and adequate amount of water. We need to look at quality, not quantity, of the food we eat. Say no to junk food as it adds unnecessary calories without nutrition.
Stress contributes to obesity as a stressed man is not able to keep track of how much he eats.
A growing child needs to concentrate on studies. Leisure time should be spent doing yoga, meditation and playing outdoor games. Going to the gym strengthens muscles and bones.
However, excessive obsession is not healthy. One must accept body type and respect it.
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”
— Spanish proverb
- Sanaya Shenoy, VIII C, 11,
Lady Ratanbai and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy
Staying in shape is all about making a good diet choice and following it. It is a simple combination of a healthy diet and good exercise. We need to pick up good habits and maintain them.
A brisk walk every day for around 45 minutes takes care of your body. It helps manage stress and reduce weight. Let us stay away from junk food. “We eat to live, not live to eat”.
Let us motivate our family and friends to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Let us take advice/guidance from a fitness instructor. Yes, it would be difficult to start with but once we see the improvement in health, there is no looking back. Let us not forget, health is wealth.
- Shruthi Prasad, VIII-B
Lady Ratanbai and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy
A tired body and a tired mind make a person uneasy, unhealthy and unfit to enjoy the good things of life. Often, we find people irritated and getting hyper and going bla bla bla.
These are symptoms of tiredness of mind and body that require ample rest.
I make sure I get adequate sleep as sleep time is when the body rejuvenates. A good sleep ensures energy to face everyday challenges of life.
- Vashi eshwar Iyer, Father Agnel
Laughing relieves stress.
Of late there have been clubs that call one and all to come out in the open and laugh out loud. This is an exercise which keeps the mind calm and in control.
I have joined a laughter club in my colony which gives me lots of happiness. It is my way of staying in shape.
- Avani, Rawal International School
A fit mind and body are what you need to be a good dancer that I am.
I have been passionate about dancing right since childhood. I used to take part in school programmes and win traditional dance competitions. Later, I leant bharatanatyam.
Without a healthy mind and body one cannot perform this art form that requires energy and mental agility.
To be fit and strong I take good food which is devoid of fat and has iron content. To keep my mind in shape I enjoy the company of nature early morns by jogging and listening to good music.
- prakriti iyer , Sri Ma Vidyalaya
We live to eat, not eat to live. Eating is the most enjoyable part in our daily routine that gives us satisfaction and delights both our stomach and mind. A good diet full of nutrients will give us the energy required to be mentally and physically fit.
Children of today are exposed to junk food early and relish it too. But this deteriorates health and makes one tired, angry and irritable.
Home-made food is the best children can have to keep fit and strong.It is not that they should refrain from hamburgers, pizzas and chips.
They should limit this food and eat it in moderation. Green vegetables , fruits give us a lot of vitamins and keep us healthy.
- Vashi Vinayak Pake, Father Agnel
Fast foods: 10 surprisingly healthy fast foods
Nowadays, fast food consumption is very common and on the rise. Everyone loves to gorge on them especially the younger generation.
Many are not aware that the fast foods like burgers, fries, fried chicken, cutlets, samosas, etc are unhealthy foodstuffs which are not only rich in saturated and trans fatty acids but also deficient in vitamins, minerals and fibres. These add not only inches to the waist line but also clog the heart vessels with unhealthy fatty deposits thus leading to various lifestyle diseases like obesity, heart disease, hypertension, etc.
Studies have shown that fast foods are linked to a 39% increased risk of severe asthma in teenagers and 27% increased risk among children aged six and seven. Knowing the popularity yet the harmful effects of these food items, these days many restaurants have opted to serve a healthier version of fast foods. The modification includes baking or grilling instead of frying and by incorporating more veggies while preparing it. Today, with the help of Ms. Sunita Pathania - Sr. Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, Healthy Living Diet Clinic, Mumbai, we list down surprisingly healthy fast foods, on which you can gorge on easily without worrying about clogging your arteries.
Healthy fast foods # 1: Whole wheat baked veg. burger
The bun or the bread used is now prepared from whole wheat flour instead of refined flour or maida. This ensures a good amount of fiber intake. Also, the patty used as a stuffing is baked instead of deep frying, which automatically cuts down the excess calories. The patty is prepared by using different veggies like carrots, french beans, green peas, potatoes, beetroot, etc.
Sometimes, a dash of green color can be obtained by adding few leaves of spinach or mint leaves in the patty. In between the bun and the patty, veggies like tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot, lettuce, etc can be used. This not only increases the healthy fiber in the food but also increases the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in it. To avoid increasing the fat content in it, limit intake of butter and cheese. Thus, a healthy nutritious veg burger is ready to be eaten.
Healthy fast foods # 2: Whole wheat baked non-veg. burger
If you can't live without non-veg food, yet want to be healthy, then this fast food is for you. Use whole wheat bread and stuff it with minced chicken along with lots of veggies to make a chicken patty. This burger will add taste to your tongue along with making it a healthy chicken burger.
Healthy fast foods # 3: Whole wheat veg. pizzas
A pizza could be made healthy by choosing or preparing the base out of whole wheat flour rather than refined flour. Also, the toppings on it can be healthier by putting vegetables like pureed spinach, along with tomatoes, capsicum, onions, corn, beetroot, olives, carrots etc. Garnishing with tons of grated cheese is not recommended. Thus, this pizza is not only low in fat but also rich in fibres, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Healthy fast foods # 4: Baked samosa
Baking samosas instead of deep frying reduces the calories, thus it makes it a healthy option. The outer covering should be prepared with whole wheat flour and the stuffing could include mixed chopped boil veggies such as peas, carrots, potatoes, etc.
Healthy fast foods # 5: Baked cutlets
Baking the cutlets instead of frying is another healthier option. This reduces the calories intake by lowering the fat consumption to a great extent without losing on fibres, vitamins and other nutrients as the stuffing includes veggies such as carrots, peas, french beans, potatoes, beetroot, etc. Mince or finely shredded chicken could be added for the non-vegetarians.
Healthy fast foods # 6: Baked potato chips The famous French fries, loaded with salt and fats can be made healthy by baking the potato chips without addition of fat and excess salt and served with tomato ketchup.
Healthy fast foods # 7: Grilled/roasted chicken
Fried chicken is a very common food item found at all the fast food joints. Healthier option would be to roast or grill the chicken after trimming all the fat from it.
Healthy fast foods # 8: Whole wheat bread sandwiches
Healthy sandwich is prepared using whole wheat bread slices, with veggies such as tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, grated carrot, beetroot, lettuce etc. Apply only a dash of butter to cut down the calories. For the egg eaters, mince boil egg with a dash of mayonnaise could be added to make a healthy egg sandwich.
Healthy fast foods # 9: Pav bhaji
The Indian bread, commonly called as pav should be prepared with whole wheat flour. Veggies such as green peas, carrots, french beans, potatoes, cauliflower etc could be used to prepare the nutritious mixed vegetable (bhaji).
Healthy fast foods # 10: Fruit smoothies
Colas provide only empty calories and zero nutrients whereas a smoothie is a blended and sometimes sweetened beverage made from fresh fruit (fruit smoothie) and in special cases can contain chocolate, or peanut butter. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or contain syrup and ice ingredients.
They have a milkshake-like consistency that is thicker than colas. They can also contain milk, yogurt or ice cream, thus providing nutrients like proteins, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants because of the ingredients added in the preparation. Some of the commonly used fruits used to prepare a smoothie are bananas, strawberry, mango, raspberry, grapes, blueberry, oranges etc. Try the traditional mango shake, which is really a summer smoothie, or a pineapple smoothie with crushed ice & sugar (without milk).
Many are not aware that the fast foods like burgers, fries, fried chicken, cutlets, samosas, etc are unhealthy foodstuffs which are not only rich in saturated and trans fatty acids but also deficient in vitamins, minerals and fibres. These add not only inches to the waist line but also clog the heart vessels with unhealthy fatty deposits thus leading to various lifestyle diseases like obesity, heart disease, hypertension, etc.
Studies have shown that fast foods are linked to a 39% increased risk of severe asthma in teenagers and 27% increased risk among children aged six and seven. Knowing the popularity yet the harmful effects of these food items, these days many restaurants have opted to serve a healthier version of fast foods. The modification includes baking or grilling instead of frying and by incorporating more veggies while preparing it. Today, with the help of Ms. Sunita Pathania - Sr. Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, Healthy Living Diet Clinic, Mumbai, we list down surprisingly healthy fast foods, on which you can gorge on easily without worrying about clogging your arteries.
Healthy fast foods # 1: Whole wheat baked veg. burger
The bun or the bread used is now prepared from whole wheat flour instead of refined flour or maida. This ensures a good amount of fiber intake. Also, the patty used as a stuffing is baked instead of deep frying, which automatically cuts down the excess calories. The patty is prepared by using different veggies like carrots, french beans, green peas, potatoes, beetroot, etc.
Sometimes, a dash of green color can be obtained by adding few leaves of spinach or mint leaves in the patty. In between the bun and the patty, veggies like tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot, lettuce, etc can be used. This not only increases the healthy fiber in the food but also increases the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in it. To avoid increasing the fat content in it, limit intake of butter and cheese. Thus, a healthy nutritious veg burger is ready to be eaten.
Healthy fast foods # 2: Whole wheat baked non-veg. burger
If you can't live without non-veg food, yet want to be healthy, then this fast food is for you. Use whole wheat bread and stuff it with minced chicken along with lots of veggies to make a chicken patty. This burger will add taste to your tongue along with making it a healthy chicken burger.
Healthy fast foods # 3: Whole wheat veg. pizzas
A pizza could be made healthy by choosing or preparing the base out of whole wheat flour rather than refined flour. Also, the toppings on it can be healthier by putting vegetables like pureed spinach, along with tomatoes, capsicum, onions, corn, beetroot, olives, carrots etc. Garnishing with tons of grated cheese is not recommended. Thus, this pizza is not only low in fat but also rich in fibres, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Healthy fast foods # 4: Baked samosa
Baking samosas instead of deep frying reduces the calories, thus it makes it a healthy option. The outer covering should be prepared with whole wheat flour and the stuffing could include mixed chopped boil veggies such as peas, carrots, potatoes, etc.
Healthy fast foods # 5: Baked cutlets
Baking the cutlets instead of frying is another healthier option. This reduces the calories intake by lowering the fat consumption to a great extent without losing on fibres, vitamins and other nutrients as the stuffing includes veggies such as carrots, peas, french beans, potatoes, beetroot, etc. Mince or finely shredded chicken could be added for the non-vegetarians.
Healthy fast foods # 6: Baked potato chips The famous French fries, loaded with salt and fats can be made healthy by baking the potato chips without addition of fat and excess salt and served with tomato ketchup.
Healthy fast foods # 7: Grilled/roasted chicken
Fried chicken is a very common food item found at all the fast food joints. Healthier option would be to roast or grill the chicken after trimming all the fat from it.
Healthy fast foods # 8: Whole wheat bread sandwiches
Healthy sandwich is prepared using whole wheat bread slices, with veggies such as tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, grated carrot, beetroot, lettuce etc. Apply only a dash of butter to cut down the calories. For the egg eaters, mince boil egg with a dash of mayonnaise could be added to make a healthy egg sandwich.
Healthy fast foods # 9: Pav bhaji
The Indian bread, commonly called as pav should be prepared with whole wheat flour. Veggies such as green peas, carrots, french beans, potatoes, cauliflower etc could be used to prepare the nutritious mixed vegetable (bhaji).
Healthy fast foods # 10: Fruit smoothies
Colas provide only empty calories and zero nutrients whereas a smoothie is a blended and sometimes sweetened beverage made from fresh fruit (fruit smoothie) and in special cases can contain chocolate, or peanut butter. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or contain syrup and ice ingredients.
They have a milkshake-like consistency that is thicker than colas. They can also contain milk, yogurt or ice cream, thus providing nutrients like proteins, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants because of the ingredients added in the preparation. Some of the commonly used fruits used to prepare a smoothie are bananas, strawberry, mango, raspberry, grapes, blueberry, oranges etc. Try the traditional mango shake, which is really a summer smoothie, or a pineapple smoothie with crushed ice & sugar (without milk).
India reBuild - bring healthy food and beverages back
Take, for example, the way the word "chocolate" and similar sounding expressions are blatantly misused by candy manufacturers - who think nothing of using vanaspati type hydro-genated oils with added brown colour and sugar, as "choco____". A simple rule that if it is not chocolate and/or cocoa as defined, then half the packaging as well as all publicity and marketing material in all media, including online, should say in bold letters that "THIS IS NOT CHOCOLATE", could go a long distance to solve the problem. But no, we are going to be provided with international brands whch will fool everybody, including using the thespian/actor with the deep baritone, into telling us that this junk food is chocolate.
Still, there is hope, there are certainly exceptions to the mess that we are in, there are good people at various levels who are delivering, and on the basis of a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Delhi High Court a few years ago, some progress appears to have been made in the recent past in at least bringing matters to the fore. Rescuing my generation from the ill effects thanks to the aspirational overtones given to junk food may not be possible, given the deep pockets and long reach that the death merchants flogging what has been described by the Indian Government as junk food have, but atleast we have hope for the future, and to start with, some sort of a description.
From an affidavit submitted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, on behalf of the Union of India, we learn that in India "any food which has poor nutritional value is considered unhealthy and may be called a junk food". The affidavit then states further that junk food is "food that is high in fat, sugar or sodium", "easy to carry, purchase and consume", "is given a very attractive appearance by adding food additives and colour to enhance flavour texture, apearance and increasing shelf life", "is high in empty calories", and "is high in fats and sugar and responsible for obesity, dental cavities, diabetes and heart disease".
Can you spot half a dozen, or more, purveyors of junk food near you? Mostly with fancy international brand names. Can't miss them lately, and almost al trying to make you and me addicts too.
Full details of the PIL and its present status can be found here:-
http://www.udayfoundationindia.org/petition-in-delhi-high-court-to-ban-junk-food-and-carbonated-drinks-in-schools/
http://delhihighcourt.nic.in/dhc_case_status_oj_list.asp?pno=564215
But what is the larger issue here? Most certainly junk food and soft drinks are not going to provide a Nation with healthy people, if present trends continue, especially as the Multi National Corporations rapidly losing ground and often being treated like pariahs in their home countries, continue to try to make addicts of more and more Indians - who they consider a market just like their opium peddling predecessors considered China to be.
Likewise, we appear to be in danger of losing ground in many parts of India, where traditional cooking skillsets which have provided healthy food at low cost for generations are rapidly giving way to an assembly line type of trader business, churning out tonnes of junk food mostly made out of refined white flour (maida), sugar, salt and colour as well as flavour and essence, served with huge helpings of coloured sugary carbonated water which also has salt in it.
Do you really think that these soft drinks are going to quench your thirst?
All this, ofcourse, backed by a huge marketing and sales machine which is run by people who have a simple single focus - sell more and more, ill effects be damned. Because otherwise, simply, they will lose their jobs.
But, and this is a question that needs to be answered not as a legal issue, but as something that is as relevant as day and night - do the people who operate and control schools, colleges and other educational institutions, as well as those who run hospitals, have to sell such junk food on or near their premises? Do sports event organisers have to provide high visibility to this garbage called junk food?
It is my submission that there needs to be some sort of self-control by people in the education, medical and sports organisations. They don't really need to wait for the law to tell them what to do. We need to see junk food and soft drinks out of and not anywhere near schools, colleges, hospitals and games fields. Voluntarily. As a social obligation as relevant as, say, civil rights. Now.
And replace them with healthy food and beverages.
After all, if we don't get junk food out of the system for our next generation, then who will?
Mar 27, 2013
Toxic spray coming your way: Government flouts its own pest control norms by illegally promoting harmful chemicals
Toxic spray coming your way: Government flouts its own pest control norms by illegally promoting harmful chemicals
The regulatory system for chemical pesticides in India is in a shambles.
Government agencies are themselves blatantly violating the national law meant to regulate the use of pesticides.
The study has found that various government agencies are promoting the use of harmful pesticides
Pesticide use in the country is
regulated by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee
(CIBRC), a wing under the agriculture ministry.
Every pesticide being used in the country has to be registered with CIBRC and the registration is pest and crop specific.
However, this system is being
openly flouted by government organisations which are recommending use of
pesticides for crops and pests not approved by CIBRC, according to a
review of pesticides being used for 11 important crops in the country –
wheat, paddy, apple, mango, potato, cauliflower, black pepper, cardamom,
tea, sugarcane and cotton.
The pesticide recommendations made
by state agriculture universities, agriculture departments and other
boards for a crop do not match those pesticides registered with CIBRC,
CSE has found.
“This is completely illegal. A
particular pesticide may be registered for a particular pest and
particular crop, and its use in any other way is violation of law”, said
Chandra Bhushan, who led the CSE study.
For instance, the Punjab
Agricultural University has recommended 40 pesticides for wheat, of
which 11 pesticides are not registered by CIBRC for wheat.
The agriculture department in Madhya Pradesh recommends 29 pesticides for wheat, of which nine are not registered.
The NHB recommends 19 pesticides for apple, of which 8 are not registered.
Similarly, just one of the seven NHB recommended pesticides for cauliflower is registered with CIBRC.
Violations are seen across states
and across all crops. “What we are seeing currently is indiscriminate
recommendations by universities and agriculture departments.
Indiscriminate use follows naturally”, said Kavitha Kuruganti of
Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture.
“As it is, we have approved a large
number of chemicals, including known carcinogens and endocrine
disruptors and pesticides banned elsewhere. There is no assessment being
done for synergistic effects of cocktails of chemicals being used”.
The CIBRC registers pesticides
while the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) sets the
Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) of pesticides for crops it has been
registered for.
Of 234 registered pesticides, FSSAI has not set MRLs for 59 pesticides.
A review of MRL status of 20
commonly used and recommended pesticides showed that these limits for 18
pesticides are not complete.
MRLs have been set for broad groups
like fruits, vegetables and food grains rather than specific crops
while the pesticides have been registered for specific crops.
“A crop is not supposed to contain
residues of a pesticide, which is not registered for it. Otherwise, it
will be considered adulterated. If pesticides recommended by state and
other bodies are different from the CIBRC registration then the crops
produced will be considered adulterated despite farmers following
recommendations,” Bhushan said.
Horsemeat tests find no bute traces
More than 5000 tests have been carried out on beef products so far. Results from the latest council tests show no traces of the veterinary drug bute have been found in any products contaminated with horsemeat.
However the results showed 10 out of 362 beef products had tested positive for the presence of horse or pig DNA.
Five had already been named and they include Asda beef cannelloni, Apetito beef lasagne and Ikea meatballs.
The results of the other five samples are being challenged and awaiting the outcome of further independent tests.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has requested that local authorities test minced beef products and ready meals sold at shops, wholesalers and catering suppliers for horse and pig DNA above a 1% threshold.
The UK-wide sampling programme was introduced after horsemeat was found in a number of processed beef products across Europe, raising questions about the complexity of the food chain.
Tests ongoing
More than 5,000 tests have been carried out so far and these latest results confirmed the presence of pork in Asda Spaghetti and Meatballs, Asda Beef Cannelloni and Apetito Beef Lasagne.
A Whitbread burger and Ikea meatballs were confirmed as containing horsemeat. Both of these products have been previously reported by the food industry’s own results.
All five products have already been withdrawn from sale.
Experts say horsemeat itself should be as safe as beef to eat, but there is concern that some horses are given a painkiller called bute (phenylbutazone) which can be dangerous to humans.
The FSA website lists a range of products from 15 companies that have been found to contain horsemeat and which have all been tested for bute. None has come back positive but several tests are still ongoing.
The Whitbread burger tested negative for bute and test results on the Ikea meatballs have not yet come back.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said in a written statement that the FSA would next publish a summary of ongoing testing for horse DNA in processed beef products in early June, and would continue to report individual products testing positive above the 1% limit as soon as they were confirmed by the food industry.
‘Deliberate substitution’
He added that although the short-term priority had been to focus on the deliberate substitution of beef with horse, “this does not mean that we have ignored the possibility of beef products containing undeclared pork or pig DNA”.
“Consumers have a right to expect that all the food they are eating is correctly described. I recognise that even trace levels of pork contamination, below the 1% threshold, are unacceptable to some faith communities,” he said.
“Where a product is labelled as halal and is found to contain traces of horse or pig DNA, the relevant local authority will investigate each case and take steps to ensure that consumers are informed.”
India: Got Delhi Belly?
Food outlets nationwide will soon get a hygiene rating.
Food outlets in India will soon get a hygiene rating. What do you think?
Some good news for those who have suffered the notorious "Delhi Belly," or experienced some heartburn while eating in India.
Soon, restaurants will have to start complying with the country's Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),which is going to be rolling out a new hygiene rating system.
"From small dhabas to five-star hotels," food outlets will get a rating of one to five, with the latter marking the highest rating, according to the Times of India.
The standards, which will be determined over the next few months, will take into account how clean the food is, storage and how the outlet disposes of garbage.
The plan will start in big cities then move to smaller towns, with the initial registration deadline set for February 2014.
GlobalPost Senior Correspondent in New Delhi, Jason Overdorf, said its unlikely the new rules will have much effect.
"With corruption endemic in every aspect of Indian life, the new rules will likely do little more than add to the long list of payoffs that owners of restaurants and roadside "dhabas" have to make every month." he said.
Mar 26, 2013
Hygiene Rating: Food Outlets
We all eat from different food and beverage joints. It can be from well-reputed restaurants or cafes or at times local street vendors. It doesn’t matter who we are, we all have been worried about the hygiene and after effects of the food we consume. Most of us usually need some sort of digestion related medicine when we load up on street food. Even after dining at the most fancy restaurants, many do get food poisoning or other stomach issues.
Although when we are hungry, we eat any kind of food that we see, but the question of how healthy and clean the food is always nags us no matter what.
But what to do, there is no provision to fix this constant worry, right?
But no more, from now on the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will rate these places for us. It has been announced that the FSSAI is working on new norms on hygiene and cleanliness criteria for food joints all over the country. Minimum standards will determine the rating of even the smallest of dhabas in your colonies.
Every single branch of chains of restaurants will be rated separately instead of rating the entire chain as one. This is to keep a count on the eating joints in every state. Even the street vendors will not be let off easy; they will be required to follow regulations and norms as well.
A month back, the FSSAI also announced that all the food outlets are to register with the state authorities. The plan is to first cover the shops at the metro stations and then the entire city and town. The deadline for registration is February, 2014. Those who fail to meet the deadline will be penalized.
The norms will be laid down not only for the hygiene of food served, but also the storage of the supplies and the delivery or transport facilities of the outlets.
The officials had certain goals in mind when they made this decision. (As told to TOI)
“Our criteria will be to come up with standards to grade food outlets. They could be graded as stars or as levels. The focus will be to see that they maintain food hygiene and safety so that consumers can make a wiser choice.
Naturally, the end cost to the consumer will go up as these outlets will need more investments into maintaining cleanliness. But the amount passed on will be very small. The main challenge is to train people in the sector to take these steps.
In places outside India, they have a holistic process of ensuring food safety. That will be our ultimate aim. We will have to come up with norms which will ensure a win-win situation for both the consumers and the eateries.”
The sources say that although these steps may be easy for popular and large food outlets, it may be a troublesome task for the ones with comparatively lesser resources. Street vendors and small shop owners may not have enough facilities to meet the standards laid down. This may lead to a hike in the prices of the food. This will be a small price to pay for a guarantee of healthy food.
Not only will these eateries be rated, they will be asked to display the certificate at all times. This will help the consumers in knowing what places they should avoid and save their health. Volunteers will be asked to train managers and vendors to meet the standards.
The FSSAI has a website that provides all the information one may need regarding food and the safety measures taken. And this is their main function (as mentioned on http://www.fssai.gov.in)
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been 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.
With the season changing, communicable, water-borne, vector-based, and other diseases will be a common occurrence. Food and beverages are one of the main carriers of such diseases if not properly maintained. Insects, adulteration, carelessness, and other problems may also occur in the food you eat outdoors.
In such conditions, we need such health certificates and hygiene alerts that may stop us from making wrong decisions. Our bodies have to suffer due to someone else’s negligence. FSSAI has taken a step to change this icky tradition.
Now our main worry should be how soon these new regulations will be implemented and save us from the gastronomical catastrophes.
Prominent food outlets sealed in Sayajigunj
VADODARA: Vadodra Municipal Corporation
(VMC) sealed two prominent food joints in the Sayajigung area of the
city. The joints were sealed as they had not obtained health licences
from the civic body.
The two restaurants include an outlet belonging to a chain having presence in the state and an outlet of a multinational giant. VMC officials said the step was taken as they had not obtained licences for the outlets under the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations (GPMC) Act.
VMC in charge assistant municipal commissioner Narendra Vasava said besides these two restaurants, an ice cream outlet and a fast food joint had been issued notices. These outlets operate from premises that were earmarked for parking. What is surprising though is that the outlets that were given notices have been operating from shops that have been used for several years now. So far, VMC had not bothered to take any action against them. The permission for construction granted to the complex where the shops are located had been cancelled way back in 1993.
Suits have subsequently been filed regarding the issue. Officials said the present action was taken after complaints were received over the state of affairs.
Former deputy mayor and ruling BJP councillor Shailesh Mehta and former opposition leader and former Congress councillor Chirag Zaveri, too, raised the issue in the general board meeting on Monday. Mehta said the issue needed to be examined as the Food Safety Act was now in place while the notices were issued under the GPMC Act.
"Why is an old provision being used when a new one is in place? And does VMC have powers to seal eateries under the new act? The issue needs to be examined," Mehta said.
The two restaurants include an outlet belonging to a chain having presence in the state and an outlet of a multinational giant. VMC officials said the step was taken as they had not obtained licences for the outlets under the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations (GPMC) Act.
VMC in charge assistant municipal commissioner Narendra Vasava said besides these two restaurants, an ice cream outlet and a fast food joint had been issued notices. These outlets operate from premises that were earmarked for parking. What is surprising though is that the outlets that were given notices have been operating from shops that have been used for several years now. So far, VMC had not bothered to take any action against them. The permission for construction granted to the complex where the shops are located had been cancelled way back in 1993.
Suits have subsequently been filed regarding the issue. Officials said the present action was taken after complaints were received over the state of affairs.
Former deputy mayor and ruling BJP councillor Shailesh Mehta and former opposition leader and former Congress councillor Chirag Zaveri, too, raised the issue in the general board meeting on Monday. Mehta said the issue needed to be examined as the Food Safety Act was now in place while the notices were issued under the GPMC Act.
"Why is an old provision being used when a new one is in place? And does VMC have powers to seal eateries under the new act? The issue needs to be examined," Mehta said.
Shun those unhygienic food sold on roadside
MYSORE: Many
roadside fruits sellers try to make hay while the sun shines, more so if
it is summer. Though fruits are ideal for consumption during summer,
eating cut-fruits sold under unhygienic conditions means inviting
trouble.
Vendors selling cut-fruits, ice-creams and fruit juices near court, schools and colleges, the DC's office and other public places is a common sight. Unmindful of the health complications that these eatables and juices bring in, many people consume them.
Speaking to TOI, health officer Dr Nagaraj D G said that they have issued circulars to all health inspectors to keep a check on the sale of unhygienic food items. "Those not following the rules can be fined. Offenders can also be booked under Food Safety Act," the officer said.
Mysore City Corporation had organized a workshop for street vendors a month ago. At the workshop, the vendors were educated about the extra care that they need to take during summer.
Physician Dr Vaibhavi P S said: "Eating uncovered and unhygienic food sold on roadsides can lead to typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis. Anyone -- be it grown-ups or children -- can be affected by feeding on cut-fruits kept in the open."
"There is a need to take extra care when it comes to children. They, being young, can't express their fatigue and dehydration. So parents have to supplement them with more fruits and fluids," Dr Vaibhavi added.
Doctors recommend people to avoid eatables sold on roadside. According to them, water and food served outside are not hygienic, and can lead to food poisoning, infections and other serious ailments. "It's not only food, but also the place and the person serving the food need to maintain hygiene," they say.
J Rajeshwari of the department of food and nutrition in Maharani's Science College said: "Intake of more fluid is recommended during summer as hydration level dips. Eating spicy and fried food and junk must be avoided. Consuming light food and greens is good for health," she added.
Vendors selling cut-fruits, ice-creams and fruit juices near court, schools and colleges, the DC's office and other public places is a common sight. Unmindful of the health complications that these eatables and juices bring in, many people consume them.
Speaking to TOI, health officer Dr Nagaraj D G said that they have issued circulars to all health inspectors to keep a check on the sale of unhygienic food items. "Those not following the rules can be fined. Offenders can also be booked under Food Safety Act," the officer said.
Mysore City Corporation had organized a workshop for street vendors a month ago. At the workshop, the vendors were educated about the extra care that they need to take during summer.
Physician Dr Vaibhavi P S said: "Eating uncovered and unhygienic food sold on roadsides can lead to typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis. Anyone -- be it grown-ups or children -- can be affected by feeding on cut-fruits kept in the open."
"There is a need to take extra care when it comes to children. They, being young, can't express their fatigue and dehydration. So parents have to supplement them with more fruits and fluids," Dr Vaibhavi added.
Doctors recommend people to avoid eatables sold on roadside. According to them, water and food served outside are not hygienic, and can lead to food poisoning, infections and other serious ailments. "It's not only food, but also the place and the person serving the food need to maintain hygiene," they say.
J Rajeshwari of the department of food and nutrition in Maharani's Science College said: "Intake of more fluid is recommended during summer as hydration level dips. Eating spicy and fried food and junk must be avoided. Consuming light food and greens is good for health," she added.
CSE responds - THE HINDU
The Centre for Science and Environment on Monday reacted
sharply to an advertisement in which, it claimed, Mumbai-based Centre
for Environment and Agrochemicals has made several scurrilous and
baseless insinuations and statements against it and its director-general
Sunita Narain.
Responding to the latest “attack”,
the CSE noted that it has “remained steadfast in its opposition to
rampant and unregulated use of deadly pesticides in the country, which
has earned it the ire of the industry and its allied bodies. We have
been regularly targeted, threatened and attacked by the pesticide lobby.
Accusations of a personal and vile nature have been hurled at me, but
we have not retreated”.
As for the allegations in the
advertisements, it said: “Responding to an advertisement like this is
way beneath our dignity, but our campaign against pesticides is far too
important for us – which is why we would like to put our point of view
across.”
“The pesticide manufacturing industry and
its front organisations are back at their old game – of trying to
smother anyone who would have the temerity to say anything against
pesticides,’’ said the CSE.
It also charged that “the
Centre for Environment and Agrochemicals, which claims to be a
non-profit organisation working for farmers, has known links to the
pesticide industry. Its chairperson is Rajju Shroff, who heads United
Phosphorus Ltd, the largest manufacturer of pesticides in India. Shroff
and the organisations he is associated with have been at the forefront
to muzzle independent research and science in the country”.
On
the timing of the allegations levelled against it, the CSE said: “It is
interesting to note here that CSE has recently written to the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Union Ministry of
Agriculture bringing to their notice the fact that despite the
recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Pesticides
(which was set up after a CSE study exposed the presence of pesticide
residues in soft drinks), procedures on pesticides continue to be
compromised on health.’’
In a review carried out by
it, the CSE said it was also revealed that the JPC’s recommendations on
laws and procedures are being completely ignored. Therefore, Ms. Narain
said, the advertisement was “another tool in the method adapted by this
industry to deal with dissent – file cases in courts, do whatever it
requires to muzzle independent science”.
Stating that
the advertisement addresses sitting judges of the High Court and uses
their photographs to draw attention, the CSE said it also “makes wild
allegations – though not new or novel. The same organisation that has
published this advertisement has been virulent in its attack against CSE
and has used every means possible to defame and hurt our reputation. We
believe that this is another variation of what is called ‘SLAPP’ in the
US – ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’.’’
“The
matter in the High Court is clearly important, and has high stakes for
the industry. This is why it is resorting to such tricks. But clearly
the issue also has high stakes for all of us – our health is on the line
here,” it contended.
FDA doesn’t know its limits
Officials confused over jurisdiction and where they can take action, while gutkha sellers make merry
The newly-implemented Food Safety and Standards Regulation, 2011 has thrown Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials into confusion when it comes to their jurisdiction and where they can take action. According to new rules, airports, seaports, defence areas and railways fall under the Central licensing body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSA). FDA officials are uncertain as to whether they can issue or cancel food vendors licences in these areas and also, if they can take action on the sale of banned products such as gutkha. Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, said, “We are not supposed to take any action or issue licenses to any vendor in the cantonments, railways and airports. Taking advantage of the situation, most of the gutkha sellers in the city have their godowns in these areas. Recently, we have conducted raids in Camp which comes under the Pune Cantonment Board and seized gutkha worth lakhs of rupees. If they challenge us in court, we are in trouble.” Ordinarily, Cantonment areas and railways have their own officials to conduct checks and crack down on any illicit activities, but in recent times, these posts have n’t been filled. S S Desai, FDA assistant commissioner (food), said, “Earlier, cantonment areas had respective designated assistant commissioners (food) but that seems to have stopped. We used to get a slip signed from them before taking any action against any vendor or restaurant but now that is not possible. We have sent a number of requisitions to the FSSA, but to no avail. ” Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB) health superintendent Vilas Khandode said, “We don’t have food inspectors to conduct raids neither do we have laboratories to test the food samples. The board has a population of 70,000 and it is not logical to have a specialised lab and inspectors for such a small population. When FDA can collect money for licences, why can’t they check the food quality?” Arti Mahajan, vice president of Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) said that “It does not matter to us whether FDA operates in our area or not as we have our secondary food officers and health superintendent in place. Our food inspectors do conduct checks at food stalls and not only raw materials but also the end product.” On being questioned about the open sale of gutkha, she said, “In case it is being sold in the PCB area, strict action will be taken.” On the other hand, Y K Singh, railway spokesperson said, “We have the Railway Police Force and the commercial department has the authority to maintain the quality of food and take action if any banned product is being sold inside the railways premises, but even the FDA can take action or inform us in case they receive any information.” State FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade was optimistic,saying, “There are issues regarding the jurisdiction, but we have written to the central body and things will be sorted soon. Till then, our officers will take action against the guilty ."  ►►► According
to new regulations, we can’t take action or issue licences to vendors
in any of the cantonments, railways and airports - Shashikant Kekare, Joint commissioner(food), FDA |
Soon, all food outlets across the country to get hygiene rating
All
food outlets, from small dhabas to five-star hotels , will be graded
according to their level of food hygiene and cleanliness.
Soon, outlets such as Irfan's may have to start complying with more stringent standards, with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) working on new norms on hygiene and cleanliness at food outlets across the country.
All food outlets, from small dhabas to five-star hotels , will be graded according to their level of food hygiene and cleanliness.
This will mean that a dhaba in your neighbourhood could be rated as level-1 , if cooking practices measure up to the minimum standards laid down by the authority, while a fine dining restaurant may end up getting the top billing. It is also possible for restaurants belonging to the same chain to get different ratings.
FSSAI has also mandated all food outlets to register with their respective state authorities to keep a count of the number of eateries in every state. Besides food joints, the authority also plans to lay down basic norms of compliance for street vendors and hawkers, in collaboration with the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry, to maintain food hygiene.
While the standards will be finalized over the next few months, the deadline for mandatory registration expires in February 2014. Failure to get a licence or get registration done will lead to a penalty. The plan is to initially focus on metros and gradually move to the smaller cities and towns.
"Our criteria will be to come up with standards to grade food outlets. They could be graded as stars or as levels. The focus will be to see that they maintain food hygiene and safety so that consumers can make a wiser choice," a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Apart from cleanliness at the place of cooking, the authority will also lay down guidelines for clean storage and transport facilities.
To ensure that consumers are aware of the hygiene practices being followed, outlets will also have to get, and display , a certificate issued by the authority displayed. Even as the large players have come out in support of the new norms, it is the small food businesses with limited resources that will pose trouble to ensure implementation, experts said.
"Naturally, the end cost to the consumer will go up as these outlets will need more investments into maintaining cleanliness. But the amount passed on will be very small. The main challenge is to train people in the sector to take these steps," an official said.
The authority, which is planning the standards in collaboration with the health and consumer affairs ministries , along with several other government and private institutions , plans to invite volunteers for training food outlet managers and street vendors.
"In places outside India, they have a holistic process of ensuring food safety. That will be our ultimate aim. We will have to come up with norms which will ensure a win-win situation for both the consumers and the eateries," the official said.
Australia transfers technology for genetically modified bananas to India
Recipe for slaying anaemia
Australian scientists have genetically modified bananas to stack them with extra vitamins and iron. They are now sharing this technology with Indian scientists. What makes this development really significant is that India is the world’s largest producer of bananas by a mammoth margin and consumes most of these domestically. So it is elementary that if Indian bananas could be fortified with more nutrients, this would have a wholesome impact on the citizenry’s diet and counteract their penchant for malnutrition. The possibility of making bananas rich in iron is of special note as iron-deficiency is a grave problem among vegetarians and anaemia is also a major cause of maternal mortality.
India’s Bt cotton triumphs helped the global GM narrative march forward but the government has tried to reign in this march at Bt brinjal, putting a moratorium on its commercial release after a decade’s worth of agronomic and biosecurity testing, not to mention unequivocal approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee. While our decision-makers bury their heads in the sand, the US Food and Drug Administration has categorically declared that foods developed by bioengineering techniques do not entail greater safety concerns than those developed by traditional plant breeding. Ninety per cent of American
maize, soybean and canola is now GM. Brazil, which once used to be a net food importer, has engineered an impressive agricultural turnaround by pushing GM crops forward. Not only does China’s dining table boast GM papaya, tomato and bell peppers but GM poplar is now supplying it timber on a commercial scale!
As food demand keeps rising, it will become increasingly hard to resist the embrace of high-yielding GM varieties. Anyway, why try to resist when no harm has been detected among Americans who have been chomping GM cornflakes and tortillas for around two decades now?
Don’t open this Pandora’s box Anil Thakkar
For all the years that human civilisation has existed, bananas growing the natural way have been good enough for us – good enough, in fact, that they have gained a deserved reputation as being one of the
healthiest of fruits, full of vitamins. Doctors have recommended them, traditional wisdom has espoused their virtues. But now, all of that is apparently not good enough. If Indian researchers have their way, we will be eating genetically modified bananas in the not-too-distant future, grown with technology obtained from the Australians. And that is a pity.
What exactly is the purpose of meddling with an already healthy fruit’s genetic make-up to boost the amount of vitamins and calcium? Is it so that instead of going to the effort of eating half-a-dozen bananas, a person can gain the same benefit from eating four or five of them? Is that sufficient reason to introduce dangerous variables into the natural order of things? The fact is that we simply don’t know enough about GM crops and how they will affect the environment – and us – in the long run. It runs counter to the most basic scientific principles to take their benefits for granted without gathering sufficient data.
GM crops are like the proverbial Pandora’s box. Once you introduce them into the environment, there is no going back. Genetically modified organisms can spread and interbreed with natural organisms, contaminating future yields in entirely unpredictable ways. Further, in the developed world, perhaps precautions such as adequate labelling of GM foods, segregation of GM crops and seeds, and similar measures can be implemented to mitigate their risks for those who are unwilling to jump on the GM bandwagon. Does anyone really think that such regulations would be followed any more assiduously in India than any of the hundreds of others in all walks of life we ignore blithely? The safest way is to simply say no to GM.
Australian scientists have genetically modified bananas to stack them with extra vitamins and iron. They are now sharing this technology with Indian scientists. What makes this development really significant is that India is the world’s largest producer of bananas by a mammoth margin and consumes most of these domestically. So it is elementary that if Indian bananas could be fortified with more nutrients, this would have a wholesome impact on the citizenry’s diet and counteract their penchant for malnutrition. The possibility of making bananas rich in iron is of special note as iron-deficiency is a grave problem among vegetarians and anaemia is also a major cause of maternal mortality.
India’s Bt cotton triumphs helped the global GM narrative march forward but the government has tried to reign in this march at Bt brinjal, putting a moratorium on its commercial release after a decade’s worth of agronomic and biosecurity testing, not to mention unequivocal approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee. While our decision-makers bury their heads in the sand, the US Food and Drug Administration has categorically declared that foods developed by bioengineering techniques do not entail greater safety concerns than those developed by traditional plant breeding. Ninety per cent of American
maize, soybean and canola is now GM. Brazil, which once used to be a net food importer, has engineered an impressive agricultural turnaround by pushing GM crops forward. Not only does China’s dining table boast GM papaya, tomato and bell peppers but GM poplar is now supplying it timber on a commercial scale!
As food demand keeps rising, it will become increasingly hard to resist the embrace of high-yielding GM varieties. Anyway, why try to resist when no harm has been detected among Americans who have been chomping GM cornflakes and tortillas for around two decades now?
Don’t open this Pandora’s box Anil Thakkar
For all the years that human civilisation has existed, bananas growing the natural way have been good enough for us – good enough, in fact, that they have gained a deserved reputation as being one of the
healthiest of fruits, full of vitamins. Doctors have recommended them, traditional wisdom has espoused their virtues. But now, all of that is apparently not good enough. If Indian researchers have their way, we will be eating genetically modified bananas in the not-too-distant future, grown with technology obtained from the Australians. And that is a pity.
What exactly is the purpose of meddling with an already healthy fruit’s genetic make-up to boost the amount of vitamins and calcium? Is it so that instead of going to the effort of eating half-a-dozen bananas, a person can gain the same benefit from eating four or five of them? Is that sufficient reason to introduce dangerous variables into the natural order of things? The fact is that we simply don’t know enough about GM crops and how they will affect the environment – and us – in the long run. It runs counter to the most basic scientific principles to take their benefits for granted without gathering sufficient data.
GM crops are like the proverbial Pandora’s box. Once you introduce them into the environment, there is no going back. Genetically modified organisms can spread and interbreed with natural organisms, contaminating future yields in entirely unpredictable ways. Further, in the developed world, perhaps precautions such as adequate labelling of GM foods, segregation of GM crops and seeds, and similar measures can be implemented to mitigate their risks for those who are unwilling to jump on the GM bandwagon. Does anyone really think that such regulations would be followed any more assiduously in India than any of the hundreds of others in all walks of life we ignore blithely? The safest way is to simply say no to GM.
Madhya Pradesh pepper traders move court against NCDEX
Mumbai, March 25:
Kalimirch (black pepper) Vyapari Association, a Madhya Pradesh-based
traders’ body, has filed a writ petition in Madhya Pradesh High Court
against the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, National
Securities Depository, Central Depository Service and Ministry of
Consumer Affairs for defaulting on pepper delivery for contracts which
expired on January 5.
The petition (a copy available with Business Line) was filed by a group
of 30 members last Monday and was admitted for hearing on March 21. The
hearing is posted for April 2.
Vijay Kumar, Chief Business Officer, NCDEX, said that the exchange had
not received the petition copy so far and would be able decide on the
future course of action only after going through the details.
The 30 members had bought 6,935 tonnes of pepper worth over Rs 300 crore
on the exchange platform and were preparing to take delivery of the
goods from the exchange-accredited warehouse in Kochi after the contract
expired on January 5.
To their surprise they were informed by the warehouse that the
Commissioner of Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) in Kerala had
sealed the exchange-accredited warehouses on detection of adulterated
pepper stocks in November.
Warehouses sealed
Six warehouses accredited by the NCDEX in Ernakulam and Alappuzha
districts in Kerala were sealed on charges of having adulterated pepper
stocks.
plea for compensation
The petitioners have asked the Court to direct NCDEX to deliver pepper
according to the contract specifications and also compensate them for
the price difference.
As an alternative, the exchange can pay the petitioners the value of the
commodity along with VAT (value-added tax) and interest at 18 per cent a
year, the members said.
The association members have also sought additional compensation towards warehouse charges.
The petitioners said their association has cautioned the NCDEX and the
market regulator, Forward Markets Commission, on adulterated pepper
being stored in the warehouses even before the FSSA took action.
The Mix Nixed
Gaurakh Nath turns back to speak to us, unconcerned that he’s negotiating an autorickshaw through one of Delhi’s overcrowded roads. His jaws are working away at chewing and talking, and saliva dribbles from the side of his mouth as he rather incoherently explains why he’s not worried about the ban on gutkha in Delhi. He’s been getting through four or five pouches of pan masala and gutkha in a day for 15 years, and is determined his habit will continue, even though the Delhi government banned the sale, manufacture, display and storage of all gutkha products in September 2012. “I can always find some supply though I may have to pay more than the actual price,” he says.
Certainly, the ban on gutkha and other forms of chewing tobacco has been tougher to implement than the state governments anticipated. And this despite 18 states having imposed blanket bans since April 2012 (two of them, Odisha and Uttarakhand, kicked off 2013 with the ban). Despite its image as a cottage industry, gutkha is estimated as a Rs 15,000-20,000 crore business. The Smokeless Tobacco Association, which represents the gutkha and pan masala industry, claims some 40 million people will be directly and indirectly affected by the ban. That includes stakeholders across the packaging and commodities (arecanut, cardamom, etc.) sides to the business, and panwallahs, distributors and stockists, apart from those directly employed by gutkha makers.
Those are big numbers and the pain isn’t likely to lessen any time soon — the ban in Uttar Pradesh will start from April 1; other states such as Tamil Nadu and Assam are mulling over similar strictures; Maharashtra and Odisha have, meanwhile, extended the ban to cover even pan masala.
In 2011, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a government watchdog, laid the foundations for the ban with a new rule: tobacco and nicotine cannot be used as ingredients in any food product. Based on the suggestion of a national consultation report, this rule was notified under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and it defines ‘food’ as anything that is partially processed and can be ingested by human beings. SN Mohanty, CEO, FSSAI, justifies: “Regulations include tobacco in the items sold as food because gutkha is partially ingested.” States can impose annually renewable bans under the regulations.
Why is gutkha such a big deal? GATS (the Global Adult Tobacco Survey) says 75% of Indian tobacco consumers (260 million of them) use non-smoking tobacco products such as gutkha, far outnumbering the more visible smokers. There is, of course, a significant and confusing vocabulary of similar products: pan masala is gutkha minus the tobacco; zarda and khaini pack in up to 90% tobacco (sun-dried, with lime); snuff is simply powdered tobacco sniffed up the nostril.
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The gutkha industry is highly fragmented. Dozens of regional players (like Shikhar and Dilbagh in Delhi) dominate the Rs 1-2 per sachet segment. The national market has only a few big names like Manikchand (the MD or RMD brand) and Pan Parag’s gutkha variant, which are strong in the Rs 7-10 per sachet segment. Kanpur and Delhi in the north, and Ahmedabad, Vadodra, Goa and Pune in the west, are major manufacturing clusters.
Quite in line with the fragmented nature of the industry, it was a contradictory chorus that arose when the ban took effect — some say it will be the death knell, others are blasé and hold the view that this ban, like the other attempts before it, won’t change anything. “50% of the industry and its markets have already vanished with ban in 14 states,” despairs Sanjay Dechan, executive director of the Smokeless Tobacco Association (STA). “After April 1, 80% will have vanished.” Notably, that’s when UP joins the ban.
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Ankur Kumar, proprietor of the Delhi-based Sara Tobacco, who claims to have advised several tobacco entrepreneurs in setting up their businesses, does not believe this is a do-or-die situation. “Gutkha makers have amassed untold wealth over decades — many of them own malls and other businesses already. It [the ban] should not be a survival issue for them.”
Then there’s Dharampal Satyapal (DS) Group, the biggest player with its Rajnigandha brand, which is challenging the government in various courts. Despite repeated requests, the company declined to comment for this story but local vendors point out its ingenious way of ensuring sales continue. The DS Group sells Rajnigandha Pan Masala paired with sachets of Tulsi Tobacco — pop both into the mouth and, voila, there’s ‘legal’ gutkha. Of course, it’s not the only company offering this completely legal way of circumventing the ban — many other former gutkha brands are now available as two separate pouches of pan masala and chewing tobacco.
New Avenues
Interestingly, many big names in gutkha, like Pan Bahar, originated in Kanpur before moving to Delhi. Such mobility is possible because gutkha manufacturing is a simple process — all it needs is 8-10 small machines and 15-20 workers. HK Paliwal, who does packaging for gutkha makers in Kanpur, nods at the re-reversal, “Yes, many Delhi-based makers have either activated their old set-up here, or are using other people’s platform to produce gutkha.” Paliwal, though, is already casting about for other business. “The same machines can be used for packaging small biscuits and daal-bhujiya packets,” says the canny businessman.
Meanwhile, fragrance makers, like the Kanpur-based Bluebell Fragrances’ owner Jatin Gupta, are also worried. More than 250 fragrance makers like him from Kanpur and Kannauj (a small town 80 km away) will lose 90% of their market from April. Gupta laments, “Everybody is considering supplying soap and agarbatti fragrances but it won’t be as big as gutkha for us.”
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Dechan does not hesitate to blame officials in the health ministry and the FSSAI, who he says serve the cigarette lobby’s interests. “They keep sending advisories to state governments on banning gutkha, and threaten them by denying funds under the NHRM [the National Rural Health Mission, a central scheme implemented by the states] if they fail to implement the ban,” says a frustrated Dechan.
Meanwhile, gutkha makers seem to be counting on the separate sachets strategy to work. “If some one has a sweet tooth, he has it for life,” says an official from a big gutkha brand, who does not wish to be named. Anand Bathija, proprietor of Trident Exports, makers of the Kuber brand of gutkha and khaini, is not so sure: “Erstwhile gutkha makers will have to work really hard to make this mix-two-sachets route works as handsomely as single-sachet gutkha.”
How’s the ban working? Says Sunil Singh, state nodal officer of the National Tobacco Control Programme in Rajasthan, “So far, we have conducted inspections at 31,000 places after the ban and destroyed 8 million gutkha sachets. Trucks that were smuggling in the product have been seized. We have also started a toll-free helpline for people who want to quit the tobacco habit.”
Other states offer similar positive news. Says Ashish Singhmar, deputy commissioner of Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh, “Open sale has been checked since the ban. The police and food and health safety departments have been checking and conducting raids regularly.”
But dig deeper and check with petty officials across most states, and a different picture emerges. The police in all states is already overburdened and elections are around the corner — nabbing gutkha sellers and stopping manufacture is hardly a priority.
STA’s Dechan feels the ban will drive the gutkha industry underground. He is already almost right. Bhini Prasad, owner of a cramped corner store in Karol Bagh, does not display the gutkha he sells, but fishes it out surreptitiously from a rack hidden away inside. “It comes from UP,” he says sotto voce. “We sell to our special customers at a Rs 2 premium.”
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