Food Safety Officers Keeping Strict Vigil to Check Adulteration

Gulab Jamun
The festive season has already begun and with ‘Diwali’ on the threshold food safety officers are leaving no stone unturned to prevent food adulteration. They are keeping a strict watch on sweet and food outlets. There have also been crackdowns on mawamanufacturers in almost all states and about 66 samples of mawa were collected from Maharashtra during the recently concluded Ganpati festival.
According to reports, food safety officers will be on the lookout for signs of adulteration in sweets and milk products right up to Christmas. Food safety officials are inspecting sweet manufacturing units as maximum adulterants are found in sweets during the festive season. They have also made some seizures which include substandard water packets. Another adulterant that can cause health concerns for the consumer is the poor quality of oil used in preparing foods.
Milk alone is one of the most adulterated food products during the festive season as the demand for milk increases and supply cannot be met. Milk adulteration is of various kinds and includes adulteration with water, starch, urea, detergent, synthetic milk, salt and various chemicals.
Besides mawa and milk, FSSAI food inspectors are also collecting samples of ghee, oil and paneer. Food products seized in raids are usually tested for the following kinds of adulterants:
- Presence of vanaspati in sweet curd
- Presence of vanaspati or margarine in ghee
- Presence of blotting paper in rabri
- Coal tar dyes in ghee, cottage cheese, condensed milk, khoya, milk powder
- Starch in khoya, cheena and paneer
Adulteration is a term that is used for a food product that fails to meet food safety standards and is rendered unsafe for human consumption as it is injurious to health because there is
- addition of inferior quality materials
- extraction of valuable and nutritious ingredients
- biological and chemical contamination during the period of growth, storage, processing, transport and distribution of the food products that lowers or degrades quality
Under the previous food laws any food product with lowered or degraded quality used to be defined as Adulterated Food but under the new law (FSS Act, 2006), the word adulterated food has been termed as substandard food, unsafe food or food containing any extraneous matter.
“Unsafe food” means an article of food whose nature, substance or quality is so affected that it becomes injurious to health. This can be result from
- the article itself, the package and if it is composed wholly or in part of poisonous or deleterious substance
- the article consisting wholly or in part of any filthy, putrid, rotten, decomposed or diseased animal substance or vegetable substance
- unhygienic processing or the presence in that article of any harmful substance
- substitution of any inferior or cheaper substance whether wholly or in part
- addition of a substance directly or as an ingredient which is not permitted
- abstraction wholly or in part, of any of its constituents or by the article being so coloured, flavoured or coated, powdered or polished, in a manner as to damage or conceal the article or to make it appear better or of greater value than it really is
- the presence of any colouring matter or preservatives other than that specified
- the article being infected or infested with worms, weevils, or insects
- being prepared, packed or kept under insanitary conditions
- being mis-branded or sub-standard food or containing extraneous matter
- containing pesticides and other contaminants in excess of quantities specified by regulations.
According to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, anyone found manufacturing, selling or storing adulterated food would be liable to pay a penalty ranging from between Rs.1 lakh to Rs.10 lakh and could also be sentenced to imprisonment for a term ranging between six months to life.

Staff shortage smothers food safety act enforcement

The Act, aiming to ensure safe and quality food to the people, is still in its infancy with most people remaining unaware of its provisions and safeguards.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was introduced by the Union Government in 2011. The Act, aiming to ensure safe and quality food to the people, is still in its infancy with most people remaining unaware of its provisions and safeguards. Although Kerala is much ahead in terms of implementing the Act in comparison with other states the awareness level amongst the large sections of the consumers needed to be improved. Even the government is yet to formulate a fool proof system to enforce the provisions of the Act. Excerpt from an interview with Commissioner of Food Safety Anupama T. V.
How consumer friendly is the rules and regulations linked with FSS Act?
The beneficiaries of food safety and standards act are the consumers and the food business operators. We have set up a mechanism which is easily accessible to common man. A toll free number is there and we are receiving lot many grievance calls relating to stale food and substandard eatables daily. We need to strengthen the department for more effective implementation of the act. Also, most of the people are still in the dark regarding the Act and still search for food inspectors like in old days to register their complaints. We have offices at all 140 constituencies and the consumers could easily drop in their complaints. It's definitely consumer friendly, since the Act was enforced there has been a seen change in the hotel industry.
It is said that information about the Act is mainly concentrated in urban areas and the vast majority of the rural habitat are unaware of the provisions of the Act. How the department is planning to tackle this situation?
Creating awareness among the public on the Act is one of the main components and we are giving top priority for that. A major challenge to enforce the Act is the severe shortage of the staff. The staff shortage is a stumbling block for enforcing the act in the state. Currently, our activities are limited in the urban circle because of this shortage. But we are planning to cover more rural constituencies soon. From this month onwards, I have given direction to our squads from each district to cover at least two rural constituencies. Also we have initiated steps to recruit more food safety officers through PSC (public service commission). May be within four to five months we would fill around 75 to 80 vacancies in the department. Right now we are managing with 79 personnel.
How consumer friendly is the toll free number?
We are receiving an average of 40 to 50 calls daily from consumers. But, due to minimal staff strength the department is unable to attend to the calls immediately. But, calls are prioritized based on the severity of the issue. If samples are needed to be collected our squad responds immediately even if its midnight. Once enough staff strength is there we would be able to provide round the clock services to consumers. Very soon we will make available our services 24*7. We are receiving complaints even in our email id.
The modifications if any needed in the Food Safety and Standards Act?
It's a new Act and came as a replacement to an existing system. Certain constraints are there as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is still bringing in revisions to the act. Acts are never fool proof and it has to be revised from time to time. The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is very quick in bringing in changes to facilitate practical execution of the act. We encounter certain issues while implementing the act. When the issue of antibiotic in chicken came, we had issues as the act doesn't provide any clarity on the amount of allowed antibiotic residues. Currently, efforts are on to bring all food business operators under the Act. There are around one lakh food business operators in the state. However, a majority of them are in the unorganised sector. We are expecting around 40,000 food business operators to avail the license and registration under the food safety act.
Though the act envisages strict action against violators, the Commissionerate of Food Safety here is unable to penalise them. Why there has been less action even after having enough proofs?
NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited lab is an obvious requirement for the proper execution of the act. Only samples that are scrutinized aty NABL accredited labs would be legally valid. Unfortunately, we don't have any in the state at present. Currently, we are depending on laboratories in other states. But efforts are in the final stages to upgrade the existing laboratories at Ernakulam, Trivandrum and Kozhikode with the minimum basic standards to avail the mandatory accreditation. Three consultants have come forward and we will start the works very soon.

How to Read Nutrition Labels - Top 10 Facts

 

More than ever before, most of us are spending more and more of our grocery bills on packaged foods, so it's time that we got to know what we're consuming. The easiest way to do that is to be able to read what our food label says.
Reading what the back of the box says about calories is not going to get you far. We should, ideally at a glance be able to tell if the food contains trans-fats, chemicals in the form of preservatives or if it is genetically modified. But these days it's becoming more of a challenge to decipher the nutrition labels as the fonts are becoming smaller, while the health claims are getting bigger. (More: 5 most shocking ingredients in your food)
Recently, our team during a taste test of chips, saw a packet that claimed bold and bright that they were made in olive oil, and then somewhere in the post script hidden at the back, it said traces of hydrogenated vegetable oil, other oils. Then another time, there was this juice packet that said - Natural, and then when we looked closer, it said it was an orange beverage and not even a juice! (More: Taste test - Orange drinks)
One way that grocery brands in UK are dealing with the food labeling crises is making the system more transparent. They have added a graphic label that resembles a traffic light. The traffic light label indicates the amount fat, saturated fats, sugar, and salt in your packaged food. Yellow means it's safe to consume, green means that it's actually good for your health and red of course is to be avoided. The traffic light label is the first step in ensuring that customers can make enlightened choices about the food that they buy. But in India, we are many moons away from such a system. (Quite apart, many don't even follow the real traffic signals!)
You can start your label reading adventure by looking at the "serving size" first. If a half-cup serving has 50 calories, but you usually eat a one-cup serving, you'll be getting 100 calories. Now that we have serving size out of the way, the next task in hand is to look out for 'key' words that will help you decode your food labels. Here's a list of the top 10 things to look out for.
1. Low Fat - The percentage of fat is given per serving. If it says 15 grams of fat per serving, the total fat that you eat depends on how many servings you end up consuming. You should start by comparing the 'portion size' (amount you eat) and 'serving size'. For instance, a company may pack two pastries in one package and the label reads 150 calories for one serving which means that this figure relates to only one pastry.
Also, be careful as 'low fat' may not always mean 'low calories'. More often than not, to make up for the fat, food manufacturers can add other ingredients to compensate for the flavour, like sugar, flour, thickeners, and salt. These can add to the total calorie count. (More: Type of fats)
2. Natural Flavours - Aren't we all attracted to labels that scream the word - Natural? It gives us this warm, fuzzy, wholesome feeling. But what you see is not what you get. (More: Food a as 'organic' or 'natural' might be unhealthy)
It's interesting to note that the US Food and Drug Administration or FDA does not define what is "natural". This is what it says. "FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances".
It's important to note that both artificial flavours as well as natural flavours have chemicals. The point is where do these chemicals come from. In natural flavours, the chemicals have to be derived from a plant or an animal (something that is eaten) whereas artificial flavours are derived from inedible sources. So even your natural flavor extracts have a complicated chemical makeup, it's just that they are more or less identical to the natural flavoring.
3. Stabilizers and Thickeners - These are added to improve the and stabilize the texture of foods. These are found in jellies, ready-to-eat foods, desserts, frozen foods and salad dressings and they neither stabilize your health nor preserve it. They are used to maintain the consistency of the food. For example, Agar agar is also used as a food stabiliser in food products like canned meat.
4. Preservatives - Preservatives prevent the growth of microbes such as bacteria or moulds in foods during storage. They are used to make the food last longer on the grocery shelf. Eg, Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are used as food preservatives.
Sodium nitrate helps prevent bacterial colonization of foods while sodium nitrite acts as an oxidizing agent and is usually used in preserving meat. You can find these chemical compounds hidden in bacon, ham, hot dogs and all processed meat. Preservatives also include fumigants on plants which control the browning of fruits and vegetables.
5. High Fructose Corn Syrup - This is a top favourite with the packaged food industry. You will find it everywhere, in ketchup bottles, biscuits, baked goods, dairy products, carbonated drinks, you name it! High fructose corn syrup is an artificial sweetener made from corn. It's popular because it is sweeter than sugar, is relatively cheaper, and helps in preserving the food longer. (More: The bittersweet truth - High fructose corn syrup)
6. Colouring Agents - Food colouring or colour additive is a pigment or substance that addscolour to your food. Vibrant colours make food more appealing. Even though synthetic colors do not add to the nutritive value of the foods, they are frequently added to restore the natural color lost on food processing. Due to health concerns of chemical dyes, some natural food dyes are now being used like beta-carotene, chlorophyll, saffron, curcumin (turmeric) etc. These maybe extracted from natural sources or produced synthetically.
But there are laws that guide you about what colours you can produce and in what products. According to Rule 28 of The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act in India, the colours that can be chemically produced are red, yellow, blue and green. Also, they can only be used in specific foods like ice-cream, frozen desserts, flavoured milk, yoghurt, biscuits, custard powders etc.
7. Emulsifiers - Emulsifiers are a group of substances that are used to obtain a stable mixture of liquids that would not mix or separate quickly. Emulsifiers are food additives found in salad dressings, margarine, mayonnaise etc. How do you look for them in a label? Your clue is the alphabet E followed by a number.
8. Artificial Sweeteners - Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes but may be derived from naturally occurring substances, or they could be synthetic. They are widely used in processed foods, including baked goods, soft drinks, candy, puddings, canned foods, jams and jellies, dairy products etc. Here are some names of sugar substitutes. Saccharin, Aspartame, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, Neotame, Glycerol, Erythritol, Maltitol, Lactitol. (More: Top 10 must-know facts about Aspartame)
9. MSG or Monosodium Glutamate - It is used as a flavor enhancer and is found in salad dressings, ready-to-eat soups, canned vegetables and chips. It has been known to cause various side-effects like headaches, allergic reactions, nausea etc. Internationally, it is recognized as a food additive. Though in small quantities it may not harm you but experts say that it is best to avoid it.
10. Partially Hydrogenated Oils - Partially hydrogenated oils are full of trans-fats. You think it's partially hydrogenated but it actually means that the oil has been heated to stay longer and it's the worst form of cholesterol. They are basically vegetable oils whose chemical structure is changed to prevent spoilage and increase the shelf life of food products. Also, they are cost efficient for food manufactures. (More: The best cooking oils for your health)
After reading this, hopefully the next time you see a beverage which says naturally flavoured, you will not presume that it's full of natural fruits? You could also see a product which screams 'low fat' but is filled with calories that are nutritionally completely worthless. The trick is to learn to read between the lines.

FSSAI to Renew Licenses for Already Existing Product Approvals

Health Supplements – Natural Vitamin Pills

FSSAI in its office memorandum, dated 29 September 2014, has stated that licenses would be renewed for already approved food products. FSSAI had stated that PNOCs/NOCs already issued by theProduct Approval Division of FSSAI for food product(s) would be renewed if it has expired or for those product(s) where the risk assessment outcome is awaited.

However, the validity of the license will depend on the result of the final risk assessment by FSSAI.

The risk assessment outcome will also determine whether the issued license will be further renewed, suspended or cancelled.

NOCs for Imported food products

For important food products FSSAI has set up a mandatory food import clearance process. The process is lengthy and involves a number of procedures. In the first step Customs generates an examination order through the bill of entry. Only after sample testing fee and necessary documents have been submitted do the Custom House Agents (CHAs) seek an appointment for from the FSSAI-AO. Once the appointment for sampling is granted AO will

Visually inspect food products

Verify documents and labels

Randomly pick samples from the consignment at the CFS or from the vessels

Sealed and cooled samples are sent to the approved testing laboratories for analysis

In the approved laboratories tests on the food product samples are carried out according to the requirements set in FSS (Laboratory and Sample Analysis) Regulations, 2011. The laboratory sends the test report to FSSAI within the stipulated time. On the basis of this test report the AO gives NOC for clearance or Non Conformance to the CHA and customs.

The process may be lengthy nevertheless, between January and June 2014, FSSAI has awarded NOC for 35,008 samples out of the 37,124 sample collected for testing. Out of these the samples that did not get clearance were those that did not meet the safety and quality parameters of the Food Safety & Standards Regulations 2011 in compliance to Food Safety & Standards Act.