Eight sub-panels to formulate regulations on food safety

The central government is set to formulate the regulations for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act soon.

“Currently eight sub-panels under FSSAI are working together to formulate regulations. The notifications are to be put on a website to invite further suggestions from the industry,” FSSAI Chairperson K. Chandramouli said on the sidelines of a conference here recently.

He said because of a diverse food culture in the country, there has been some difficulty in putting together a proper standard on food items.

FSSAI, the nodal agency was set up 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.

Maharashtra government has also urged FSSAI to ensure that the FSSAI Act is soon converted into law so that structured guidelines are laid down for easy operations, decisiveness and quality of the industry, Minister of State for Home, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Satej Patil said on the sidelines of 8th Nutra India Summit here.

The state government has invited industries interested in setting up manufacturing and R&D plants in the area of nutraceuticals and functional foods.

“Considering the relevance of nutraceuticals, we invite all industries interested in setting up manufacturing and R&D plants in the area of nutraceuticals and functional foods. We are allotting land with incentives at Lotte Parshuram near Chiplun to parties interested in setting up nutra manufacturing or research plants in Maharashtra,” Mr. Patil said.

Mr. Patil requested the organisers to submit a white paper on deliberations of 8th Nutra India Submit, perceiving this event as the strongest gathering of voices of the industry.

Maharashtra is the largest consumer for nutraceuticals in the country and the state has received 3,44,000 fresh registrations in the recent past and generated a revenue of more than Rs 63 crore from the food and related industry, he said.

With its research strengths, India will witness great innovation in the areas of nutrition, nutraceuticals and nutrigenomics, said Samir K Brahmachari, Secretary, Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR).

By 2030, people’s consumption of chemicals will become negligible and will be taken over by consumption of natural, organic foods, nutraceuticals and functional foods, he said adding that the success of the pharma will be replicated by the nutra industry.

Gogoi rules out bill to ban tobacco

Guwahati, March 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said there was no need for a new legislation to ban tobacco products in Assam as the existing Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, was enough.

"I have already issued a ban on tobacco products under the food safety act. Many states have done so and a new bill in this regard is not required. Even if we pass the new bill, someone may challenge it in a court and the process will get delayed. The food safety act was also challeged but the Supreme Court had upheld the legislation," Gogoi told reporters at the state secretariat here today.

Gogoi's statement comes in the wake of state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's announcement a couple of days ago that a new bill to ban all smokeless tobacco products would be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.

The chief minister had earlier asked the health department to ban tobacco products, following which the department had issued a notification on March 8 prohibiting sale, display, storage or manufacture of tobacco products and food articles having nicotine as an ingredient in Assam with immediate effect for a period of one year.
The Northeast, especially Assam, has the highest prevalence of cancer, mostly oral, owing to consumption of chewing tobacco products.
Gogoi today said the government would soon issue an official notification after going through the ground rules being followed in states like Kerala, Maharashtra and Bihar, which have already banned tobacco products under the food safety act.

Sources in Dispur said Gogoi's statement on the tobacco ban was a stern message to the health minister, who is alleged to be involved in the current "dissidence" in the state Congress that involves several disgruntled legislators, who are reportedly raring to air their grievances to the AICC.

Gogoi said he was not informed though the Union health ministry had sent a letter to the chief secretary in August 2012 seeking a ban on guthka products under the food safety act. "I came to know about the letter when Pawan Singh Ghatowar (DoNER minister) sent a letter in December last year asking about the need for the tobacco ban. I immediately decided to ban tobacco products, as their consumption was causing cancer and taking lives."
On the revenue loss the state would incur owing to the ban, Gogoi said, "I have been told that we will lose around Rs 20 crore annually but I have decided to go ahead with the ban keeping in mind the serious health impact."

How pure is the milk we get?

March 17, 2013 Random samples from milk vendors indicate water content exceeded 80% DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): Long before KOMUL and later DIMUL happened, denizens of Dimapur were used to getting fresh milk provided by dairy farmers from across the border in Karbi-Anglong. Even after DIMUL hit the market with its toned milk, a good number of consumers continued the services of their trusted milkman from across the border, for their daily quota of milk.

The following report will however make consumers think twice before the next quota of creamy white liquid arrives from their favourite milkman. 

On March 15 and 16, a team of inspectors from the Food Safety Office, Dimapur conducted a survey-cum-raid of sorts by randomly checking the purity of milk coming from the unorganised sector, that is, mostly from villages in Karbi-Anglong running along the border with Dimapur.  It was discovered that the samples tested contained more water than actual milk. Thirty-one samples were collected and tested, using automatic milk analysers, from as many milk vendors. In most of the samples, water content exceeded 80 percent. 

The spot survey was carried out in five locations – Burma Camp, Hotel Tragopan junction, LRC colony, Golaghat Road and Dillai check-post. These are the routes through which the bulk of fresh milk from the unorganised sector enters the town. Unofficial estimates say that on average not less 7000 litres of milk enter urban Dimapur from this sector daily. 

According to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, addition of water to milk amounts to adulteration. The quality of whole milk is defined by fat content and other nutrients. To be certified wholesome, milk sourced from cows must contain no less than 3.5 percent of milk fat and 8.5 percent of solids-not-fat, shortened as SNF. SNF is primarily protein, carbohydrate, water-soluble vitamins and minerals. The accepted standard for buffalo milk is 5 percent fat and 9 percent SNF, while for toned milk it is 3 percent fat and 8.5 percent SNF. Except five, none of the samples tested during the survey met the prescribed standard for cow milk. The fat and SNF reading in most of the samples were almost negligible overwhelmed by the water content. The lowest reading was an appalling 0.2 percent fat and 0.7 percent SNF. 

That aside, there also comes the question, “How hygienic was the water mixed with the milk?” raising the concern of potential water-borne diseases and other maladies. Further, it was found that mixing powdered milk of inferior quality with fresh milk is another common practice of milk adulteration.

Dinamalar