Contents of Skimmed Milk Powder

As per Regulation 1.2 & 2.1.1 (1) Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives), Regulations, 2011, milk solids (skimmed milk powder and white butter) are allowed independently in Standardised Milk, Recombined Milk, Toned Milk. Double Toned Milk and Full Cream Milk. Details are annexed.
Every pre-packaged food is required to follow the labelling requirements laid down as per clause 2.2.2 (2) of Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling), Regulations, 2011.
The State / U.T Governments are responsible for implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Rules & Regulations, 2011. They have been requested from time to time to keep a strict vigil on quality / adulteration of food products including milk and milk products for presence of adulterants and take necessary action against such unscrupulous traders. To curb the menace of food adulteration regular surveillance, monitoring & sampling of food products is undertaken by State / UT Governments under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Rotten canned fish

Imphal, August 23 2013 : Sustaining its campaign against sale of sub-standard consumer items, personnel of Food Safety and Standards Wing today impounded rotten canned fish labelled Sea Cherry Mackerels from an agent today.
The said canned fish were seized from the Wahengbam Leikai storage facility of Y Krishna Singh & Sons with the agent said to be one Yengkhom Jenchandra Singh (43) s/o (L) Y Tombi of Wahengbam Leikai.
In his explanation, Jenchandra said the agency started to recollect the particular brand of canned fish following intimations from retail sellers about a number of individual consumers complaining that the contents were foul smelling.
Informing that the recollected canned fish were those distributed to the retailers in between September and October, 2012 and revealing the manufacturer as Sowkar Canning Co, Udyavara in Karnataka State, he said that in all 500 cartons each containing 36 pieces could be collected.
Claiming that the manufacturer was informed on the matter resulting in the arrival of a company representative to confirm the case, Jenchandra further maintained that Food Safety officials were already informed about the complaints from the consumers.
The items were seized during a joint drive launched by the Designated Officer (Food Safety) CMO (Imphal West) S Bimolakumari, Imphal West Food Safety Officer Y Seityajit (FSO Churachandpur) Sunilkumar and City Police OC.
According to Y Seityajit today's drive was specifically carried out based on information about the agency storing the canned fish brand which was already banned on March 25, 2013 for non-compliance to labelling rules and regulations.
Urging the general public to contact the Food Safety and Standards Wing if they have any information about sale of the said item, he also affirmed that appropriate action under the Food safety Act would be initiated against the agent.
Along with informing that the impounded rotten items would be disposed off after consulting department concerned, Seityajit said similar raids would be conducted to seize adulterated food items as well as other products that pose threat to the consumers.

Crackdown on sale of adulterated milk soon

J.Suguna, Designated Officer for Food Safety, Madurai district, told The Hindu on Friday that raids would be carried out at milk manufacturing and selling points across the city.

There is a question mark over the quality and standard of the milk sold in the city. Authorities are checking out complaints received from the public over the sale of adulterated milk.

J.Suguna, Designated Officer for Food Safety, Madurai district, told The Hindu on Friday that raids would be carried out at milk manufacturing and selling points across the city.

“Private dairies, retail suppliers and those who are selling milk packets under different brand names will have to follow Food Safety Standards. There are quality norms governing the production and distribution of branded as well as unbranded milk, and Food Safety Inspectors will start inspection from Monday,” she said.

Milk samples will be collected and sent to the Food Analysis Laboratory to check for the presence of toxic chemicals, additives, starch and whiteners, apart from high levels of water.

Ms.Suguna said Food Safety Wing officials recently caught a popular bakery in Kochadai selling bread and other bakery items past their expiry date.

Eateries, restaurants and other food outlets have been asked to obtain mandatory certification by February 2014, she pointed out.

“So far, we have issued 1,800 licences and about 7,000 registration certificates. Nearly 9,000 food business operators are yet to get food safety clearance from us,” Dr.Suguna said.

100 self-help groups to get FDA licences

PUNE: Nearly 100 of the 160 self-help groups, which provide midday meals to schools in the city, are expected to get Food and Drug Administration licence within a fortnight.
The FDA has made it mandatory for all SHGs involved in cooking midday meals for school children to secure a licence in the wake of the Bihar midday meal tragedy where over 20 school children died due to food poisoning.
Around 160 SHGs provide food to almost 92,000 students in over 600 schools in the city. Following the Bihar midday meal
tragedy, the Pune Municipal Corporation issued show-cause notices to two major groups that act as coordinators of SHGs which supply meals to schools.
Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, said, "We conducted a workshop on Sunday for the SHGs. An orientation programme regarding food safety and hygiene maintenance was held during the workshop. Also, the need to have a licence and the documentation required for the purpose was discussed. After the workshop, we received applications from many SHGs and in 15 days, about 100 of them will be getting their licences." As many as 320 women attended the workshop, he added.
As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, SHGs are required to register with the FDA and take a licence from it to operate. The FDA checks hygiene, the material used for cooking and the quality of food before giving its approval.
The SHGs were also informed about the food temperature to be maintained during distribution of food, the quality of the raw material to be used for cooking and the importance of having clean kitchen sheds. As per FDA rules, SHGs with an annual turnover of less than Rs 12 lakh need to register with it, while those having a turnover of more than Rs 12 lakh per annum, have to secure licences.

Pesticide residue found in rice

Excessive amounts of Malathion, a general use pesticide, have been detected in a rice sample collected for inspection from the Food Corporation of India godown at Valiyathura here.

Traces of uric acid, indicating presence of pests, were also found in three to four samples, of a total of nine samples that were collected in raids conducted on August 1.

According to Food Safety officials, the presence of Malathion was detected during tests conducted at the Pesticide Residue Research and Analytical Laboratory of the Kerala Agricultural College at Vellayani here while traces of uric acid, which were in amounts that made the rice and wheat grains ‘unfit for consumption’, were found in tests at the Government Analyst Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram.

Officials said the FCI staff had admitted that they used pesticides such as Malathion, DDVP, and Deltamethrine to keep away pests.

“Apparently, the quantity they used was much above stipulated limits, which is why Malathion could be detected in the grains though it was sprayed over the sacks in which the grains are stored. The concentration was very high,” officials said.

The Food Safety Department will shortly submit a report on the issue to the State and Union governments. However, action might be initiated only after Onam, officials indicated, adding that more intensive raids and elaborate examination of samples would be taken up after Onam at the godown and other similar food grain storage installations in the capital district.

Incidentally, the raids on August 1, during which the contaminated samples were collected, had witnessed unruly scenes when FCI employees and loading workers refused to let the Food Safety officials in.

The raid was conducted after the Valiyathura police intervened and both the Food Safety Department and the police had booked cases in connection with the incident.

After a wait of seven months, FSSAI gets CEO in Dilip Kumar Samantaray

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which was operating without chief executive officer (CEO) for the last seven months, finally got one in Dilip Kumar Samantaray, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1983 batch from Madhya Pradesh.
He was appointed by ministry of health and family welfare under a suggestion from the Madhya Pradesh government as CEO on July 1, 2013, and took charge on August 5, 2013, according to sources in FSSAI. Earlier, the post was occupied by S N Mohanty, who left it amid a lot of speculation at the beginning of 2013. He is now director-general, supplies and disposal in the ministry of commerce and industry.
The source from FSSAI revealed, “Samantaray is very strict in his work and after taking the charge of FSSAI CEO on August 5, 2013, he has been planning to bring about a lot of changes. He is working on the steps to be taken for the completion of licensing and registration of food business operators well before the deadline – February 4, 2014.”