Energy drinks can have more caffeine

PUNE: The country's food safety and standards regulator has allowed use of higher levels of caffeine in energy drinks. The set standard of 145 parts per million (ppm) of caffeine has been relaxed up to 320 ppm for energy drinks, said Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials on Thursday.

The regulator, however, has stipulated that manufacturers infusing energy drinks with higher amounts of caffeine will have to print warnings such as-'caffeinated beverage', 'use not more than two cans a day', 'ingredients of this product consumed through other sources may also be kept in view', 'not recommended for children, pregnant and lactating women', 'not for persons sensitive to caffeine,' and 'caffeine consumed through this and other sources not to exceed 160 mg per day'-prominently on the label of the energy drink products. Energy drinks are usually targeted at youth and health enthusiasts.

"Food Safety and Standards Authority of India i.e. FSSAI has given no-objection certificates to manufacturers for use of caffeine up to 320 PPM in energy drinks, which was earlier restricted to not more than 145 ppm. The permission is meant only for energy drinks and not for other carbonated stuff drinks

like cold drinks and similar other beverages where caffeine is used but is below 145 ppm only," said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA.

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act had a ceiling of 145 parts per million (ppm) of caffeine in carbonated beverages. But energy drink manufacturers wanted a 320 ppm cap, Kekare added.

Manufacturers of energy drinks claim that these drinks help increase alertness of the mind and improve concentration, stamina and athletic performance. But in reality, the caffeine in them can impact health severely when consumed in excess.

Caffeine is present in many foods and drugs - in coffee, tea, energy and soft drinks, candy bars, and over-the-counter cold remedies and analgesics. It is consumed daily by approximately 80% of the world's population. Small doses of caffeine increase alertness, but there are serious health risks from consuming large quantities and from long term use of caffeine.

Commenting on the ill effects of excessive caffeine consumption, internal medicine expert Abhijeet Joshi said, "Caffeine is the most widely consumed stimulant drug

in the world. When caffeine is ingested chronically in excessive amounts, it produces a specific toxidrome (caffeinism), affecting primarily the central nervous system (CNS) and causing cardiovascular and gastrointestinal hyper stimulation."

The symptoms include headache, lightheadedness, anxiety and agitation, tremulousness, tingling in extremities, confusion and seizures. Heart related ill effects include palpitations and chest pain. Stomach related ill effects include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and anorexia, Joshi said.

The health risks from consuming large quantities and from long term use of caffeine are serious. The increased alertness and energy derived from caffeine are not worth the negative health risks. A safe, natural way to increase alertness and energy needs to be substituted for ingesting caffeine.

Caffeine is an additive drug and must be treated as such, say doctors.

Dealers, vendors will be answerable

Many of the major national and multi-national food and beverage companies have started asking their local distributors and wholesale dealers to obtain licenses under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006.

Because, under the Act, vendors and distributors can be held liable for selling products after its date of expiry, misbranding, and storing in unsafe conditions rather than the manufacturer.

The Act was notified on August 5, 2011. The process becomes mandatory only by February 4, 2014, as the duration has been extended.

The Act (www.fssai.gov.in) states that food business operators functioning without license can be imprisoned for six months and fined up to Rs. 5 lakh.

Dealers found selling substandard products are liable to be fined up to Rs. 5 lakh and those selling misbranded products, up to Rs. 3 lakh.

Some of these penal provisions, however, have been challenged in various courts.

Obtaining these licenses will make the dealer conform to the stringent norms on storage, transporting, and distributing food products.

The dealer must know the entire supply chain right up to the manufacturer.

In the district around 1,750 dealers had obtained licenses and 6,500 had registered themselves.

Conforming to the Act will ensure that high food safety standards are maintained, said R. Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety Wing), here on Thursday.

Dr. Kathiravan said that the distributors must provide the vendors information regarding the product, its code, and especially the batch number, which was vital in case of a recall being necessitated.

“A couple of months back, a food item had to recalled from a chain of pharmacy stores in Coimbatore and Erode because of fungus formation. Since the company had provided the batch number, we were able to recall the entire shipments quickly.”

All food business operators with an annual turnover in excess of Rs. 12 lakh must obtain licence under the FSSA by paying Rs.2,000.

Those with an annual turnover less than this threshold need only to register themselves by paying Rs. 100.

The licences have to be renewed annually.

In Coimbatore district, the total target was 22,000, of which 14,000 had an annual turnover of less than Rs. 12 lakh, said Dr. Kathiravan.

National workshop on ‘Wellness Convention: Nutrition, Health and Fitness’ organized by Faculty of Applied Sciences, MRIU, Faridabad

Faridabad, October 17, 2012: The department of Nutrition and Dietetics under the Faculty of Applied
Sciences at Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad organized a 2 daylong conference
(16 – 17th October 2012) on ‘‘Wellness Convention: Nutrition, Health and Fitness’ at the university
campus. The conference was inaugurated by Honorable Chief Guest, Ms. Anita Chowdhary, IAS (Retd.)
along with other eminent guests, Dr. Anuja Agarwala, President IDA, Delhi chapter, Dr. O. P. Bhalla,
Chancellor, MRIU, Dr. N. C. Wadhwa, Vice Chancellor, MRIU and Dr. G. L. Khanna, Dean, FAS .
The aim of the conference was to explore the global databases on the world’s major forms of
malnutrition, the effectiveness of nutrition programs and progress towards achieving sustainable health and nutritional wellbeing of all the people, thereby reinforcing and accelerating human and national development
Dr. O. P. Bhalla, Chancellor, MRIU enforced, many lifestyles and environmental factors, in addition
to nutrition, influence health and well-being, but nutrition is a major, modifiable and powerful factor
in promoting health, preventing and treating disease and improving quality of life. The relationship
between food, nutrition and health is thus one of the global challenges that we are facing today.
Ms. Anita Chowdhary, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India
in her keynote address on 16th October said, “The food you eat today is walking and talking tomorrow.
Your diet is the foundation to optimal fitness, which is needed to minimize the risks for diseases and
help you perform your daily activities without excessive fatigue.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Anuja Agarwala, President IDA, Delhi chapter, highlighted, there is a
connection between fitness and nutrition, which is to follow a good nutritional routine which helps to
encourage a regular fitness program and ultimately imparting one a good health. When considered
together nutrition and fitness can have a large positive impact on one’s life. Following a good nutrition program which includes a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean proteins can help to maintain a healthy weight, prevent diseases such as, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes and also boost energy levels throughout the day. A regular fitness routine in conjunction with the healthy diet can help one to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, sleep better at night, improve mood and help with overall strength and cardiovascular endurance.
Dr. G. L. Khanna, Dean, FAS revealed that Health and wellness are often used interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings. Health is more of a medical term and describes the physical and mental state of a person. It usually denotes a lack of disease or abnormality. Wellness, on the other hand, is defined as the overall process of maintaining a general state of good health. Wellness involves conscious decisions on the part of the individual, whereas health simply describes a person’s condition. Higher rates of heart diseases, increases in the incidence of cancers, record numbers of clinically obese people, and various other health scares have all drawn attention to the need for healthy lifestyle choices.
Dr. Mohit D Gupta, Assistant Professor, Department of cardiology, G. B. Pant Hospital highlighted that stress is related to 99% illness Stress is a major problem for many people — a hectic, stressful job, a chaotic home life, bills to worry about, and bad habits such as unhealthy eating, drinking and smoking can lead to a mountain of stress. Stress is a major problem for many people — a hectic, stressful job, a chaotic home life, bills to worry about, and bad habits such as unhealthy eating, drinking and smoking can lead to a mountain of stress. He also revealed research has shown that following a healthy eating plan can both reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure and lower an already elevated blood pressure.
Dr. N. C. Wadhwa, Vice Chancellor, MRIU addressed that Good nutrition is essential to both current
health and wellbeing, and health and wellbeing in later life. Eating a healthy diet can help reduce the
risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure,
osteoporosis.
Third session with theme “Nutrition for Women and Child” consisted of eminent speakers Dr. Vinita
Narula, Vice President, HSAI, Ms. Swapna Chaturvedi, Sr. Dietician, AIIMS, Ms. Nilanjana Singh, Chief Dietician, PSRI focused on the various issues and health challenges faced by women and child who are considered as important vulnerable sections of society in India.
Dr. Alka Beotra, Scientific, National Dope Testing Laboratory, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,
New Delhi and Ms. Shruti Sharma, Technical Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India,
bring out that FSSAI has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. And highlighted Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006; Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, Fruit Products Order, 1955, Meat Food Products Order, 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006. The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command.
The conference was concluded with a beautiful cultural evening performed by students of Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and Valedictory Function took place in the presence of Guest of Honor, Dr. P. C. Kashyap, Executive Director, SAI, whose existence made the event a great success.

Alert officials on food adulteration; win prize

Awareness campaign on safe food begins in city

Are you fed up with sub-standard foods, expired products sold at shops? Alert officials concerned and win prizes up to Rs. 5,00,00.

With this message the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s first major Information, Education, Communication (IEC) campaign has reached Coimbatore.

‘Food Safety Express,’ operated by Consumer Association of India roped in for the campaign will spend 45 days in the city.

The association project manager Kalyani Rajaraman told The Hindu over phone from Chennai that the Food Safety Express, launched at the State capital on January 17, was targeting to cover 620 locations in the five districts of Chennai, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchi. The campaign would conclude on May 20.

She said that according to a research food and waterborne diseases constituted up to 70 per cent of all diseases in the country. Besides causing large numbers of mortality and morbidity, many households went deep into debt because of preventable diseases.

The Food Safety Express visited CMC Colony at Ukkadam, Karumbukadai, Townhall, and R.S.Puram, on Thursday. The staff at the express said that they were conducting demonstrations for consumers to easily find out if products had been adulterated.

The general public could bring instances of violations such as mislabelling to the notice of the authority. The national toll-free number is 1800 112 100.

Prizes were distributed for people who participated in various programmes organised by the express staff. Short films on food safety were shown on a television mounted on the vehicle. Pamphlets and handbills containing messages about the food safety in regional language was distributed. Equitas Development Initiative Trust, which works with women SHGs, was assisting the authority in the safety campaign.

Many stakeholders have come together to spread the message of safe food. They include the authority, Civil Supplies and Consumers Association of Tamil Nadu, Food Safety Commission – Tamil Nadu, Citizen Consumer Clubs in schools and colleges and voluntary consumer organisations besides food business operators.

Established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the authority is an independent statutory body created for laying down scientific standards for food articles and regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

Food safety norms, nutrition must be linked; Organic farming should be subsidised

Food safety norms should be linked to nutrition and likelihoods, and organic farming should be given subsidies, according to the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) director general Sunita Narain. At a conference, it was suggested that food safety should come under the health ministry’s purview.

Addressing the concluding session of the conference on Food as Toxin held in New Delhi recently, Narain pointed out that food safety had changed from preventing adulteration to testing for additive and pesticide residues. She added a lot of money is being wasted on pesticides and fertilisers, which would eventually be checked by the authorities.

Keeping in mind their adverse impact on the environment, it was also recommended that pesticide regulations should either be framed by the health or environment ministry instead of the agriculture ministry, which currently regulates them. Members of the civil society should also be roped in to ensure transparency while framing policies.

Another suggestion was that toxic and obsolete pesticides be banned, and that a report on the use and effects of the use of fertilisers and pesticides should be prepared every year. State universities should be contacted to advise farmers on pesticide use, and organic farming should be promoted, both at the production and the trading level.

Policies
It was also suggested that the policies should be framed keeping in mind that most farmers in the country have small land holdings, and emphasis should be on training. Bio-monitoring should be done to check pollution, and before making an action plan, there should be comprehensive studies regarding the use of antibiotics for the growth of crops.

Labelling
Another recommendation made at the conference was that the regulations concerned with labelling should be made stricter, because the consumers are generally unable to make informed choices. It was also suggested that advertisements featuring children should be banned.

Street food
The event emphasised the need to keep in the mind consumers’ preferences and food habits while making street food a safer alternative.

The two-day conference was attended by K Chandramouli, chairman, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Sri Ram Khanna, managing trustee, Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education; Sanjay Dave, chairman, Codex Alimentarius, and Rakesh Kacker, secretary, Ministry of Food and Processing Industries, amongst others.