Chandigarh first UT to adopt online food licensing system

Chandigarh became the first Union Territory to adopt the online Food Licensing/Registration system (FLRS) to facilitate food business operators (FBOs) to file and track their applications.
Anil Kumar, IAS, Health Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Food Safety, Chandigarh Administration, inaugurated the system under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, at the Food Licensing Branch of Government Multi Specialty Hospital in Sector 16, on Thursday. On the occasion, two persons were given licenses through the online facility.
Now, all food business operators in the city can avail the online services by logging on to http://foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in/UserLogin/Login.aspx.
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India has created a centralised online system for FBOs – License/Registration for use across the country, with the assistance of National Institute for Smart Government, Hyderabad.
The system enables FBOs to check for eligibility, apply for license/registration, pay the appropriate fees, upload supporting documents, track the status of their applications, schedule inspections and receive alerts on the status and renewals at the comfort of their homes.
All FBOs are required to obtain a food license by February 4 for all conversions, renewals, new licenses and registrations.

Food Safety Regulator to scan more items

10 million burgers recalled in Ireland, UK after horsemeat and pig DNA found

An Irish meat processor recalled 10 million burgers on Wednesday from supermarkets across Ireland and Britain amid fears that many could contain horsemeat.
Silvercrest Foods, Ireland's second-largest processor of beef burgers, took the action after it was revealed that DNA tests of patties on sale found tiny traces of horsemeat in more than a third.
The discovery poses no danger to public health but threatens to undermine the beef business central to Ireland's rural economy.
Experts said the finding was not surprising, given that meat refrigeration units and slaughterhouses would handle multiple kinds of meat and molecular transfers were inevitable.
But investigators were surprised to find that one burger among 27 tested by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland contained 29 percent horsemeat.
Tesco, the British supermarket giant that sold the discount burger brand in question, apologised.
Tim Smith, Group Technical Director at Tesco, said there were only two ways that it could have happened.
"One of them involves illegality by suppliers or suppliers to those individual suppliers, or gross negligence, in which case we're still very keen to get to the bottom of this," he said.
Britain's Sky News reported that pig DNA was also discovered in 85 percent of the 27 burgers tested.
Silvercrest and government leaders said suspicion was focusing on a powdered beef-protein additive imported from both Spain and the Netherlands for use in padding out the most cheaply priced burgers, which contain typically 60 percent to 70 percent meat.
They declined to identify either supplier by name because investigations were continuing, and a multi-million lawsuit for damages was likely.
"You're told to look at what's on the packet and what the label says and then suddenly you discover that there's all sorts of things that aren't there, so it's a bit worrying really," one supermarket shopper in Birmingham, England, told Sky News.
Another shopper added: "It's horrible."
Health authorities stressed Ireland's policy of occasionally DNA testing food was exceptional, given that most countries do not bother checking for non-health issues in food at all.
They said such testing, if repeated worldwide, would likely find much more widespread mislabelling of meat and fish products and traces of the "wrong" meats in processed foods.
Ireland is a major meat exporter to Europe, the Middle East and Asia and beef production provides the bedrock for rural life.
It has imposed stern measures to minimise the damage from three previous food-safety scares, culling whole herds to reverse the spread of mad cow disease in the 1990s and block the arrival of foot-and-mouth disease in sheep from Britain in 2001.
In 2008, an investigation into the country's approximately 400 pig farms found surprisingly high levels of cancer-causing dioxins in pigs at about 10 farms.
Ireland recalled all of its pork products worldwide, costing the industry some 500 million euros (650 million US dollars) in lost trade.
Within a week, however, the European food safety experts concluded that the dioxin levels posed no credible risk to human health.
This time the horsemeat revelations are expected to cause much less damage to Ireland, in part because much of Europe happily consumes horsemeat as a delicacy.
In France, where some butcher's shops specialise in horse steaks best served tartare, the Irish probe merited a Gallic shrug.
"The Irish are known for their respect of the horse, and they're not used to eating horses," the French newspaper Le Figaro explained on Wednesday to its readers.

Chaat walas to wear aprons by end of March

Vendors in Chowpatty respond to the hygiene drive by FDA. File pic

By the end of March, your favourite food vendor at the chowpatty will have to emulate the sanitised cooking practices supposed to be followed in five-star hotels

The cooks at street stalls will have to don apron, gloves and hat, and the food they serve will undergo regular checks for contamination.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called for a workshop with vendors at the end of the month, appealing to them to follow hygiene norms prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006. The officials expect food stalls to provide customers a germ-free environ- ment by the end of March, or they won’t be issued the requisite licence and will be disciplined with a fine.
To get the ball rolling, the department has set its sights on popular tourist spots like Juhu, Dadar and Girgaum Chowpatty. “In phase I (to enforce FSS), which is now complete, our target was to register the vendors with the FDA. Now we are focussing on hygiene.
We will be organising a workshop by the end of this month to inform vendors about the standards they have to adhere to. They won’t be given time to adopt hygiene norms, as they have already had that,” said Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner, FDA (food).
Deshmukh added, “We intend to turn sellers hygiene-conscious by making aprons, gloves and hats mandatory. We will accept no excuse. Those who don’t follow the norms will be fined. These are tourist places and we want to build up the image of street food vendors here.”

Awareness campaign on food safety

Chennai, Jan. 17:  The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in association with Consumers Association of India, today kick-started its mass media awareness campaign on food safety and standards.
With the objective of creating awareness on safe food and also about the new FSS Act 2006, the programme is targeted at different groups such as public, students and food business operators.
Launching the programme here today, K. Chandramouli, Chairperson, FSSAI, said as a part of the campaign, it will select and train 60 ‘food safety champions’ from various districts in Tamil Nadu, who will, in turn, train consumers and food business operators.
They will create awareness by distributing pamphlets to consumers, conducting street plays and rallies in various places.