New food standard rules hit importers

Items worth crores that are stuck at ports due to FSSAI's rules include chocolates, oils, cheese and liquor among others.A regulatory body's insistence on adhering to obscure regulations about the labelling of imported food, oil and liquor has held up consignments worth some Rs.25,000 crore at ports, forcing several major brands and groups to either shut shop or cut back on imports.
Among the items worth crores that are stuck at ports due to steps taken by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are wines, premium liquors and perishable items such as cheese and seafood, say importers. The importers pointed to the unusual steps taken by the FSSAI, which comes under the health and family welfare ministry, such as its insistence that all imported containers of canola oil should be labelled "rapeseed oil - low erucic acid". As a result, consignments of canola oil have been stuck at ports since December last year.
After Dalmia Continental Private Limited, a leading importer of canola oil, petitioned the Bombay High Court against the FSSAI's directives regarding packaging and labelling regulations, the court ruled on September 16 that the "said label priama facie appears to be in complete conformity [with regulations] and the action of rejecting the said consignments is absolutely arbitrary". The high court further directed FSSAI to clear the detained consignments and listed the case for final disposal on November 17. During the hearing, a two-judge bench described the FSSAI's stance as "unreasonable" and said the regulatory body's lawyer had been unable to explain the logic of its orders.
The FSSAI has been insisting that imported foods and beverages should conform to domestic regulations on labelling and packaging even though they already comply with Codex, the harmonised global food standards developed by FAO and WHO. Stung by the FSSAI's actions, Lindt & Sprungli has decided to shut down. The Swiss chocolate major acted after two of its consignments were sent back by FSSAI purportedly because they did not comply with the new rules.
Initially, the FSSAI insisted that ingredients should be listed in descending order of composition by weight or volume. Though Lindt complied with this regulation in January, its consignments were again rejected because a new regulation stated chocolates with vegetable oil or fat could not be imported.
The Scotch Whisky Association, whose 51 members account for over 90 per cent of the global sales of the spirit, registers its strongest sales in India in the festive season that begins in September.
However, it has cut back on imports after consignments worth about Rs.70 crore were not cleared because they failed to comply with labelling rules. Diageo and Pernod Ricard have suspended shipments to India completely, importers said.
Other importers, who did not want to be named, largely blamed FSSAI chief K. Chandramouli for the current state of affairs. They claimed the FSSAI's actions could impact the NDA government's efforts to showcase India as a country that was open for business without unnecessary red tape. Sources said the FSSAI's actions have angered Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal who favours the separation of the regulatory body from the health ministry. Chandramouli, an IAS officer of the 1975 batch, could not be reached for comment.

For lifting of ban by EU, pre-export testing of betel leaves necessary

Mumbai: To have the ban on Indian betel leaves lifted in Europe (after the European Union [EU] reported alerts that they were contaminated), the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA) made several advisories to those exporting them to be undertake their pre-export testing.

One of them, signed by Vinod Kumar Kaul, deputy general manager, informed, “There have been reports of likelihood of betel leaves becoming the next product to be banned by EU. Exporters are hereby cautioned that they must immediately stop the export of betel leaves unless the consignment is tested through APEDA-recognised laboratories confirming compliance with EU norms.” 

Prior to the ban on betel leaves, trade relations with the EU were already on a shaky ground, with the ban of mangoes, eggplant and bitter gourd. The EU accounts for about 20 per cent of betel leaves exports from India. Indian trade delegation is in constant touch with the European counterparts to avoid any ban. 

For the same reasons, Bangladesh was banned from exporting betel leaves to European countries from 2012. In a recent meeting, the European Commission decided to extend the ban till 2015. The Indian market fear a similar ban on Indian consignments. 

Betel leaves are primarily imported from India by EU countries with large Asian populations. Generally betel leaves are used as mouth fresheners served post-meals. Many retail stores and Asian culinary stores import betel leaves for sale. Betel leaves worth $6.60 million were exported by India in 2013-14. Of this, $0.14 million were exported to the EU, mainly the United Kingdom.

The EU’s Food and Feed Safety report said, “Concerning new listings, the following commodities would be added to the list of feed and food which are subject to reinforced border checks - enzymes (feed and food) from India at a control frequency of physical and identity checks of 50 per cent for their possible contamination with chloramphenicol, betel leaves from India for their possible contamination with Salmonella.”

Pankaj Jaiminy, assistant vice-president (food, health and beauty), TÜV SÜD South Asia, said, “The quality concerns associated with export of betel leaves is the detection of Salmonella bacteria. The organism is highly pathogenic, known to cause typhoid fever and food poisoning. Traditional farming practices, unhygienic handling and storage of harvested leaves add to high contamination levels.”

Jaiminy said, “Fresh produce is known to have high microbial presence but steps to reduce pathogen levels need to be initiated. Training and awareness programmes on handling fresh produce post-harvesting will reduce fresh cases of contamination.” 

“Mandatory pre-export testing for pathogens in fresh produce would help in the identification of contaminated produce. The constant ban of Indian agricultural produce would affect the image of the country and have a negative impact on the exports in the long run,” he added.

Device to remove iron filing from tea developed

GUWAHATI, Sept 21 – Good news for the Indian tea industry and its trade. Iron filing, which is a major problem for the tea industry of the country, because of its leading to iron contamination of teas, is soon going to be eliminated, thanks to the mechanical device developed by senior Tea Research Association (TRA) scientist Dr J N Kalita.
According to TRA secretary Joydeep Phukan, the machine developed by Dr Kalita eliminates iron filings online during the production of made tea. The machine was released for commercial use by the tea industry of the country at the 50th annual general meeting (AGM) of the TRA held at Kolkata on September 18. An application for patenting the machine has also been filed with the appropriate authorities, said Phukan.
Iron filing in tea has become a major issue at present with the Food Safety andStandards Authority of India (FSSAI) fixing stringent norms of maximum permissible limitof iron filings in tea at 150 milligram per kg, Phukan said.
According to a TRA publication, iron filing generally comes to tea during themanufacturing process. The CTC cutter used for manufacturing CTC tea is to be periodically sharpened and this becomes the primary source of iron filing. Moreover, normal wear and tear of the other parts of machinery used in the tea manufacturing process are also the sources of iron filings.
The conventional removal process of iron filing in the factory is a tedious one and it requires the use of a magnet and manual efforts for taking out the adhered iron particles from the magnet.
However, the machine developed by Dr Kalita can be used in any online manufacturingtea factory at any point between the dryer mouth and the sorting point.

Case registered against sago unit

The rural police have registered a case against the supplier and the owner of a sago unit at K.N. Pudur in Thevattipatti for using banned chemicals.
A team led by T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, inspected the sago unit on Saturday and found sulphuric acid and other banned chemicals being used for polishing starch.
Since these chemicals are declared as harmful for human consumption, officials sealed the unit and also took samples. Also, 101 bags of sago found on the premises were kept in a room and sealed by the officials.
Based on her complaint, Thevattipatti police registered a case against the owner of the unit and also against the supplier of chemicals. Cases were registered under various Sections of IPC and under Tamil Nadu Poisons (Regulation of Possession and Sale) Rules, 2014.

Supply chain of tobacco products survives raids

Raids continue, so too the sales
The Food Safety Department’s attempt to plug supply chain of nicotine-laced pan masala, gutka, and chewing tobacco in the district has yielded only limited results.
Periodic raids notwithstanding, shops continue to receive supplies. Chewable tobacco products worth Rs. 2 lakh was seized on Wednesday in raids conducted in shops at Veerappanchathiram on Wednesday by a team led by G. Karunanidhi, District Officer for Food Safety, but the officials could not extract the exact truth from the sellers about the supply source.
The sellers said they get their supplies from Salem district.
“But, that is not the truth. We suspect that the paan products are being brought into the district through private transport lorries,” Mr. Karunanidhi said adding that a combined effort by Department of Transport, the police, and Food Safety Department was necessary.
Last December, a parcel containing chewable tobacco, without any address of consignee, was seized from a private bus that originated from Bangalore.
The seized items valued at Rs. 1.9 lakh was destroyed after a month.
The seizure came a month after a huge rail consignment of banned gutka was confiscated at the Erode Railway Station.
The consignment worth over Rs. 5 lakh was unloaded after police personnel found that it did not have the address of either the sender or the receiver.
According to officials, the medical costs of treating smokeless tobacco-related cancers and diseases far overweights the tax revenue accruing from sale of the harmful products.
Though manufacture and sale of all forms of smokeless tobacco was made illegal under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the supplies persist because the law is not applied strictly throughout the country.
The National Institute of Health and Family Welfare has advocated total ban on manufacture and sale of such products to protect the citizens right to health under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Manufacturers,packaging units of food items flouting laws

Manufacturers of food items here seem to have no fear of law as packaging of home-made snacks and other products is being done without any mention of expiry and manufacturing details. Most shops and bakeries are selling items like chips, cakes, pastries etc in packets which don't mention manufacturing date, expiry date, the manufacturer's address etc.
When the HT team visited one of the manufacturing units here, KTT snacks, and questioned about the packaging of the products without necessary details, the owner confidently said that he is not the only one who is doing so. "I can name at least ten other manufacturing units that are doing the same," he said. The team also found that the items were being manufactured and packaged under very unhygienic conditions.
One of the shopkeepers, who sells these locally made food items, made some shocking revelations. He said, "We buy plastic packets from Sadar Bazar in Delhi and then pack locally made items like turmeric powder, cashewnut and biscuits in them. We prefer to sell the local items over the branded ones as they are cheaper."
He even showed some empty packets carrying the names of brands and designed for specific products. Some of the shopkeepers even alleged that the food safety department is aware of all this and "we pay the officials to avoid action".
"We conduct raids on a regular basis but most of the time the culprits manage to escape before we reach the spot," said food safety officer Charandeep Singh, expressing the inability of his department to curb this business.
Some officials of the food safety department also requested the HT team to investigate further on this issue and update them on this.
"The health hazards of consuming these items are grave. The children, who are fond of chips and biscuits, often complain of problems like indigestion and mouth ulcer," said Dr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, a practicing homeopathic physician, who has been campaigning against this practice for a long time. Deputy commissioner Parveen Kumar Thind, who expressed ignorance about this practice, said that proper action would be taken against this practice soon.

CWG: Delhi restaurants register for safe food programme

New Delhi : With the Commonwealth Games around the corner, restaurants in the capital are making a beeline to register with the Safe Food Destination (SFD) programme that emphasises on international standards of food safety and security.
Launched by private consultancy TQS Global Management System, the initiative is in coordination with standards devised by the government's Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
Some major restaurant chains like TGIF, KFC and Pizza Hut, as also the Intercontinental hotel group, have already been accredited while several others have applied for it.
"Restaurants will go through testing of food, training of staff, auditing and consulting. The customers visiting the restaurants that are registered with us will be insured towards any illness arising out of any food-bourne disease," TQS (South Asia) vice president N.L.B. Pantulu told IANS.
The programme has been designed keeping in mind the need for proactive measures and international standards of food safety and security, which will be of great help during the Games.
According to TQS, the cost for registering a restaurant is Rs.50,000 per year.
"Food safety needs a diverse approach where the operator is made to understand the implications along with affordable and feasible solutions," Pantulu said.
TQS has an audit and mentor team that inspects each restaurant that applies for accreditation. The first team has a 30-page stringent checklist which rates the restaurants on cleanliness, courteousness and hygiene in preparing the food among others.
"We don't register anyone who scores below 25 percent. So, the mentor team provides guidance to all those who have scored less and also to those who need to improve," he explained.
The company would soon be launching a website with the names and addresses of all the SFD outlets. There will also be a tie-up with radio cab operator Meru, whose vehicles will have a list of registered outlets for tourists.
"We will also be launching a helpline in German and French", Pantulu added.
TGIF (Bistro Hospitality) president S. Roy said: "The SFD is a great initiative as this will enable serious restaurateurs to be at par with international standards of food safety and hygiene. Thus they are able to cater to both local as well as international tourists."
According to TQS, the programme aims at promoting the overall understanding of food safety and security. Regular workshops are conducted so that food safety becomes a habit for all the departments in an outlet.
"With consistently trained staff and improved system throughout the year, SFD is far more beneficial than the regular one time stamping exercise of any certification. Moreover, it gives the food operator the confidence to face any third party inspections at any time because food safety is assured continuously," Pantulu said.
At present, the SFD programme has been successfully executed in countries like Bulgaria and the Maldives. And with large number of outlets registered in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), the model could be replicated for other states as well, Pantulu said.
New Delhi will host the Commonwealth Games Oct 3-14.

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