Beverages of Hindustan Coca Cola found sub-standard, operation may be banned Rs 17 lakh fine imposed on company, 6 distributors

JAMMU, Oct 22: Noticing that multi-national company M/s Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd is playing with the health of people by using “sub standard” carbonated water in the beverages, the Additional District Magistrate, Kathua has immediately stopped the distribution of beverages from the main distributors of the company in the district to the retailers.
The Magistrate has even made it clear that in case of failure to deposit the fine imposed under Food Safety and Standard Act within the stipulated time frame operations of the company in the entire district will be completely banned and the beverages under consideration destroyed.
During the past two years Additional District Magistrate, Kathua, who is also Food Safety Adjudicating Officer, received a number of complaints regarding use of misbranded carbonated water and violation of various provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 by the M/s Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd.
Though some exercise was carried out on these complaints like lifting of samples and getting the same analyzed from the Food Analyst, yet these complaints could not be taken to logical conclusion because of varied reasons. Taking serious note of this delay, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, who recently took over as District Magistrate Kathua, directed for expeditious disposal of the complaints after following the laid down procedure.
Few days back, Additional District Magistrate, G Prasanna Ramaswamy, decided the complaints after hearing the arguments put forth by the prosecution and the respondents. By invoking the powers vested in him by Section 68 of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 and the Gazette Notification of J&K Government, the Additional District Magistrate has imposed penalty of Rs 15 lakh on Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, Gangyal, IFCA Bottling Ltd New Industrial Estate Area Gangyal, Manager Incharge of IFCA Bottling Ltd, Gangyal, M/s Hindustan Coca Cola Ltd, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and others under Section 52 of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006.
Similarly, Rs 2.50 lakh fine varying between Rs 70,000 to Rs 20,000 has been imposed on six distributors of the Coca Cola company under Section 49 of the Food Safety Act.
The company and its subsidiaries have been directed to immediately take steps to conform their products with provisions of the law and report compliance within two weeks failing which all their operations in Kathua district would be stopped and the pre-packaged food items under consideration would be destroyed.
As immediate action, the District Administration has directed all the distributors of the company to forthwith stop supply of beverages to the retailers and directions have been issued to the Tehsildars and Police Stations to seize the beverages wherever found in the entire district till the company fulfills the conditions laid down by the Food Safety Act for the food business operator.
In his order, the Additional District Magistrate has observed, “the respondent (Coca Cola) was given the chance to contest the report of the Public Food Safety Analyst and go for a second analysis but this opportunity was not availed by the respondents”.
The act of the respondent is that of alleged misbranding, which is governed by Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labeling) Regulations. The Regulations make it very clear that when a pre-packaged food item or beverage contains natural, nature-identical or artificial flavoring substances, it is required to declare the “common name” of the artificial flavor and “class name” of the natural or nature identical flavoring substances, the order said.
Quoting the Supreme Court judgment in Undavilli Nagarathanam and Others Versus Reddi Satyanarayana Murthi and Others, the Additional District Magistrate said, “the food business operator is deemed to have full knowledge of the Act and the consumers have a legal right to know the common name of the artificial flavoring substance in the food product being sold to them”, adding “the case of misbranding can easily be established by a casual perusal of the label declaration on the prepackaged food item as such needs no expert scrutiny”.
According to the sources, the action taken by the Additional District Magistrate would go a long way in stopping M/s Hindustan Coca Cola from selling sub-standard products and ignoring provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act.

FDA seizes 600 kg Barfi worth Rs 96,000

Food Safety Officers (FSO) of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Nagpur Division have conducted raid on M/S Harihar Foods, Eastern Industrial Area, Chikhali Layout, Kalamna on Monday and seized 600 kg Barfi worth Rs 96,000.
The said quantity of Burfi was stored in un-hygenic gunny bags having no labels The bags consisting of Burfi were to sent to Raipur by the owner of the firm, Yogesh Ramawatar Gupta. FSO Abhay Deshpande and Pravin Umap conducted raid seized Burfi. The raid was conducted under the guidance of Joint Commissioner (Food) Shivaji Desai, Assistant Commissioner (Food) N RWakode and M C Pawar. FDA has started a special drive to conduct raids on the sweet shops and sweet manufacturing units to safe guard public health.
In Nagpur district as well as in MP and Chhatisgarh state, a large quantity of sweets are being sold in Diwali festival. The traders and manufacturing units are not following the cleanliness and quality standards for the Sweet.
FDA Nagpur Division has started keeping vigil on such units and conducting raids on such units. People who have any doubt about the quality, production, distribution, storage and sale of khowa and sweets should contact on 2562204 and report the same, informs Shivaji Desai, Joint Commissioner (Food), FDA Nagpur Division, in a press release.

Food sample collections fail to prevent sale of adulterated products in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: The various drives undertaken by the Chhattisgarh Food department to check adulteration are turning out to be mere formalities, as they fail to prevent the sale of suspected contaminated products, thanks to the lengthy procedures involved in testing of samples.
The food department, which goes on an overdrive to collect samples during the festive season, has no on the spot detection kits to check for adulteration and they have to wait for test reports, sometimes even for months, before initiating any action against the unscrupulous traders. The time lag between the collection of the samples and the receipt of its reports allows the traders to sell off their adulterated products to unsuspecting consumers, putting them at risk.
According to sources in the food department, the lengthy procedures involved in testing of samples are defeating the very purpose of stopping the sale of adulterated products. "Though the prescribed time limit for the preparation of the reports is 14 days, other formalities, like dispatch and receipt, and holidays that come in between eat up more time and reports are effectively not delivered before a month", said an official on condition of anonymity.
Incidentally, the rate of adulteration appears to be quite high in Chhattisgarh as over 50% of the 70 samples collected across the state last year during Diwali tested positive for contamination. Though the department has launched proceedings against the traders whose samples failed tests, the sale of the adulterated products could not be prevented.
The department has collected 50 samples since October 15 this year but no reports have been received from the lab till date. With just a day left for Diwali, the adulterated products, if any, would have been already sold to consumers.
Incidentally, on the spot adulteration kits are available in the market and are being used by administration of several states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to reports, these kits prove very effective as goods tested positive for adulteration are immediately seized and destroyed.
These instant detection kits are in fact very handy to check adulteration in any form in khoya and sweets. These kits save a lot of time and ensure stricter compliance.

When contacted State Controller Food and Drug, Ravi Prakash Gupta, admitted that absence of these instant kids was indeed an impediment in stricter compliance of food safety norms. He however, assured that by next year the department would equip itself with these kits.

Food Safety - Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial

The Court of Adjudicating Officer (Food Safety), Imphal west district on October 21 awarded penalty to 13 persons for selling of contraband tobacco products in violation of the provisions of section 58 of Food Safety and Standards Act. 2006.
The ruling of the Court followed an enquiry by the Food Safety Officer of Imphal wet district, after the accused persons were nabbed by Imphal City police.
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?

More biz for Indian wines as FSSAI label requirements hit importers

SUMMARY
This festive season augurs well for Indian wines, with 20% increase reported in sales by most winemakers.
This festive season augurs well for Indian wines, with 20% increase reported in sales by most winemakers.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for imported foods and alcoholic beverages to list ingredients on the label in Devanagari or English.
The new requirements, however, are not feasible for many international wine producers, for whom India is a small market. Naturally, this means more business for Indian wineries.
Shivajirao Aher, president, All India Wine Producers Association, says the labelling requirements have hit importers hard and led to a gap in the market, some of which is being filled by domestic winemakers. Several importers supply wines to hotel chains and would not like to lose an important customer, so they are aiming to fill this gap from other sources.
"This is difficult for Indian winemakers who may not pay the same kind of attention to us as importers who have had a longer relation with the hotel industry," he said.
For instance, Aher’s winery Renaissance Wines that normally sells 2,000-3,000 cases, has received orders for 10,000 cases, something unheard of in the past.
According to Jagdish Holkar, chairman, India Grape Processing Board, there has been a 20% rise in sales this season because of increase in demand. For the first time in many years, this year the industry may not have spillover stock .
Holkar had earlier told FE that there could be a 20% gap in production owing to the damage cause by hailstorms earlier this year and unseasonal rains. Around 15 million litres of wine is expected to be produced this season.
Pramod Krishna , director general, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), says popular brands are not available on shelves anymore and the festive season has been definitely hit by the absence of big names in the market.
CIABC is the apex body of wine and spirits industry and boasts of membership of the likes of Diageo, Bacardi and Moet Hennessey among others.
According to Krishna, around R76,000 crore is given by the wine and spirits industry in the country annually in the form of taxes. India imports around 500,000 cases of wine annually.
A recent article in the international wine press expressed confidence in the Indian consumer and Bordeaux-based American négociant, Jeffrey Davies, who runs Signature Selections, is actively looking to expand in India.
"We're sifting through the current wine and spirit importers and distributors to figure out who will be the best fit for our range of wines," Davies said in the article ‘Fine Wine Trade Eyes Up India’ in The Drinks Business.
He believes that as Indian consumers learn more about wine, starting with drinking our own wines, the Indian wine market will continue to grow.
"With the tremendous slowdown in China, and a certain slowdown in America, they're looking to other markets within the BRICS. Russia's having embargo troubles, so India and Brazil are becoming areas of interest," he said in the article.
While wines in the lower segment (R250 a bottle) continue to dominate sales to the tune of 60%, the rest comes from premium and reserve wines in India.
Wine producers feel there could be a rise in sales in this segment though many of them are not willing to say it outright. Most foreign wine is sold in India’s five-star hotels via a quota system.
How this will pan out remains to be seen.

Health Dept ready for emergency, puts sweets shops under surveillance

Bathinda, October 22
The Health Department has geared up to provide emergency services in times of crisis on Diwali. Doctors have been alerted to be available on call in an emergency while private NGOs have dedicated the ambulances with round-the-clock services at different spots in the city.
The district health department had instructed all the doctors and staff to be ready on a single call and had checked its medicine stock. Civil Surgeon, Bathinda, had also instructed the senior health officials to manage the duties of the staff on the festival day to tackle the crisis situation if occurred.
It is noteworthy that some private NGOs had also offered to dedicate their services of private ambulances placed at different places in the city to tackle crisis situation on night of Diwali.
“We have about 12 ambulances (108) and all have been actively given instruction to remain stationed at their respective stations. We welcome the move if private NGOs are also providing the free help to common man but we have sufficient ambulance and staff to tackle the situation of crisis. I appeal the public especially children to avoid consumption of sweets and crackers. Children if adamant on using crackers, should use the fireworks under the surveillance of their parents and carefully. Precautions should be taken before using the fireworks. Our teams have been inspecting on sweet shops regularly.”
Sweets under surveillance of food safety team
A team under the surveillance of District Food Safety Officer are conducting inspections of sweet shops in Bathinda district for the last two days while it had conducted regular raids on sweet shops ahead of Diwali season.
Food inspector, Amritpal Singh, said, “We are inspecting the number of shops and destroyed the sweets that were in not fit for consumption or were kept in unhygienic condition. Yesterday, too, we inspected the shops. No such product was found that we could have suspected as adulterated. We had conducted raids in almost all the major and minor shops that are famous for selling sweets. Hard instructions have been given to every sweet seller to keep the sweets in hygienic way and in a proper environment. No one will be spared if found with sub standard sweets.”
Its noteworthy that district health department had conducted a numerous raids ahead of Diwali this year and had claimed to conduct raids on about more than 130 shops in Bathinda, including all the blocks of district.
The district health department had also claimed that it had earned about Rs 7 lakh by conducting raids since 2011 in Bathinda and numbers of minor cases that are found with sub standard food stuff are sub judice in the court of Adjudicating Officer-cum-ADC (General), Bathinda, whereas major cases that includes adulteration are pending in local courts.
“We are prepared for circumstance and a stringent action would be taken against the sweet sellers if found at error. Our team is keeping a vigil round the clock over the district and sources in the market are regularly informing us about the sweet sellers if any erroneous,” added the food inspector.