Mangoes worth nearly Rs2cr destroyed in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has confiscated and destroyed 26,000 kg of artificially ripened mangoes worth Rs 1.93 crore in the past one month. The state body found clandestine godowns on the highways or fringes of cities being used to ripen the mangoes usingcalcium carbide. 

Many farmers had urged Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recently to stall the FDA crackdown. Pawar's office is believed to have spoken to the FDA. 

The FDA said on Monday that the mangoes were to be supplied to Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Akola and Aurangabad. Food safety officers sought permission from municipal corporations and dumped the mangoes, before destroying them with compactors. 

"The use of calcium carbide to ripen fruits is a violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act. It is a known carcinogen and can have far-reaching health effects," FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade said. Food safety officers have been speaking to farmers and mango traders for three years, educating them about the hazards of artificially ripening mangoes, he said. 

Calcium carbide is the commonest chemical agent used to ripen mangoes. "The carbide gas that emanates from calcium carbide is used to ripen mangoes. It is a serious threat to health as it also contains traces of phosphorus and arsenic. Carbide is actually used in welding works," said joint commissioner S S Kale. He added that the trucks carrying mangoes are parked outside warehouses for two days, when the mangoes are sprayed and then sent to various places. 

Zagade said the onus to recognize naturally ripened fruits also lies on citizens. "Artificially ripened mangoes will not have wrinkles," he said.

Over 23,000 kg mangoes went to dumping yard last month

SUMMARY

The use of Calcium Carbide has become rampant with traders wishing to ripe mangoes within 48 hours instead of waiting for a week or so

Traders mixing Calcium Carbide in the king of fruits — Mangoes — have become a reason to give fans of this seasonal fruit a pang of pain. In the past month (that is April 1-May 4), the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to destroy a whopping 23, 678 kg of mangoes worth Rs 11.85 lakh after it found godowns full of mango boxes containing Calcium Carbide packets stacked against the fruit.

Kamlesh Sankhe, joint commissioner of food at FDA, said, “Food safety officers have permission to destroy such fruits as soon as they find that artificial ripening agents have been used. We made thorough inspections in all godowns before seizing them. These mangoes are then emptied in a dumping ground and crushed so that they cannot be accidentally consumed.”

Sankhe said permission from the local municipal corporation has to be sought before destroying the mangoes in the dumping ground. “In Mumbai, we first took permission from BMC and then used the dumping grounds to crush all the mangoes,” he said. A truck is used to squash all the mangoes under the wheels later.

As per data gathered from the FDA, 40 varieties of mangoes were scrutinised for traces of this chemical across the state. Maximum seizures were done from Pune and Akola where around 9,000 kg of mangoes belonging to nine different varieties were found with Calcium Carbide, also known as ‘masala’. In Aurangabad, Thane and Mumbai too, large consignments of mangoes were destroyed.

The use of Calcium Carbide has become rampant with traders wishing to ripe mangoes within 48 hours instead of waiting for a week or so.

Dissolved in water, this chemical produces acetylene gas that acts as an artificial ripening agent. Mahesh Zagade, FDA commissioner, said, “Calcium Carbide does not actually ripen the mangoes. It just changes the colour to a uniform yellow and lends an appealing look to the buyer.”

Acetylene is believed to affect the nervous system by reducing oxygen supply to the brain. Sankhe said it can cause memory loss, mouth ulcer and even cancer if consumed in large quantities.

Zagade recently held meetings with various traders in the state and urged them to avoid the use of the chemical under the Food Safety and Standards Acts, 2006

Mangoes seized, destroyed

The FDA today seized mangoes worth Rs 5000 from a fruit vendor Curchorem for artificially ripening the fruits, officials said.

Food Safety Officers team of Abel Rodrigues, Priya Desai and Niranjan Naik seized the fruits from Sultan Kachur’s go-down at Priti apartment, near the Curchorem railway station.

The mangoes were artificial ripened using Chemical Ethopon, which is an chemical used as Plant Growth Regulator. However, since the ripening is done artificially using Chemicals, FDA destroyed the mangoes. The mangoes have been dumped at the Cacora garbage site.

“This is to only to send a loud and clear message that no ripening of fruits using chemicals will be allowed or tolerated by FDA,” FDA Director Salim Veljee said.

Yesterday the FDA seized and destroyed Rs 1.5 lakh worth of Alphonso mangoes as retailers and wholesalers race to get better rates from the market putting consumers at risk in their bid for a quick buck

Hotels in State Blatantly Flout Cleanliness Norms

At a time when 418 of the 753 bars in the State remain closed after the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) found that they were not having the minimum cleanliness standard, data on the standard of hygiene followed by hotels in the State have come as a shocker.

The data was collected by filing a Right To Information (RTI) application to the State Food Safety Commissioner’s Office.

The application was filed in February last year to know about the 30 guidelines on food safety, to be followed by the hotels in the State under the Food Safety and Standards Act - 2011. The application was filed in the wake of the death of a person on July 10, 2012, after eating‘shavarma’ from a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram.

The then Joint Food Safety Commissioner K Anil Kumar, who is now the Food Safety Commissioner in-charge, forwarded the RTI application, filed by human rights activist P B Satheesh of Mannuthy in Thrissur, to the assistant commissioners (food safety) who are in charge of checking food safety in each of the 14 districts and ensuring that the guidelines are followed.

The consolidated district-wise data received so far by the applicant from the assistant commissioners in seven districts and from the food inspectors of various circles in the other districts clearly show that not even one per cent of the hotels in the State, registered as per the government rules, are following the 30-point guidelines, instructed through a circular on July 25, 2012 by the then Food and Safety Commissioner Biju Prabhakar.

“I got the district-wise data through the assistant food safety commissioners of seven districts, while the rest of the data came from the food inspectors looking after each circle (tantamount to an Assembly constituency in the State). As per the data I received through the RTI reply, the total number of registered hotels in the State is 1,85,390, of which only 1,461 are following the 30-point guidelines. This is only 0.79 per cent of the total registered hotels” Satheesh said. The 30-point guidelines mainly give instructions regarding the distance between the drainage andtoilets and the kitchen of the hotels, drainage water getting logged near the kitchen, cleanliness of the kitchen, and proper freezing facilities to preserve raw food items etc. 

Official Version

K Anil Kumar, the State Food Safety Commissioner in-charge, told ‘Express’ that it was a laborious task to implement the Central Government’s Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act-2011.

According to him, the data consolidated through the RTI application might be for only those hotels where the food safety officers conducted inspection.

“Besides that, the Central Government has extended the deadline for hotels and restaurants to get licence by complying with the FSS Act until August 2014. Moreover, there is a possibility of the new government that comes to power at the centre extending the deadline further,” he said.

“But, compared to some of the other states in the country, like Tamil Nadu, the food safety officials in Kerala have taken a far better effort to implement the Act,” he claimed. On the 30-point guidelines, he said that he was not sure about the need for such a circular, while the Act itself was getting implemented.

B Satheesh, who filed the RTI application, said that even around three years after the Act was implemented, the government was still waiting for another person to die for strictly implementing the rules. “Even the district-wise data I received from seven assistant commissioners of food safety clearly show that only nine per cent of the hotels, in half of the districts in the State, have got the licence as per the FSS Act- 2011,” he said.

‘ready to implement the FSS Act’

Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association general secretary Jose Mohan said they have rejected the 30-point guidelines. “We are ready to implement the FSS Act - 2011. We have moved the High Court for changing some of the provision in the Act. We have asked all the 1.25 lakh members of our association to implement the Act, except some non-viable provisions in it. We will give membership to those having either FSSA licence or the licence given by the civic bodies concerned,” he said.

UT ADMIN ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES UNDER FOOD SAFETY & STANDARDS ACT

In a major decision, the UT Administration has decided not to renew or register the licences under Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 of the premises outside Lal Dora. The UT Administration on Monday issued new guidelines for issuance of licence and registration under FSS Act, 2006.

According to the guidelines, no premises outside Lal Dora (Abadi-Deh) will be issued any licence/registration. Also, no renewal of licence/registration of premises which fall outside Lal Dora will be done even if they have been issued food licences/registration under FSS Act, 2006 or PFA Act.

At present, a large number of shops are running in the areas developed illegally outside the Lal Dora. And, the new guidelines adopted by the UT Administration are likely to lead to closure of these food outlets running outside the Lal Dora area here.

“For the renewal of licence, satisfactory proof of possession is required. However, in absence for the same, an affidavit on prescribed format is to be furnished as proof of possession,” said the new guidelines. The date of validity of registration/license will be from the date of issue of registration/license and not from the date of application.

“A no objection certificate from Chandigarh Housing Board, UT Estate Officer and Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh is required to be submitted for the issuance of food license if the food business operator (FBOs) is running business in residential premises, basements, SCF & SCR (except ground floor),” stated the guidelines.

The rules have been issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. All FBOs are required to obtain a food license for all conversions, renewals, new licences and registrations every year. According to the Food Safety Act, operating a food business without a licence or registration will attract a penalty up to Rs5 lakh and imprisonment up to six months.

Gutkha worth Rs.4 lakh seized

Continuing its crackdown against the illegal trade of banned tobacco products, officers of the Thane (Rural) police, in a joint operation with officials from the Food and Drug Department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), seized a consignment of gutkha worth more than Rs.4 lakh from a shop in the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road (East), late on Saturday night. One person has been arrested.

Deputy Superintendent Chandrakant Joshi had recently issued standing instructions to personnel of all five police stations to keep a tab on illegal trade and storing of the banned products. 

According to the police, following a tip-off on a huge consignment of banned gutkha and other tobacco products being stocked in a shop in Pooja Nagar, a joint team led by API Prafful Wagh and MBMC Food Inspector Manek Jadhav, raided a shop in Matru Darshan building on Saturday night, and confiscated a consignment comprising thousands of sachets of gutkha, pan-masala and scented tobacco of various brands including Goa, Rocket, Pan-Vilas, Vimal and Rajshri. 

The estimated value of the seized consignment, which is said to be more than Rs.4 lakh, was meant for distribution in and around the twin-city. The police have arrested the owner of the shop identified as Azim Ahmed Shaikh (35) in this connection. A case under sections 488, 272, 273 and 328 of the Indian Penal Code and under the relevant regulations of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 has been registered at the Mira Road police station. Further investigations are on.

High Court relief for Tata Starbucks as release of syrups get nod

In a relief to Tata Starbucks Company, the Bombay high court directed the customs department at Nhava Sheva port to release a consignment of flavoured syrups used by the coffee chain to prepare its beverages. Imported from USA, the consignment was stopped at the port after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India refused to grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

In its order, a division bench of justices VM Kanade and AK Menon, allowed the company to take the consignment which has already arrived and is kept at the port. "In our view, instead of complying with the provisions of the Act and Rules and Regulations framed thereunder, they have acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner and detained the goods of the petitioner (Starbucks)."

Starbucks is a joint venture company of Tata Global Beverages Limited and Emerald City CV, which is an affiliate of Starbucks Corporation, USA. The company operates Starbucks Cafes in which speciality coffees, coffee beverages and other items are sold in India. Around 43 such cafes are in operation all over the country.

The consignment was stopped at the port in February after the authority claimed that the flavoured syrups did not meet the requirements laid down under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.

Appearing for the company, senior counsel Iqbal Chagla argued that the syrups do not contain 65 per cent of soluble solids and thus is a proprietary food (a food that has not been standardised under these regulations) under the category, and since it is used as an additive in flavoured beverages it is not sold to the consumers directly. Thus, the regulations would not apply to the product.

It was also argued that the company has been importing these products since July 2012 and they have been cleared for almost two years. After February 2014, all the consignments have been detained at the port.

Appearing for the authority, advocate Mohammed Pracha argued: "The regulations are formed to avoid dumping of sub-standard goods into India and thus causing a health hazard to the public at large."

The court, however, observed, "It is not stated by the respondents that these products are unsafe for human consumption. It is also an admitted position that in respect of number of proprietary foods, no standard has yet been fixed by them."