Food safety department inspects Tamil Nadu mid-day meal centres

Chennai: The state food safety department has taken samples from mid-day meal centres across Tamil Nadu and also inspected the centres to assess the quality of food prepared and the environment in which food is served to children.

After the death of 23 children in Bihar a fortnight ago, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials in Tamil Nadu worked to collect samples of food from anganwadi and mid-day meal centres in various government schools and are also engaged in filing a report on cleanliness and hygiene in these centres.

A senior FSSAI official told DC that the test result of food samples would be released within two weeks and government would ensure all lacunae are fixed. “During our inspection, we found that some centres did not have a hygienic environment and the food prepared in the centres could be improved upon. We will give this report to government shortly,” said the officer.

Stating that government spends less than Re1 for a child’s mid-day meal, child rights activist A. Devaneyan said, “The quality of food should be checked often by the FSSAI. The government should come forward to increase the amount of money spent for vegetables. The prices of vegetables and other ingredients are increasing every day and noon meal workers are forced to provide poor quality food. This will not fight malnutrition in an effective manner."

He noted that noon meal workers were not given any refreshment training regularly to work with children. “Providing food is not just feeding food for hunger but also serving good quality food for the physical and mental growth of children,” he pointed out.

41 complaints about mid-day meal scheme in 3 years: Govt

Twenty-three students had died in Bihar after consuming midday meal on July 16.

The government today said it received 41 complaints of irregularities in the working of the midday meal scheme in the past three years while several samples collected failed to meet nutritional and caloric values.
The HRD Ministry also received 39 complaints of poor quality of food served.
Disclosing these in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor said out of the 41 complaints received, actions have been taken in 31 cases by the state governments.
While 11 complaints were received from Uttar Pradesh between 2010 and 2012, seven complaints were received from Bihar during 2011 and 2012.
"The test report by Sriram Institute for Industrial Research New Delhi also shows that many samples failed to meet nutritional and caloric value prescribed under the guidelines," he said in a written reply.
To another question, HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju informed that the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) has been asked to collect samples from the field for testing on parameters such as micro-biological presence or absence of e-coli, chemical parameters such as moisture content, fats, protein and caloric value of the meal.
"The state governments have also been requested to consider engaging Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, CSIR institute or NABL-recognised labs for carrying out sample checking of the food to ensure quality meal to students," he said.
Twenty-three students had died in Bihar after consuming midday meal on July 16.
Raju said the forensic science laboratory department of the Bihar government indicated presence of organic phosphorous in the meal of the children.

FDA launches drive against scented tobacco, units to be shut down

With Maharashtra Food Safety Commissioner prohibiting storage, distribution and sale of tobacco and areca nut — flavoured, scented or mixed with additives and goes by the name of gutkha, pan masala, scented supari or kharra — from July 20, several measures are being taken to ensure that consignments are not transported and manufacturing units are shut down.

FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade told Newsline that gutkha worth Rs 21 crore was seized last year. Now, all manufacturing units of flavoured tobacco will be closed and FDA teams will monitor the borders. "I have written to the police and municipal commissioners about the ban and directed food safety officers to conduct a meeting on implementing the it," he said. Railway authorities will also be notified not to allow such consignments into the state.

According to the FDA commissioner, it is the flavouring, scenting, adding or mixing of one or the other additives or modification of the physical texture or combination of tobacco with areca nut (betel nut) that transforms these foods and makes them appealing to a wide spectrum of population, including children.

Consumption of these addictive products is increasing, causing damage to the health of consumers and impacting the genetic make-up of future generations. Some of the additives are extremely dangerous and are prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards (contaminants, toxins and residues) Regulations, 2011; Food Safety and Standards (food products standards and food additives) Regulations, 2011; and the Food Safety and Standards (prohibition and restrictions on sales) Regulations 2011, Zagade said.

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Associate Professor at Tata Memorial Hospital, said Maharashtra has become the first state to prohibit all flavoured chewing tobacco and supari sold under all names and combinations. "This order takes care of unpackaged zarda, khaini and kharra too. It will reduce the incidence of cancers and other disease dramatically in the next five years," he said.

Nearly 45 per cent of cancer deaths in India are related to tobacco and 20 per cent of all deaths are related to tobacco.

Tobacco addiction is a disease as per WHO International Classification of Disease, Chaturvedi added. Chewing Tobacco (zarda, khaini, kharra, masheri, mawa etc) and flavoured supari (pan masala, supari mix, scented supari etc) are posing serious health problems in Maharashtra. Gutkha is a flavored combination of chewing tobacco and supari. These products contain several flavouring agents such as menthol, perfume, spices and sugar, and aggressively marketed as mouth fresheners, Chaturvedi pointed out.

Water to blame for food poisoning cases?

Medical college mess facilities untidy, say students

On Wednesday, 30 people, including B.Sc. Nursing students of the College of Nursing on the Government Medical College Hospital campus here and some staff members, were admitted to the hospital owing to food poisoning. The hostel and the mess were closed down for two weeks after the incident. Two days later, 15 persons, some of them M.Sc. Nursing students and the others members of the staff, took ill after having food from the staff mess and the Indian Coffee House.

The reasons for the recurring cases of food poisoning reported from the mess facilities on the college campus are unclear.

Food Safety Officer Anil Kumar told The Hindu that water supplied from a common tank to all the hostels and hospitals in the region could be the source of infection. A team of the Food Safety Authority, which included Mr. Anil Kumar, had visited the campus and collected samples of food and water. These had been sent to the Regional Analytical Laboratory for investigation, and the results were expected on Monday.

The team had directed the mess authorities to clean up the kitchen and its premises, and obtain a licence for their operations as per the revised food safety norms, Mr. Anil Kumar said.

Meanwhile, there have been complaints from the students that food articles past their expiry date are being used in the hostel mess facilities. It has been alleged that the mess facilities, two of which are run by the same person, are untidy and rats are spotted often in the kitchens. There is no mechanism to ensure the quality of the food. The lackadaisical attitude of the wardens has promoted corruption among the mess authorities, the students say.

The water supply system is also under the scanner. The pipelines that supply water to various institutions on the campus are around 40 years old and mostly rusted. They leak at various places, giving rise to the possibility of dirt entering them through the cracks.

The drains near the hostels are clogged with garbage and dirty water, and pose a threat to the health of the students. The authorities are turning a blind eye to the students’ safety, they allege.

Anouncement & Draft Regulation

கலப்பட டீத்தூள் புற்றுநோயை உண்டாக்கும் - உணவு பாதுகாப்பு விழிப்புணர்வில் தகவல்

சேலம், ஆக.5:

கலப்பட டீத்தூள் புற்றுநோயை உண்டாக்கும் என்று உணவு பாதுகாப்பு விழிப்புணர்வு நிகழ்ச்சியில் மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் கூறினார்.

சேலம் விஜயராகவாச்சாரியார் நினைவு நூலக வாசகர் மன்றம் சார்பில் உணவும், பாதுகாப்பும் குறித்த சிறப்பு விழிப்புணர்வு நிகழ்ச்சி நேற்று நடந்தது. சேலம் கன்ஸ்யூமர் வாய்ஸ் தலைவர் பூபதி தலைமை வகித்தார். செயலாளர் சங்கர் வரவேற்றார். இதில் உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறை மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் அனுராதா கலந்து கொண்டுபேசியதாவது:

அனைத்து உணவு வணிகர்களும், உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறையின் மூலம் பதிவு சான்று, உரிமம் கட்டாயம் பெற்றிருக்க வேண்டும். தரமான, சுத்தமான, பாதுகாப்பான உணவு பொருட்களை வாங்கி பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும். தரக்குறைவான மற்றும் கலப்பட உணவு பொருட்கள் உடல் நலத்திற்கு தீங்கு விளைவிக்கும். அளவுக்கு அதிகமான வண்ணங்கள் மற்றும் அதிகமான பதனப்பொருட்கள் உணவுப்பொருட்களில் கலப்பது சட்டப்படி குற்றமாகும்.

குழந்தைகள், சிறுவர்கள் நைட்ரஜன் கேஸ் அடைக்கப்பட்ட சிப்ஸ் உணவு வகைகளை அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக உண்ணுவதால் நரம்பு மண்டலம் பாதிக்கும். கலப்பட டீத்தூளில் அதிகமான சாயம் சேர்க்கப்படுகிறது. இந்த டீத்தூளால் மனிதனுக்கு புற்றுநோய் உண்டாகும். அதே போல, சில்லி சிக்கன் கடைகளில் அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக அனுமதிக்கப்படாத வண்ணங்கள் கலந்திருப்பது, உடல் நலத்திற்கு கேடு விளைவிக்கும்.

பாக்கெட்டில் அடைக்கப்பட்ட உணவு பொருள்களில் தயாரிப்பாளர் முழு முகவரி, தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட மற்றும் பேக் செய்த தேதி, பேட்ஜ், லாட் நம்பர், காலாவதி ஆகும் தேதி ஆகியவை உள்ளதா என பார்த்து வாங்க வேண்டும்.

இவ்வாறு அவர் பேசினார்.

முன்னதாக கலப்பட பொருட்களை அறிந்து கொள்ளும் முறைகள் குறித்து அவர் விளக்கினார்.

DINAMALAR NEWS

"டாஸ்மாக்' பார்கள் நிலைமை மோசம் மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் எச்சரிக்கை

சேலம்: ""சேலம் மாவட்டத்தில், டாஸ்மாக் பார்களின் நிலைமை படுமோசமாக உள்ளது. அதை, சுத்தம், சுகாதாரமாக பராமரிக்க மறுத்தால், கடும் நடவடிக்கை பாயும்,'' என, மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் அனுராதா எச்சரித்துள்ளார்.
சேலம், விஜயராகவாச்சாரியார் நூலக வளாகத்தில், "உணவும், பாதுகாப்பும்' என்கிற தலைப்பில், சிறப்பு விழிப்புணர்வு கருத்தரங்கம் நடந்தது. சேலம் கன்ஸ்யூமர் வாய்ஸ் தலைவர் பூபதி தலைமை வகித்தார். சமூக ஆர்வலர் சரவணமூர்த்தி, மனோகரன் ஆகியோர் முன்னிலை வகித்தனர்.
மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் டாக்டர் அனுராதா கலந்து கொண்டு பேசியதாவது:
சேலம் மாவட்டத்தில், 16,582 வணிக நிறுவனங்கள் பதிவு மற்றும் உரிமம் பெற்று, தமிழகத்திலேயே, முதலிடத்தில் உள்ளது. இந்தியாவில், பதிவு, உரிமம் பெற, வருகிற ஃபிப்., 2014ம் வரை இடைக்கால தடை வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. நீதிமன்ற தடைக்கால உத்தரவு முடிந்ததும், தொடர்ந்து, வணிக நிறுவனங்கள் பதிவு பெறுவதற்கான நடவடிக்கைகள் தொடரும்.
மேலும், கலப்பட பொருட்களை பறிமுதல் செய்து, அதை பகுப்பாய்வு செய்து, பரிசோதனைக்கு அனுப்பப்படும். 15 நாளில் அதற்கான ரிஸல்ட் பெற்று சம்பந்தப்பட்ட நிறுவனம் மீது நீதிமன்ற நடவடிக்கை பாயும். குறைந்தது ஆறு மாதம் ஜெயில் தண்டனையும், அதிகபட்சம் ஐந்து லட்சம் ரூபாய் வரை அபராதம் விதிக்கலாம்.
சேலம் மாவட்டத்தில், டாஸ்மாக் பார்களின் நிலைமை மிக மோசமாக உள்ளது. அங்கு, சோதனைக்குச் சென்றால், உடனடியாக அரசியல் கட்சியினர் சிபாரிசுக்கு வந்து விடுகிறார்கள். இருந்தும், இரண்டொரு முறை அறிவுறுத்தப்படும். தொடர்ந்து, அதே நிலை நீடித்தால், பார் உரிமையாளர்கள் மீதும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.
குடிநீர் கேன்கள், இனி வெள்ளை நிறத்துக்கு பதிலாக, ப்ளூ கலரில் பயன்படுத்த பசுமை தீர்ப்பாயம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது. விரைவில், அவை அமலுக்கு வர உள்ளதால், வெள்ளைநிற கேன்கள் பறிமுதல் செய்து, நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.
இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.

Adulterated pepper worth Rs 34 cr to be destroyed

KOCHI: The food safety department may soon issue orders for destroying adulterated pepper worth around Rs 34 crore, after it detected presence of mineral oil in the samples collected from two warehouses in the district.
The department had sealed 5,300 tonnes of pepper stored in six warehouses registered with the National Commodity & Derivative Exchange (NCDEX), following complaint of adulteration by an agency, which purchased the substance.
Presence of mineral oil was found in 88 out of the 101 samples picked up from warehouses of the state warehousing corporation in Paravoor and a private agency at Edathala near Aluva. As per the lab test, conducted in a laboratory approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), 850 tonnes out of the total 1,000 tonnes were contaminated.
"As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, the pepper is unfit for consumption since it was adulterated," said state food safety commissioner Biju Prabhakar.
However, pepper traders claimed that the practice of mixing mineral oil to pepper is on for quite some time and it does not have any health issues. They also expressed fears that the issue will have serious repercussions in the pepper trade.
Meanwhile, sources said the food safety department is firm on its stand though the complainant has now expressed willingness to withdraw the complaint. The department is the authority to take a final call on the issue and the spices board has no role to play in it, said a source with spices board.
The food safety department is planning to complete the process of collecting samples from rest of the warehouses by August-end. It is presently in the process of picking up samples from warehouses at Cherthala and Kodungallur, sources said.
Kochi: The safety food department may soon issue orders for destroying pepper worth of around Rs34 crore after finding presence of mineral oil in the pepper stored in two warehouses in Ernakulam district.
The presence of mineral oil was found in 88 out of the 101 samples picked up from the warehouses of the State Warehousing Corporation in Paravoor and a private agency at Edathala near Aluva. As per the lab test, 850 tonnes out of the total 1000 tonnes were contaminated with mineral oil. The tests were conducted in a laboratory approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The samples were picked up from the warehouses in May this year by the food safety officials in the presence of the representatives of Spices Board and National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX).
"In the lab tests, presence of mineral oil was found in 88 samples. As per the Food Safety and Standards Act the pepper, which was adulterated with mineral oil, can't be allowed to use for the purpose of human consumption," said Biju Prabhakar, state food safety commissioner.
Meanwhile, pepper traders said that mineral oil has been using for quite some time and it does not have any health issues. They expressed fears that the issue will have serious repercussions in the pepper trade.
According to sources, though the complainant has expressed willingness to withdraw the complaint with pepper price registering an upward trend in the recent period. But the food safety department is firm on its stand that the pepper can't be used for human consumption purpose.
The food safety department is the authority to take final call on the issue and Spices Board has no role to play in it, said a source with Spices Board.
The food safety department had sealed 5300 tonnes of pepper stored in six warehouses registered with NCDEX following complaints by a company, which purchased pepper, about adulteration of the pepper by using mineral oil.
The food safety department is presently in the process of picking up samples from the warehouses at Cherthala and Kodungallur. Sources with the food safety department said that they are planning to complete process of picking samples from the remaining warehouses by August-end.

Tobacco products seized in Coimbatore

Ukkadam police on Sunday seized chewable tobacco product worth Rs. 3 lakh from five persons, who attempted to smuggle the same to Kerala. The police have arrested the five.

Tip-off

The police said that following a tip-off that there was an attempt to smuggle the tobacco using a sport utility vehicle from L.N. Street in Ukkadam, a team led by Sub Inspector P. Jawahar Kumar, Special Sub Inspector Karunamoorthy and Constable Mubarak Ali went around L.N. Street and after keeping a watch, intercepted a vehicle with Coimbatore registration.

The five were sitting in a suspicious manner inside the vehicle.

The police team asked them to get out of the vehicle, made preliminary enquiries and searched the vehicle, to find the chewable tobacco packed in 25 bags.

In all, there were around 10,000 packets.

The police said that after finding the tobacco there, the team seized it and took into custody Shahul Hameed, Mohammed, Jubi, Jaleel and Sunny.

The vehicle was Sunny’s. Jaleel was behind the wheel. Hameed and Mohammed were from Coimbatore and the other three from Thrissur, Kerala.

While the accused did not reveal the place where they had bought the banned tobacco product or the place where they were supposed to deliver the consignment, the police said that they suspected that it could be headed for Kerala.

The police said that they had registered a case and were taking the five to a magistrate court in Coimbatore to send them to judicial remand.

Midday meal workers to be trained

A child drinking milk during the launch of ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ programme by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Hosakote near Bangalore.

With the objective to ensure proper implementation of Ksheera Bhagya scheme, the Department of Public Instruction has planned special training programmes for teachers and midday meal workers serving in Government and aided schools.

Education Officer (EO) G. Lohith told The Hindu that prior to launching of Ksheera Bhagya scheme, the guidelines had been issued on storage of milk powder, preparation of milk, serving milk to children, and on the maintenance of cleanliness in kitchens.

Schools have been directed to purchase steel containers to store milk powder and utensils for preparing milk with the annual funds provided to them under Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan, he said.

He said training would be provided to teachers and to Akshara Dasoha cooks at the cluster level that comprises 10 to 15 schools.

Experts from Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) and the Department of Health and Family Welfare would take part in the training programme as resource persons. The demonstrations on preparation of milk from whole milk powder (WMP) would be held and experts would deliver talks on the nutritional value of milk. The training programme would be completed by August 15, he said.

Visit

Mr. Lohith said on Sunday he visited some Government and aided Urdu medium schools in Shikaripur taluk.

The scheme has garnered a good response from students. Officials of the Department of Public Instruction would pay surprise visits to the schools and would taste the milk prepared there, he said.

He said a 1,95,212 students from 2,181 Government and aided schools in the district would benefit from the scheme.

Private schools that were recently awarded grant-in-aid by the government had been directed to construct kitchens at the earliest to provide midday meals and milk to students, he said.

A total number of 98,989 children in 2,431 Anganawadi centres in the district would also be benefited from the scheme.

Deputy Director of Department of Women and Child Welfare Lakshmikanthamma told The Hindu that detailed guidelines had been sent to all Anganawadi centres through Child Development Project Officers on preparation of milk from skimmed milk powder (SMP).

In addition to this, the Department had made preparations to conduct training programme in this regard at Anganawadi Workers’ Training Centre (AWTC) in the city, she said.

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Demonstrations on preparation of milk from whole milk powder (WMP) will be held

Experts will deliver talks on the nutritional value of milk; training will be over by Aug 15

Concern over food poisoning cases

On Wednesday, 30 people, including B.Sc. Nursing students of the College of Nursing on the Government Medical College Hospital campus here and some staff members, were admitted to the hospital owing to food poisoning. The hostel and the mess were closed down for two weeks after the incident. Two days later, 15 persons, some of them M.Sc. Nursing students and the others members of the staff, took ill after having food from the staff mess and the Indian Coffee House.

The reasons for the recurring cases of food poisoning reported from the mess facilities on the college campus are unclear.

Food Safety Officer Anil Kumar told The Hindu that water supplied from a common tank to all the hostels and hospitals in the region could be the source of infection. A team of the Food Safety Authority had visited the campus and collected samples of food and water. These had been sent to the Regional Analytical Laboratory for investigation, and the results were expected on Monday.

The team had directed the mess authorities to clean up the kitchen and its premises, and obtain a licence for their operations as per the revised food safety norms, Mr. Anil Kumar said.

Meanwhile, there have been complaints from the students that food articles past their expiry date are being used in the hostel mess facilities.

It has been alleged that the mess facilities, two of which are run by the same person, are untidy and rats are spotted often in the kitchens. There is no mechanism to ensure the quality of the food. The lackadaisical attitude of the wardens has promoted corruption among the mess authorities, the students say.

The water supply system is also under the scanner.

FDA crack down on firms dealing in gutka, pan masala

NAGPUR: Following the state government's recent directive regarding ban on transportation, distribution, storage and sales of gutka, aromatic pan masala and scented betel nut for one year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff from the city has been raiding various outlets dealing in these materials.
The officials conducted raids on August 2 at M/S Jagdish Kirana Stores near Laxmi Talkies in Sitabuldi and M/S Saurabh Jhinge Shengdana Stores in Ramainagar and seized Jafrani Jarda, mouth freshener, scented betel nut, Golden Yug and Golden ShriG tobacco worth Rs21,705 and Rs49,375 respectively.
On July 29, the FDA raided RK Products at Sakharwadi in Chikhli Layout, and Raghav Distributors at Adarsh Nagar in Wadi and seized tobacco worth Rs53,922 and Rs67,800 respectively.
On July 24 and 26, raids were conducted at Jai Santoshi Kirana Stores on Old Bhandara Road and Ashok and Dilip enterprises at Hansapuri. Pan masala and gutka worth Rs13,136 from the grocery store.
At Hansapuri, the firms were engaged in manufacture of aromatic pan masala. The authorities seized 150kg tobacco, 30kg perfume, 44kg Bawa tobacco, besides confiscating 1500 empty pouches of Magic Jafrani Jarda, 400 empty pouches of Puja Gold Jafrani Jarda and 1000 empty pouches of Double Horse Jarda. The material is worth Rs31,140.
The raids were conducted by a team headed by assistant FDA commissioner (Food) NR Wakode. Other members in the raiding party included PV Dhawad, BG Nandanwar, AD Raut, YT Dhebre and LP Soyam of Vigilance Department. The department has filed FIRS against Vijay Rathod, Ashok Gehani and Dilip Aswani.
Citizens can also inform about sale or distribution of gutka or any other banned products on 0712-2532204.

Long distance trains to have hygienic food

JAIPUR: There is good news for those who were earlier served bad and stale food during their long distance train journey. The North Western Railway (NWR) have asked various food caterers and pantry in-charge of long distance trains to mention the date and time of packaging of food and also the best before period. In some of the long distance trains the caterers have already started serving food mentioning its manufacturing date and the best before tag. Not only that, the teams of various divisions of NWR will also conduct 'surprise checks' on the trains to check the food quality.
To start with the facility has been started in the Jaipur-Delhi Double Decker train and very soon trains to Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Secunderabad too will have such checks.
"We have developed a system in which in most cases food served in various trains would be cooked, packed and served on the same date of journey when the passenger is boarding the train. We are aiming at providing fresh food. Various contactors have been told to mention the date and time of manufacturing, contents and quantity on the food packets served as breakfast, lunch and dinner in various trains," said Tarun Jain, chief public relations officer, NWR on Sunday.
He said that caterers serving food in Jaipur-Delhi Double Decker have already started it and the same facility would be seen in other long distance trains. Officials said that this facility will not let the caterers pack and serve stale or old food. and would certainly provide hygienic food to the passengers.
"We had had received complaints in the past of stale food and there was also confrontation of passengers with the train crew on this issue. Serving unhygienic midday meals led took a toll in many districts and states recently. Thus, we have decided that NWR is not going to take chances when it comes to the safety and health of the passengers," said a senior officer of Jaipur division of NWR.
Official sources said that trains including Jodhpur-Howrah, Jaipur-Mumbai Duronto, Jaipur-Mumbai Superfast and Ashram Express will also have this facility soon.
Asked how the officials will keep a tab on the quality the officer said, "We will conduct surprise checks and if the quality of the food is not be as per the standards, initially the contractor would be penalized. If he repeats the mistake then action would be taken as per his contract with the Railways".

US plans tough norms for food imports from India, other places

About 15 per cent of all food consumed in the US is imported, while the ratio is even higher at 20 per cent for fresh vegetables and as high as 50 per cent of fresh fruit.

WASHINGTON: Indian food companies seeking to enter American markets may soon face a tough screening process, as the US health watchdog FDA has proposed a new Foreign Supplier Verification Programme for such products.

The new rules, once adopted after an ongoing public consultation process, would apply to all foreign companies supplying food products for human as well as animals in the US and would vary as per the type of food product (such as processed foods, farm produce, and dietary supplements) and category of the importer.

The regulations would require importers, from countries including India, to go through a screening process that ensures that food being imported has been produced in compliance with the processes and procedures required for the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standards.

About 15 per cent of all food consumed in the US is imported, while the ratio is even higher at 20 per cent for fresh vegetables and as high as 50 per cent of fresh fruit.

According to FDA, India is the second largest drug exporter and seventh largest food exporter to the US. At the same time, India also figures among the top countries in terms of import refusal of food products by the FDA.

Besides, several food-borne disease outbreaks have been traced to imported food, including outbreaks resulting from consumption of imported fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Amid recent concerns related to imported food, tighter rules have been designed to provide the same level of public health protection as those required under the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls and standards for produce safety sections of US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Although FDA applies the same safety standards to domestic and imported food marketed in the US, the regulator has long taken different regulatory compliance approaches to the products produced domestically and abroad.

The logistics associated with conducting unannounced onsite inspections in most foreign countries make it difficult for the FDA to conduct inspections similar to those in the US.

The same is true of "for cause" inspections when FDA has evidence of a compliance problem. FDA also has to overcome very significant hurdles to conduct foreign civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions when violations occur.

These difficulties associated with foreign inspection and enforcement are compounded as there are more foreign firms registered with FDA than domestic firms.

In addition, FDA is able to physically examine only a small fraction of the food that is offered for import into this country. The number of food import lines has grown significantly over the past decade, reaching nearly 10.5 million lines in fiscal year 2011, and FDA expects this trend to continue in the coming years.

A Year for Fruit & Vegetable Dangers

It was not perfect and it was not everywhere, but the U.S. government did, prior to this year, have a trip wire set up that might well have prevented that rare strain of hepatitis A from the Middle East and North Africa and that nasty cyclospora parasite from south of the border from getting into the United States.
The official name of that trip wire was the Microbiological Data Program (MDP), a federally funded joint project of USDA and about a dozen state agricultural labs. As Food Safety News reported at about this time last year, MDP was responsible for about 80 percent of the fresh produce testing being conducted in the U.S. at the time.
The New York Times editorial writers probably said it best when they called MDP “a tiny program that matters.” Also at about this time last year, we were writing about MDP’s contribution in heading off another deadly Listeria outbreak in cantaloupe. But the fresh produce lobby long wanted MDP killed, and at last it succeeded. The Obama White House, USDA and all those feed-at-trough farm committees in Congress played supporting roles.
In all likelihood, there is less fresh produce testing going on this year than at anytime in a decade. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) might be trying to pick up some of the slack left by the loss of MDP, but it is not capable of picking up all of it.
The fresh produce lobby did not like all those state labs at work because they were too connected to the growing and importing  seasons. The fresh produce industry did not like it when positive test results were sent by the states to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s disease surveillance network PulseNet. They did not like having those tests connected to produce consumers had not yet eaten and they for sure did not like those recalls.
So they killed it.
This means this is a very dangerous produce season for consumers. We should not be surprised that at least 418 people have contracted cyclospora infections from Mexican lettuce and 158 were sickened with a rare strain of hepatitis A. These are the sick folks whose summer is ruined all for the want of a trip wire warning.
As I said at the beginning, MDP did not catch all the bugs during its existence. The Turkish pomegranate seeds thought to be the source of the hepatitis A virus in the frozen berry mixes weren’t fresh produce and probably would have sickened consumers unless MDP was expanded to include frozen fruits and vegetables. But the Mexican salad makings might have been a different story.  With only 1 to 2 percent of all imported food getting inspected by FDA, having MDP to check on surges of fresh produce coming across our border would be a great use of the trip wire theory.
With the produce rule under the new Food Safety and Modernization Act, FDA is hard at work to make fresh fruits and vegetables safer in the future. It just would be nice if in there somewhere was a little program that would move and test fresh produce at times and locations that made some sense.
For the remainder of this summer, be careful with those fruits and vegetables. Be very careful.