Public warned not to consume two brands of synthetic litchi drinks

Deputy Food Safety Commissioner of Directorate of Health Services, Tekcham Brojendro Khaba has issued an advisory to the public  to stop consuming two brands of synthetic litchi drinks, namely,         Swaad Litchi Drink and I Cool Litchi Drink.
He also stressed the need for disseminating information to the public on the contents of common beverages available in the state.
Brojendro was speaking at a press meet held at the Directorate on Friday.
He stated that with the gradual rise in temperature, people irrespective of ages are depending on beverages and cold drinks to refresh themselves and beat the heat. But they appear to show a complete lack of knowledge on the health aspects of the different drinks stacking the store shelves.
He disclosed that a team from the department visited various areas of Imphal to investigate the qualities of the beverages being sold.
Two products were found to have violated the mandatory requirements for packaging and labelling, he stated and identified the products as Swaad Litchi Drink (synthetic) and I Cool Litchi Drink (synthetic) manufactured by Arham Beverages, Assam.
A report was sent on the matter to the Food Authority of India and Directorate of Health, Assam to seal the manufacturer and their units but they reported back that they were unable to find the offices.  Moreover, the above products were not found in Assam.
“The people of the state need to be aware of the mandatory requirements for packaged foods and beverages available in the market. As per sub-regulation (General Requirements) of Labelling and Packaging of pre-packaged foods of the Food Safety and Standards Labelling Regulations 2011, contents on the label must be clear, prominent, indelible and readily legible by the consumer under normal conditions of purchase and use.  The nutritional information or nutritional facts per 100 gm or 100 ml per serving of the product must be given on the label containing energy value in Kcal and the amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fat in gram or millilitre. Every packaged food item should be clearly indicated as  ‘non vegetarian’ and ‘vegetarian’ by a symbol and color code.
The symbol shall consist of a brown or green color filled circle inside a square with brown or green outline having sides double the diameter of the circle indicating brown color as non vegetarian and green color as vegetarian respectively, “ he informed.

Moreover the additives permitted for use in foods, the class titles must be used together with specific names or recognized international numerical identifications e.g. Acidity Regulator (330), Antioxidant (300), Citric Acid (E-330), Sodium citrate (E-331), Permitted Class II Preservative (202) or Sodium Benzoate (E-211)/202/224 etc. “CONTAINS ADDED FLAVOUR” (NATURAL/NATURE IDENTICAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING SUBSTANCES) in capital letters must be displayed on the following combined statements beneath the ingredients on the label attached to any package of food so colored and flavored. As per sub-regulation no 6 (i) of 2.2.2 of Food Safety and Standards Regulation 2011, the name and complete address of the manufacturer, manufacturing unit, packing or bottling unit must be declared on every package of food. Fourteen digit license number allotted by Food Products Order (FPO) or Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSA) must also be also be marked at the package. The Swaad Litchi Drink and I Cool Litchi Drink did not fulfil any of the mandatory requirements of the Food Safety and Standard Regulations 2011. The bottle is totally unhygienic, improperly sealed, did not provide added ingredients, expiry date and complete address of the manufacturer etc.

He further made an appeal to buy ice creams only from those sellers who displayed their registration certificates and identity cards at their vehicles. He urged the public to report to the Directorate of Health Services, Lamphel if they find unhygienic products during consumption and not dispose them beforehand.