HC refuses to stay circular banning silver leaf on sweets

Ahead of Diwali festival, the Bombay High Court today refused to stay a municipal circular banning silver foil coating on sweets.
Mishtann Vyavasai Sahakari Mandal, an association of sweets sellers, had sought a stay on the October 24 circular issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) banning use of silver leaf on sweets.
Refusing to grant interim relief, Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel said, "BMC issues licence with certain conditions and has the powers to check. If the civic body finds that the conditions are being violated then it has all the powers to stop it in larger public interest."
BMC counsel Suresh Pakale and Trupti Puranik argued that the civic body had not imposed a blanket ban on the use of silver foil coating on sweets. There is a regulation on use of silver leaf for health purpose, they told the court.
"There are traders who use material other than silver. This is harmful to public health," said Pakale.
Anjali Yajurvedi, advocate for the petitioner, claimed that the circular was issued just before the Diwali festival to create panic among the general public. Even earlier, the BMC had issued such a circular with regard to 'mawa' (sweet).
Opposing the circular, the petitioner claimed that such "last minute" circulars cause losses to the traders as they have already accepted orders from customers before the Diwali festival. The customers would not then want to buy the sweets which would cause them heavy losses, it claimed.
The petitioner further alleged the order was a ploy to stop the sale of Indian sweets.
The petitioner also claimed the civic body had no powers to regulate the sale of sweets. As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the BMC health officials do not have the power to conduct inspection, the petitioner contended.
The high court said it would deal with all the aspects of the petition during next hearing after Diwali vacation. Meanwhile, interim relief to stay the circular was refused.

KAALAI KATHIR NEWS

Diwali is almost here and so are the adulterated sweets but wait, we have alternatives

Call them impure, contaminated or adulterated (they all are synonyms), they have a major role in your sickness.
Yes, India’s most popular festival, the festival of lights Diwali/Deepawali is almost here and this means, all the sweets shops are having a gala time. Actually, we all know India is a very vivid country and we Indians like to celebrate each and every day as a festival, which also means; the sweets business is a sweet business throughout the year. Anyways, the festivals have a major impact on the actual sale of sweets and other sweet products and items in India and Shimla is no different.



You may argue, the presence of other edible gift items like packed chocolates, candies, biscuits, canned sweets, soft drinks and even savoury chips and stuff (pardon us if we missed something, we assume you get the point) have taken over India’s typical handmade sweets (the Gulab Jamuns, Rasgulaas, Barfi and the likes ). It’s a common trend to save yourself from standing in a queue at a sweets shop, we rather like to visit our general store, get the alternatives, pack them in colourful wrappings and gift. But exactly, why do we do that?





Well, there are a few valid reasons. The first one would be our love for easy food. We at SB won’t call candies, biscuits, soft-drinks, chips and chocolates as junk food items (come-on half the world is eating all this, and they all can’t be wrong?). The second would most definitely be our laziness. In order to buy sweets, you need to find a sweets shop, these sweets shops aren’t so general like your general items/daily needs shop around the corner. The third and perhaps, the biggest reason for the decline of our old skool sweets shop is the fear of buying impure or contaminated sweets. During the festival season, there’s always a risk of buying and consuming polluted sweets. In order to make quick cash, the sweet makers or the Halwai’s in India are tempted to use non recommended products for their sweets. This poses a serious threat for your general well being and health.
Like we said, Shimla is no different and it’s important to have a thorough inspection of the sweets before buying them. Of Course! We don’t have the equipment to check for impurities but, we do have eyes, nose and tongue moreover, the health department of Municipal Corporation Shimla is already active.
If you find something suspicious, complain
The Shimla Municipal Health team has been visiting sweets shops in the different areas of the city and they have been proactively tightening the leash on those who are trying to play with the health of people. The team has been inspecting sweets shops and fruit vendors for impure sweets and rotten fruits under the guidance of Shimla Municipal Health Officer, Umesh Bharti and he has assured that strict actions have been taken against suspected sweet shops.
Speaking of actions, Under the Food Safety and Standard Act-2006, if a shopkeeper/sweet-maker is found guilty of making or selling infected, contaminated sweets, there’s a minimum penalty of Rs 1lakhs and a maximum fine of Rs 10lakhs with life imprisonment (applicable only if some dies due to consumption of infected food item). If the Municipal Health team finds a certain shop or place to be dirty and unfit as per the standards, the shop keeper can be fined upto Rs 1Lakh and if the shopkeeper doesn’t have his valid license to run the shop and the food items are unsafe, he can be fined Rs 5lakh with a maximum imprisonment of up to 6 months.
So, this goes out to all our friends in Shimla and everywhere else, if you plan to buy sweets, do have a thorough inspection of the items and if you find anything suspicious, stand up and register your voice.

Food and Drug Administration seizes 19kg edible oil during raids in Thane

THANE: With the festival of lights round the corner, the Thane unit of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), decided to raid the producers and wholesalers selling loose edible oil (unpacked) to retailers. Selling of loose edible oil is prohibited under the food safety standard, fearing large-scale adulteration, especially during Diwali.
A special squad of FDA, Thane conducted simultaneous raid on violators of food safety norms on Sunday and seized a huge amount of loose oil at various places in Thane district. During the drive, FDA seized 19, 132kg including mustard, refined and groundnut oil worth Rs 19, 24, 258. As many as nine traders were trapped by the squad encompassing Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kongaon, Bhiwandi, Ambernath, Mira and Bhayndar.
"The demand for edible oil increases manifold during Diwali and suspecting a large scale adulteration we decided to raid various places. The raid was planned based on a tip-off," said S K Shere, joint commissioner of FDA (Food), Konkan Division, Thane.
Those trapped include, Sumit Enterprises, Turbhe, Gautam Enterprises, Vashi, Heena Oil depot, Ambernath, Indra Sales Agency, Kongaon, JJ Trading Company, Kongaon, Ganesh Oil depot, Bhiwandi, Sohan Traders, Bhiwandi, Amrut Oil Agency, Bhayandar and Vinayak Traders, Mira Road.
According to the rule a producer or trader is not allowed to sell loose oil to the retailer. In case the sample found to be sub-standard and unsafe for consumption after through test conducted in the laboratory the violator is liable to pay a fine upto Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment from six months to six years.
"We have sent the samples for testing and further action will be initiated once the reports come in. We will continue the raid for one more week to put an anchor on violators of food safety rule," said Shere.

Readers mail - Unkempt mutton stalls

Mutton shops in the North Devi Street, Srirangam, are an eyesore. Butchers wash the animals with water and improperly remove the dust from hair and hoof. A battalion of swarming flies in and around and stray dogs waiting for meat presents a pitiable sight. Action should be taken against vendors who abrogate themselves from following hygiene norms prescribed under Food Safety Act. I urge the authorities concerned of the Department of Food Safety and Drug Administration to take action against such mutton shops.

K. Aravind, Srirangam.

Milma sachets to sport new look from November

New Milma packets will display the tagline, 'Let's grow'.

Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (Milma) has decided to remove the imprint ‘fresh and pure’ from its milk sachets with effect from November 1. Milma will market its product with a brand new packaging from that date and will display a new tagline, ‘Let’s grow’.

The cooperative milk marketing body was directed by the High Court a few months ago to remove the phrase ‘fresh and pure’ from its packaging after a consumer took up a case on the issue, contending that Milma milk contained skimmed milk powder. Milma had claimed that milk powder was being added to maintain the SNF (solid not fat) content in the milk as required by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The milk, produced by different breeds of cattle and procured from various centres, did not conform to the stipulated SNF norms. Milma authorities had also explained that the tagline ‘fresh and pure’ had been displayed as part of the National Dairy Development Board marketing scheme.

Along with the introduction of the new packaging, Milma has decided to withdraw its Jersey brand of milk from the market. A senior official of the milk marketing body said that the step was being taken as it was difficult to sell milk belonging to jersey breed of cattle alone. The Ernakulam region of Milma will introduce homogenized toned milk in the market, at Rs.35 per litre. The particular variety was not available in the region earlier.

Officials take sweets samples for lab test

Food Safety Officers collecting samples from a sweets manufacturing unit at R.S.Puram in Coimbatore on Monday.

Food Safety Officials on Monday began taking samples from sweets shops across the district ahead of the festival season of Deepavali.

Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety Wing) Designated Officer R. Kathiravan said that this was part of measures to check the quality of sweets, since this period witnessed a huge surge in sales. The spurt in demand could lead to deterioration in quality, he said.The samples will be tested at the Government Food Analysis Laboratory here. If the tests revealed the quality to be unsatisfactory, improvement notices would be served on the shops, he said.

Samples will be taken till Deepavali.

DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

ஓட்டலில் கலர் பொடி கலந்த கோழி இறைச்சி பறிமுதல் தர்மபுரி

Food safety licence must for food grain godowns

PANAJI: Goa civil supplies department has stated that all its godowns across the state have to obtain a food safety licence to ensure that quality of food grains is maintained.
The department has also asked for a monthly report from joint mamlatdars about damaged, inferior or infested grains found in godowns from where the grains are supplied to fair price shops through the public distribution system. The directions are mentioned in a circular issued by director of civil supplies Vikas Gaunekar
The joint mamlatdars will also have to educate fair price shop owners about maintaining quality of grains and to take measures to prevent pest infestation. There are more than a dozen godowns in the 12 talukas.