FSSAI won't relax stand on labelling

The regulatory agency refused entry to several imported packaged food products citing labelling requirements that came into force in 2011

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has put its foot down and said “labeling requirements will not be relaxed” for any packaged food supplier as these are very “sensitive” products. It also maintained that the law mandates printed or inseparable labeling on such products.
“The law of the land is valid for everyone - for domestic suppliers as well as importers – and all are expected to follow it. A regulator’s duty is to implement the law and not violate it…Food is so sensitive and there is no question of relaxing the labeling requirements for pre-packaged food products,” FSSAI Chief Executive Officer Dillip Kumar Samantaray told Business Standard.
The food regulator’s comments comes in the wake of several containers of packaged food products carrying imported chocolates, crispies, gourmet cheese, olive oil, biscuits, noodles, pasta, jams, honey, oats and sauces etc being blocked at various ports and airports across the country in the absence of a clearance from FSSAI. The regulatory agency, which supervises import of food items to ensure quality, refused permission to these products citing labelling requirements as per the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 that came into force in 2011.
According to Samantaray, these products were refused permission during visual inspection conducted to primarily check the labeling requirements etc. He said most of these products were carrying stickers with various information, whereas stickers are allowed to differentiate between vegetarian and non-vegetarian products, and to specify the name and address of the importer. “The law of the land requires all other information to be printed on the pack,” Samantaray insisted.
He said that food is a sensitive commodity and especially products like jams and chocolates are mostly consumed by children and therefore quality and specifications cannot be compromised by any means. “Law should be equal for everyone. Even if domestic manufacturers export products to other countries, they are required to abide by the law of that country. Then why should India not ensure health of its citizens,” Samantaray said.
When asked why the sudden stringency of regulations while these products with such stickers have been available in Indian markets for a long time, the regulator said, “India before 1947 was colonial, so should we continue to be like that even now”. He also clarified that products have been barred from entry earlier in the past two years as well, since the Authority has come into power in 2010-11.
However, Oct-December being the festival season, the blocking of consignments may have impacted the business more than usual. Government sources indicate that packaged foods worth over Rs 750-1,000 crore were stuck at various ports and airports across the country.
Importers, irked by the lacklustre Diwali sales, say that if the issue is not sorted out soon, it could impact business during Christmas and New Year too. Almost 50-55 per cent of packaged food imports in India happen during the festive season, since it is utilised mainly for gifting purposes besides consumption.
Amit Lohani, convenor, Forum of Indian Food Importers, says FIFI has already made numerous representations to FSSAI in a bid to resolve the issue. "On October 31, FSSAI came out with a notification agreeing to one of our demands, which is to allow the food safety logo on a sticker. This is with immediate effect," Lohani, who imports Danish cookies, meats, beer and coffee among other products, said.
Samantray confirmed that FSSAI has received representations from various companies as well as industry bodies and has also responded to them explaining its stand.
Sources pointed out that some countries backing the importers have also approached the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Health.
Says Saloni Nangia, president, Technopak Advisors; "The FSSAI's move to enforce labeling standards is a step in the right direction. India for long has been a dumping ground for products that are well past their sell-by-date. At least now there will be some accountability. Product quality is compromised with the use of stickers. FSSAI is attempting to stop that."

A BAD TASTE IN THE MOUTH
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s CEO has said as food is a very sensitive product, there is no question of relaxing labelling requirements for pre-packaged food
- Asked about the sudden stringency of regulations, the regulator said that India, before 1947, was colonial but the old norms couldn’t continue now
- Government sources indicate that packaged foods worth Rs 750-1,000 crore were stuck at various ports and airports across the country
- October-December being the festival season, the blocking of consignments impacted the business more than usual

Food poisoning in Thalassery: over 100 taken ill

Over 100 students of an educational institution at Thalassery and some staff members were taken to hospital on Wednesday after they complained of symptoms of food poisoning.
The students of the Nettur Technical Training Foundation Institute were brought to the government hospital at Thalassery on Wednesday morning after they complained of bowel uneasiness.
The illness was apparently caused by food poisoning. All those who took ill and were brought to the hospital had eaten biriyani cooked on the institute campus on November 5 in connection with a sports meet of the institute.
When contacted, District Medical Officer K.J. Reena said that none of the food poisoning cases reported at the hospital was serious.
She said that only 10 students were admitted at the hospital for observation. Others were treated as out-patients.
NTTF institute authorities said that biriyani had been made on the campus by an outside cook on the occasion of the sports event.
1500 took the food
Nearly 1,500 people, mostly students, had taken the non-vegetarian food. They said that food inspectors visited the campus in the morning to examine the vessels used for preparing the food.

கடலூரில் கார்பைடு கற்களால் பழுக்க வைக்கப்படும் வாழைப்பழங்கள் சாப்பிடுபவர்களுக்கு புற்றுநோய் ஏற்படும் அபாயம்

கடலூர், நவ.7-கடலூரில் கார்பைடு கற்களைக்கொண்டு பழுக்க வைக்கப்படும் வாழைப்பழங்கள் விற்பனை செய்யப்படுகின்றன. இதை வாங்கி சாப்பிடுபவர்களுக்கு புற்றுநோய் ஏற்படும் அபாயம் உள்ளதாக அதிகாரிகள் எச்சரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளனர்.கார்பைடு கற்கள்கிராமப்புறங்களில் வாழைக்காய்களை புகை போட்டு(ஊத்தம்) பழுக்க வைப்பது வழக்கம். அவ்வாறு பழுக்க வைத்த வாழைப்பழங்களை சாப்பிட்டால் உடல் உபாதைகள் ஏற்படாது. ஆனால் நகர்புறங்களிலோ கார்பைடு கற்களை வைத்து பழுக்க வைக்கப்பட்ட வாழைப்பழங்கள் தான் விற்பனை செய்யப்படுகின்றன. இந்த வாழைப்பழங்களை சாப்பிடுபவர்களுக்கு புற்றுநோய் ஏற்படும் அபாயம் இருப்பதாக உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறை அதிகாரிகள் எச்சரிக்கிறார்கள்.
உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிஇது பற்றி உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர் ஒருவர் கூறியதாவது:-
கார்பைடு கற்களைக்கொண்டு பழுக்க வைத்த வாழைப்பழங்கள் மஞ்சள் நிறத்தில் இருக்கும், இவை ஓரிரு நாட்களுக்கு மேல் தாங்காது, சீக்கிரமாக கெடத்தொடங்கி விடும். மேலும் இவற்றை சாப்பிடுபவர்களுக்கு புற்றுநோய் ஏற்படும் அபாயம் உள்ளதால் கார்பைடு கற்களை கொண்டு பழங்களை பழுக்க வைப்பதை அரசு தடை செய்துள்ளது.இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.
தடையை மீறும் வியாபாரிகள் ஆனால் அரசின் தடையையும் மீறி கடலூர் முதுநகர் மற்றும் புதுநகரில் உள்ள வாழைத்தார் குடோன்களில் கார்பைடு கற்களை கொண்டு தான் வாழைக்காய்களை பழுக்க வைத்து விற்பனை செய்கிறார்கள். கடலூர்உழவர்சந்தையிலும் இந்த முறைதான் பயன்படுத்தப்படுவதாக புகார்கள் கூறப்படுகிறது. 
கார்பைடு கற்களுக்கு மாற்றாக பழங்களை பழுக்க வைக்க வேறு வழி உள்ளதா? என்று வேளாண்மைத்துறை அதிகாரி ஒருவரிடம் கேட்ட போது அவர் கூறியதாவது:-மாற்று ரசாயனம்விஞ்ஞானப்பூர்வமாக எத்திலீன் வாயு கொண்டு வாழைக்காய்களை பழுக்க வைக்கலாம். எத்திலீன் வாயுவானது எத்திரல் எனப்படும் ரசாயனத்தின் மூலம் உருவாகிறது. இந்த எத்திரல் கரைசல் கோவை போன்ற பெரு நகரங்களில் பெரிய கடைகளில் கிடைக்கிறது. இதில் வாழைக்காய்களை நனைத்து வைத்தால் சீராக பழம் பழுக்கும். அவற்றை சாப்பிட்டால் உடல் உபாதைகள் ஏற்படாது.இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.எனவே கார்பைடு கற்களுக்கு பதிலாக எத்திரல் வாங்கி பயன்படுத்த வியாபாரிகள் முன்வர வேண்டும். தடை செய்யப்பட்ட கார்பைடு கற்களை பயன்படுத்தும் வியாபாரிகள் மீது கடும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகளும் முன்வரவேண்டும்.

DINAMANI & INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS

உடல் எடையை குறைப்பதாக நூதன மோசடி ஹெர்பல் மையங்களில் தரமற்ற உணவு பாக்கெட்டுகள் பறிமுதல்

நெல்லை, நவ. 7:
நெல்லை யில் உள்ள ஹெர்பல் மையங்களில் உணவு பாது காப்பு துறை அதிகாரிகள் திடீர் சோதனை நடத்தினர். இதில் ரூ.1 லட்சத்து 30 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் மதிப்பிலான தரமற்ற ஹெர்பல் உணவு பாட்டில்கள், டீத்தூள், ஹெர்பல் மாத்திரைகள் பறிமுதல் செய்யப்பட்டன.
நெல்லை மாவட்டத்தில் மக்கள் கூடும் முக்கிய இடங்களில் ஹெல்த் கேம்ப் என்ற பெயரில் குடைகளை விரித்து மருந்து பாட்டில்களை பலர் விற்பனை செய்து வருகின்றனர். உடல் எடையை குறைக்க வேண்டுமா? கடின உடற்பயிற்சி தேவை யில்லை எனும் கவர்ச்சிகரமான வாசகங்களுடன் முகாமிலே உடல் எடை, உயரம் ஆகியவற்றை கணக்கெடுத்து, தீர்வாக உணவு மற்றும் மருந்து பாட்டில்களை ஆயிரக்கணக் கான ரூபாய்க்கு விற்கின்றனர்.
இம்மருந்து பாட்டில்கள் தரமற்றதாக இருப்பதாக உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறைக்கு பல்வேறு புகார் கள் சென்றன. இதையடுத்து, உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை மாவட்ட நியமன அலுவலர் ஜெகதீஷ் சுபாஷ் சந்திரபோஸ் தலைமையில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர்கள் சங்கரலிங்கம், காளிமுத்து தலைமையிலான குழுவினர் நேற்று நெல்லை மாநகரில் அதிரடி சோதனை நடத்தினர்.
டவுன் ஆர்ச் அருகே ஒரு எல்ஐசி பாலிசி பிரி மியம் செலுத்தும் அலுவலகத்தில் ஹெர்பல் உணவு மற்றும் மருந்து பாட்டில் கள் மொத்தமாக வைத்து விற்பனை செய்யப்பட்டு வந்தன. அவற்றில் உணவு அல்லது மருந்துக்கான எவ்வித முத்திரையும் இல்லை. இவற்றை ரூ.1,000 வரை பேரம் பேசி அவர்கள் விற்பனை செய்தது தெரியவந்தது. அங்குள்ள ஹெர்பல் லைப் உணவு பாட்டில்கள், ஹெர்பல் டீ பாக்கெட்டுகளை அதிகாரிகள் கைப்பற்றினர்.
இதேபோல, பாளை பெருமாள்புரம் பகுதியில் இயங்கி வந்த ஒரு ஹெர்பல் மையத்திலும் தரமற்ற உணவு பாக்கெட்டுகளை உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர்கள் இப்ராகிம், கலியனாண்டி, சிங்கராஜ் ஆகியோர் கைப்பற்றினர். உடல் எடையை குறைக்க உதவும் இத்தகைய மாவு பாக்கெட்டில் மக்காச்சோளம், பட்டாணி, கடலை மாவு கலந்திருப்பதாக அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்தனர். 500 கிராம் உணவு டப்பாக்கள் 35ம், 200 கிராம் உணவு டப்பாக்கள் 25ம், ஹெர்பல் மாத்திரை 10 டப்பாக்கள் என மொத்தம் ஒரு லட்சத்து 30 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் மதிப்பிலான உணவு மற்றும் மருந்து பொருட்கள் பறிமுதல் செய்யப்பட்டன.
இதுகுறித்து உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை நியமன அலுவலர் ஜெகதீஷ் சுபாஷ்சந்திரபோஸ் கூறுகையில், “நெல்லையில் ஹெல்த் கேம்ப் என்ற பெயரில் முகாம் நடத்தி தரமற்ற ஹெர்பல் உணவுகளை விற்று வருகின்றனர். உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறையின் அனுமதியின்றி விற்கப்படும் தரமற்ற உணவுகளை தற்போது கைப்பற்றி உணவு மாதிரிக்காக பகுப்பாய்வு கூடத்திற்கு அனுப்பி வைத்துள்ளோம். ஆய்வு முடிவுக்கு பின், சட்டப்படி ஹெர்பல் மையங்களை நடத்தியவர்கள் மீது நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.
உடல் எடையை குறைக்க விரும்புவர்கள் தினமும் உடற்பயிற்சிகளை மேற்கொண்டாலே போதும். உணவு பழக்க வழக்கங்களுக்கு தகுந்த மருத்துவரை தேடி ஆலோசனை பெற வேண்டும். அதை விடுத்து போலி விளம்பரங்களை கண்டு ஏமாந்து, கண்ணில் காணும் உணவுகளை வாங்கி சாப்பிட்டால் ஆரோக்கியம் கெடும்,” என்றார்.
நெல்லை டவுனில் உள்ள ஒரு ஹெர்பல் மையத்தில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை அதிகாரிகள் சோதனை நடத்தினர்.
உடல் எடையை குறைக்க விரும்புவர்கள் தினமும் உடற்பயிற்சிகளை மேற்கொண்டாலே போதும். உணவு பழக்க வழக்கங்களுக்கு தகுந்த மருத்துவரை தேடி ஆலோசனை பெற வேண்டும். அதை விடுத்து போலி விளம்பரங்களை கண்டு ஏமாந்து, கண்ணில் காணும் உணவுகளை வாங்கி சாப்பிட்டால் ஆரோக்கியம் கெடும்,” என்றார்.

DINATHANTHI NEWS

Health drink products seized from godown

A team of officials of the Department of Food Safety conducted raids on two places here on Wednesday and seized Rs.1.30 lakh-worth “weight management and health drink products” being marketed by Herbalife.

“Since Herbalife, the company marketing a range of products as weight management and health drink products, has not obtained the mandatory approval from the Food Safety Standards Authority of India, New Delhi, for selling them as food in the Indian market, we’ve seized them,” said Jegadish Chandra Bose, Designated Officer, Department of Food Safety, who led the raid.

In the raid conducted in a godown near Rathna Theatre, the officials seized Rs.1 lakh-worth Herbalife products while another raid conducted at Pioneer Kumarasamy Nagar in Perumalpuram led to the confiscation of Rs.30,000-worth products.

Dr. Bose, who is holding additional charge of Tirunelveli district along with Tuticorin district, said the products were being sold to the public under multi-level marketing system.

As the officials had collected samples of these products to be sent for analysis, further action could be taken based on the results.

Dr.Bose said regular brisk walking and a diet chart designed by a qualified physician alone could prove to be a credible weight management regimen.

“There is no shortcut for weight loss as being promised by a few companies,” he said.

The Designated Officer also informed that Herbalife, by regularly organising meetings in luxury hotels, was enticing the public to sell its products. “All the products being marketed by this company have been priced at thousands of rupees and hence the company follows multi-level marketing strategy to push the products,” Dr.Bose added.

Food Safety Officers A.R. Sankaralingam, Kalimuthu, Ibrahim and Kaliyanandi conducted the raids.

FDA collects 61 sweet samples, two adulterated

AURANGABAD: Out of 61 food samples procured to assess quality by officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Aurangabad, two have been found to be of substandard quality.
FDA officials had collected these samples of various types of sweets and other ingredients from Aurangabad district for a special quality check drive during Diwali.
Chandrashekhar Salunke, FDA joint commissioner, Food, Aurangabad division, told TOI that the drive against food adulteration was launched in October. Samples were collected till November 3. A total of 61 samples of sweets and milk products such as khoya and ingredients used in making sweets, such as rawa and maida, were sent to the FDA's Mumbai laboratory for tests. Of the 61 samples sent for the tests, the Aurangabad FDA authorities have received reports of 20, of which two have been found to be substandard. The reports of 41 samples are still awaited.
Food safety inspector Varsha Rode said that out of the 61 samples collected, 27 were samples of mithai and farsan, five of khoya, three of mithai made with silver foil, five of chocolates, 18 oil samples and three besan, rawa and maida samples.
"Out of the 20 reports of the samples, 18 were found to be of standard quality. Two oil samples were found to be substandard," Rode said. She said that edible oil worth Rs 11.5lakh has been seized on the suspicion of being adulterated over the festive period.
The FDA joint commissioner said that food safety officers look into the colour used in sweets. "Permitted colours are used in items like biscuits, ice-cream and some sweets. Though not injurious to health, these can only be used to a certain allowed limit," Salunke said, pointing out that the use of non-permitted colours is considered as food adulteration.
Speaking about the use of mawa or khoya, which is basically dried milk used for making a lot of mithai, Salunke said that if the fat content in mawa is not as per the prescribed, standard limit -- if it is too high or too low -- such mawa cannot be allowed to be used in sweets. "As per the standard, mawa needs to have a minimum of 30 per cent milk fats. It is difficult to just recognise pure mawa. It can be adulterated using sugar and even substances like starch. This is why the registration or licensing of mawa shops has been made mandatory," Salunke said.

Safety in food security

AP SAFE AND HEALTHY: An empowered force of trained food safety personnel must be formed to ensure that adulteration or contamination is detected scientifically.

While making grain available to all is important, it is equally essential to ensure that all food supplied for consumption remains unadulterated and uncontaminated.

When India became independent, the Constitution declared it to be a socialist, secular, democratic Republic. The first fundamental right under the Constitution sets down that every citizen has a right to life. This has been interpreted by the highest court as every citizen’s right to a life in dignity, good health and free speech in a fraternity of communal harmony and national integrity. These rights are possible only if you are not starving, in the first place.

India has, according to some sources, some 400 million people living below the poverty line. Unless poverty is eradicated, our socialist credo will remain just a pretence. Medical facilities being made accessible to every little Indian is also an imperative. In a letter to Union Minister for Food, K.V. Thomas, I had underscored the importance of the recently enacted legislation that is meant to ensure food security, bringing crores of Indians within its ambit. Food security is one of the most important measures that should make the Indian socialist Republic a reality in the true sense of the term. Indeed, the enforcement of the Food Safety Bill will constitute a perspective plan for the making of this socialist Republic.

Challenge of contamination

Still, food security, which seeks to end starvation, does not abolish food adulteration. Virtually all items of food in India have chemicals or adulterants added to them, which make them unsafe to various degrees. Therefore, every public institution where food is served must ensure that what is served is chemically safe, nutritionally healthy and makes for the health of the nation.

This means an organised system of inspecting the quality of food offered in public places. We should be under no illusion that even godowns where grain is kept for easy distribution have enough safety features incorporated in them.

The business of making food appear appealing and attractive often spoils the quality of what we eat. To make the nation healthy, every citizen must be able to buy food that is free from contamination. This will involve a comprehensive process involving testing facilities or laboratories even in the villages. We must have a food safety project that makes what we eat wholesome. Food security cannot be guaranteed merely by the provision of a certain quantity of grain to each family but by ensuring that every grain that is distributed is wholesome and nourishing, and not noxious. The ideology of food safety is a composite one, beyond merely making grain available physically.

Needed measures

We must have a state-sponsored food safety foundation that has branches all across each State, with equipment that can test food safety. An empowered force of trained food safety personnel should visit eateries, food stores, even festival venues where food is served, and take action where adulteration or contamination is detected through scientific means. The food safety police must have suitable powers conferred on them under legislative sanction. There should be an Act that provides statutory instrumentality to thus ensure the health of the people. A safety police force operating under the Health Ministry with powers of seizure is a new concept that will require an amendment to the Food Safety Act. Policing the process is a fundamental obligation of the state.

The destiny of India is as yet uncertain. Jawaharlal Nehru said in a celebrated speech: “The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.”

The Food Safety Bill has a serious shortcoming, and this must be corrected by means of suitable amendments and policy reformation. The prices of vegetables and other necessary commodities for food consumption keep rising and it is still not clear what the government is doing to control the trend.

To end starvation, the prices of all food commodities must be regulated. Real food safety is the have-not humanity’s instrument of contentment.

(V.R. Krishna Iyer is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India.)

Health officials find it hard to enforce food safety Act

Jalandhar, November 6
The district health authorities are finding it hard to enforce the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006, in the district even after seven years. Thought the Union Government had made it mandatory that every petty food manufacturers and big houses had to get themselves registered with the health department under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, there are a few businessmen coming forward in this regard.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has laid down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Under the provisions of the regulations, the cottage food manufacturing industry, with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs 12 lakh, will have to get registered with the health department, while the big food manufacturing having an annual turnover over Rs 12 lakh must obtain licence from the department.
Sources in the department said that a majority of the owners running petty food industry were reluctant to get themselves registered with the department.
Moreover, the department has failed to come down heavily on roadside vends and eateries as they are of migratory nature.
There are thousands of hotels, dhabas, taverns, roadside vends and rehris catering to lakhs of needy people across the district who are hardly interested in getting them registered with the department, a senior official in the health department said.
Talking to The Tribune, district health officer (DHO), Dr Balwinder Singh said that 3,400 units of cottage food industry had been registered, while 1,050 big food manufacturing units from across the district had obtained licences from the department so far.
The registration fee is Rs 100, while licence seekers have to pay Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 as per the provisions, he added.
The DHO, however, revealed that the owners of petty food industry and of big food manufacturing houses were showing least interest even though the department had held different meeting to educate them.

Smokeless Tobacco, expired food products destroyed in Chandel

Smokeless tobaccos and expired food products worth Rs 5 lakhs in the local market were burned at the premises of CMO Office in Chandel district. The products were seized from shop keepers of Japhou Bazaar during a raid conducted under the supervision of the district’s Food Safety Officer (FSO) in association with Association for Voluntary Blood Donation (ABVD) Chandel Branch.
On Wednesday, FSO Chandel Elvison Thouman with the help of the district police, volunteers of ABVD and Analphung raided certain shops on receiving information about the open sale of the illegal products that included scented Khaini, Raja Chap Khaini, Saajan in addition with banned food products imported from Myanmar.
During the foray, volunteers also came across a drug store that was selling expired drugs and injection as well and immediately reported the matter to concerned officials.
Talking to The People’s Chronicle, President ABVD Rd Everjoy informed that the sale of expired food items came into light much earlier than Wednesday’s raid when he and his friends bought an expired soft drink (Fanta) from a shop owned by one Rekha Devi. Further checking of the shop led to the discovery of other items that were on sale even though the products were well beyond its expiry date. The items included of Lays Potato chips, Kukere, Stop not Namkeen, Lays, Haldiram’s Bhujia, Sweet Toast, Sugar free organic cream and Bikano (Kashmiri Bhujia).
Rd Everjoy further informed that after being tipped off by the shopkeepers, they raided other four or five stores during which expired soft drinks (Coca-cola, Sprite), biscuit (Parle-G), Papads were openly kept for sale.
Later, Elvinson informed the media that the raid was the third following the first and second conducted in October. The district FSO also cited the Food Safety Standard Act 2006 to inform shopkeepers to avoid selling of tobacco products and banned food products especially those imported from Myanmar. Elvinson, while appealing all to avoid the sale of illegal items also cautioned that penalty of one to upto ten lakhs could be imposed on those violating the Act.

FOOD SAFETY

Though already late, it is good to know that the Government of Manipur has finally woken up to giving due importance to the cause of general health and hygiene of the people, and decided to act tough against shops selling eatable items and other food manufacturing units being operated in the State without possessing the required registration certificates and license.  After being passed by the Indian Parliament on August 23, 2006, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 has been implemented as a law with effect from August 5, 2011 throughout the country including Manipur. Under this Act, owners of shops and other business establishments selling eatable items as well as companies manufacturing food items need to register themselves and possess the required registration certificates and licenses from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which has been mandated under the provisions of the Act to ensure availability of wholesome safe food for human consumption. At the State level, the Commissioner of Food Safety is the highest regulatory and implementing authority of the Act. It is unfortunate to learn that people of the State in general and the owners of shops and other business establishments dealing in food items in particular do not understand the significance of the Act.

As some of the Food Safety Officers in the State have themselves admitted, lack of awareness has been at the root cause of total neglect of the Act and its provisions in Manipur, and consequently, the failure of the shop-keepers and proprietors of food manufacturing units to register and possess the required registration certificates and licenses from FSSAI. So, the authorities concerned need to find out ways and means to generate awareness among the people. Here, we should understand the simple fact that for successful implementation of any legislation or developmental scheme/project, mass publicity campaign out in the field is imperative. Organising a couple of workshops or seminars within the confined of an air-conditioned conference hall of some classy hotels and then claiming that publicity campaigns have been carried out to convey the message to owners of shops and other business establishments dealing in food items or extending deadline for registration wouldn't simply work. One needs to be more sincere and dedicated towards ensuring availability of wholesome safe food for human consumption. Let's be clear that unsafe food not only causes many acute and life-long diseases, but also pose a growing threat to public health. So, when it comes to the question of life and death, do we need time to wait for an answer?