HC notices to state over food adulteration

Shimla, November 24
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued notice to the Chief Secretary on the issue of large-scale use of the harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruits and vegetables.
Besides Chief Secretary, the court issued notices to the Principal Secretary (Health), Director of Health Services, Director (Food & Civil Supplies), state Drug Controller and the Drug Controller General of India, directing them to file their replies by January 8.
The order was passed by a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, on a petition taken up suo motu by the court as public interest litigation on a news report published in a vernacular daily.
It was stated in the news paper that the use of oxytocin vaccine in milk, vegetables, fruits and non-vegetarian products was on the rise and it had harmful side effects.
The vaccine is used to increase the milk production of milch cattle, enlarging the size of vegetables and fruits and to improve their colour and shine. The news item had also reported that there is a large-scale production of oxytocin in the pharmaceutical hub of the state in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh.
Court seeks reports
* The High Court has directed health officials to file their replies on the use of the harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruits and vegetables by January 8

Food safety & FSSAI's regulatory role

In mid-September, a few hundred children at a government school in a poorer part of Bangalore fell ill after eating contaminated food given to them through the mid-day meal scheme. Predictably all hell broke loose with every agency associated with the activity washing its hands off and blaming everyone else for the tainted batch of food items sent from a central kitchen.
This is not the first such incident. These things happen regularly across the country in such schemes as well as in eateries. Millions of passengers travelling in the government monopoly Indian Railways face food contamination regularly. Railways have now decided to allow packed food from private companies to be supplied to provide alternate options to harassed passengers. Thousands of flyers patronising the no-frills airlines have no such alternatives and are forced to pay more than three times the normal price for routine food items inside planes.
So what is the actual role of the country’s omnibus food safety regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Ministry of Health, in ensuring safe food across the country? After all that is the mandate of this regulatory authority. The regulator says “FSSAI has been created for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption”.
Set up under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the authority has been trying to get its act together. It is not an easy task. Part of the reason is the humungous nature of the mandate given to FSSAI after eliminating more than a dozen legislations that regulated a wide range of food products and essential ingredients of food.
In fact, in our national regulatory system, there is no institution that has an ambit as wide as FSSAI. Just take the case of regulators in sectors such as banking, insurance, telecom, investment, power to name a few. Almost all these sectors have to essentially regulate companies and related institutions in few hundreds in numbers at the most. It is much easier to regulate companies operating in these sectors because of their keenness to maintain their brand image in these ultra competitive business areas. Even with such limited players to oversee, still scams occur with regularity with people exploiting the grey areas in regulation. Chit funds is one such example.
Because of its wide ambit, FSSAI is constantly facing the ire of organised institution players in the food sector. It is rare to find an industry leader in the food sector happy with FSSAI. Also, currently FSSAI does not have the bandwidth to enforce its regulatory orders as it has to depend on under-staffed and under-trained food safety authorities in all the states. This is a sure fire recipe for disaster.
Regulation is a constantly improving science. It may be better for FSSAI to concentrate its energies for a few more years to bring some order to the organised sector, and focus on packaged food. With increasing prosperity, Indian consumers are turning more to such food items because of its assured quality, thanks to the stringent regulatory standards brought in over the last few decades. Peer pressure will then take over and those on the sidelines of the food business too will join the quality bandwagon in due course.

Development of Agro-Food Market

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 and is responsible for implementing the Rules & Regulations made thereunder. The quality standards of various agro-food products are prescribed in the Food Safety and Standards Regulations. The vertical standards for food products are prescribed in Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011 & horizontal standards in Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulation, 2011.
FSSAI is in the process of harmonizing the existing Indian standards with Codex and other international best practices.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries provides financial assistance for promoting Research & Development in the food processing sector under the plan scheme for Quality Assurance, Codex Standards and Research & Development and Other Promotional Activities. All Universities, IITs, Central/State Government Institutions, Public Funded organisations, R&D laboratories and CSIR recognised R&D units in private sector are eligible for assistance as per the guidelines of the scheme.
Ministry also has two academic -cum- research institutions viz. National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), Kundli, Sonepat, Haryana and Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT), Thanjavur, Tamilnadu. Both these institutions are mandated to undertake research in various aspects of food processing. Research in food processing is also being undertaken by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and institutions like Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology, Defence Food Research Laboratory under Ministry of Defence and various State Universities.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Radiation Processing Technology

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing a scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure with the objective of preventing post-harvest losses of horticultural & non-horticultural produce. One of the components of the Cold Chain scheme is the setting up of Irradiation facilities for preservation of the food products like onion, potato etc.
Irradiated food is regulated in the country in accordance with the Atomic Energy (Control of Irradiation of Food) Rules, 1996. Food can be irradiated only in a food irradiation plant, which is authorized by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and licensed by the competent Government Authority. The license to carry out food irradiation operation is given only after ascertaining the safety of the installation, its suitability to ensure proper process control, and availability of licensed operators and qualified staff. Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology (BRIT) is providing consultancy services for establishment of food irradiation plant. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is also regulating the food safety aspects of irradiated food products.
Under the scheme of Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure, the Ministry provides financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid @ 50% of the total cost of plant & machinery and technical civil works in general areas and 75% for NE region and difficult areas (North-Eastern States, Sikkim, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) subject to a maximum grant-in-aid of Rs. 10 Crore for setting up integrated cold chain projects including irradiation facility. The entrepreneurs/ promoters are free to set up Irradiation facility as per their business model and financial capability throughout the country including Maharashtra. The Ministry has approved 04 irradiation projects under the Scheme. A total grant of Rs. 24.04 crore has been approved for these four projects.
The Ministry is also assisting setting up of Irradiation facility as one of the components under scheme of Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure for non-horticultural products under National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) through State/UT Governments. The financial assistance is provided as Grant-in-aid @ 35% of the bank appraised project cost for general areas, and @ 50% of the project cost for difficult areas including North-Eastern Region, subject to maximum of Rs. 5 crore. Interest Subsidy @ 6% per annum subject to a maximum of Rs. 2.00 crore per project or actual interest accrued on term loan, whichever is lower, for a period of 5 years from completion of the project for general areas, and @ 7% per annum subject to a maximum of Rs. 3.00 crore per project or actual interest accrued on term loan, whichever is lower, for a period of 7 years from completion of the project for difficult areas including North-Eastern Region and hilly States.
The scheme guidelines for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure prescribe implementation schedule for setting up the cold chain projects including Irradiation projects as 24 months in general areas and 30 months in difficult areas from the date of issue of the sanction to the project.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

FDA's food literacy plan to start in December

AURANGABAD: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants all households in the state to be food literate by the month of May next year. So it is going to start a Safe Food Literacy Campaign from next month.
Food literacy is the attitude towards and knowledge about food and involves opting for healthier diet and nutrition choices leading to improved health.
FDA commissioner Purushottam Bhapkar told TOI, "A number of studies evidence a strong correlation between nutritional knowledge and healthy eating or dietary quality. As part of the campaign to start from next month, we will have public awareness and education programmes. FDA plans to spread food literacy in all sections of society by May 1, 2015 (Maharashtra Day)."
The commissioner added that the literacy campaign could have a positive effect on the consumption habits of children and adolescents. "Children tend to prefer food that tastes good, and the campaign, while helping increasing their nutritional knowledge, would also lead them to make healthier food choices. Involving all the members of a household in food preparation would also help children and youngsters become food literate," he said.
The official elaborated further, "To have safe and wholesome food is the right of all the citizens of the country. As per Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Rules 2011, it is our responsibility to make such food available. Moreover, it is also the responsibility of the Food Business Operators (FBO) to comply with these rules."
He said, "As a subset of health literacy, food literacy affects health outcomes in several ways. Food literacy leads to food safety as it leads to food material being stored and handled properly. Knowledge and use of food label information can help improve diets, thereby helping reduce health risks. Similarly, better cooking and dietary skills in a household can lead to better health outcomes. Finally, dietary knowledge is a factor in food and meal choices that will contribute to overall health positively."
FDA joint commissioner (Food), Aurangabad division, Chandrashekhar Salunke said, "The campaign's focus would be on food safety right from the manufacturer to the consumer level. Everyone will be involved, right from the labourers handling food to transporters to end-users."
"The campaign is going to be launched in all divisions of the state - Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Konkan. The programmes have already been planned," said the official.
FDA deputy joint commissioner (Food), Aurangabad division M D Shah said, "The campaign, in its first stage, will begin for government officials. Study material would be distributed among the officials and presentations and demonstrations of FBOs in the catering and hotel business will be conducted in Aurangabad division at the taluka level."
The official added, "Later, the campaign will include the sensitizing of around 10,000 students in each district through their schools. Nutrition education is important for children as it influences their eating habits and health. School meal programmes are an excellent means of providing students with nutritious food as well as educating them about a healthy diet. Public-private partnerships leverage a variety of approaches -including experiential learning, point of purchase nutrition logos and labelling, and menu labeling - to increase and enhance household food literacy skills," said Shah.
"Considering the importance of households in the endeavour, the campaign involves the participation of women in a hygienic kitchen campaign for homemakers. Educational material that will contribute positively to overall health would be distributed at the event. Above all, the campaign will also include songs, text messages, street plays, hoardings, posters, a short film and documentary, TV talk show and channel promos," said Shah.
He added, "The participation of many stakeholders - the government, businesses and households as well as the health and education sectors - would be encouraged as they have roles to play. Programmes that use the multi-stakeholder approach can create a bigger impact."
Graphics: 100 words
"FDA aims at improve food literacy and recommends strategies for the governments, industry, the health and education sectors, civil society, and households to further enhance safe food literacy through a campaign which would be implemented through-out the state from next month onwards." - FDA commissioner Purushottam Bhapkar
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** Project plan for 6 divisions of state - Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Konkan.
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At a glance: 1st stage campaign
Name of campaign--Place--Participants
Food Safety Students Literacy Campaign Renowned Schools of each District - 10,000 Students.
Consumer Literacy Campaign -At every district's consumer forum - Minimum 500 consumers
Literacy Campaign for Govt officials - At each district place - Minimum 1000 officials
Retails and Street Food Vendors - At each district place - Minimum 1000 Retails FBO's
Hygienic Kitchen campaign for homemakers -Active women group of each district - Minimum 500 women
Campaign for FBO's engaged in Milk and Milk Products - At each district place - Minimum 1000 such FBOs.
Campaign for FBO's engaged in Meat and Meat Product - At each district place - Minimum 1000 such FBOs
Campaign for FBO's engaged in catering and hotel - At each district place - Minimum 1000 such FBOs.

Limit for iron filings in tea to stay till May

PUNE: The tea sipped with much pleasure is most certainly contaminated with iron filings. While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) allowed the presence of 150 mg per kg as a temporary limit for iron particles in tea powder some time ago, it decided to extend this limit for another six months on November 21.
The limit will be reviewed after the Hyderabad-based National Institution of Nutrition's study on the presence of iron filings in tea is complete and an FSSAI panel's assessment.
The regulator has ordered its enforcement staff in all the states not to lodge prosecution cases against tea companies if iron filings are within this prescribed limit. Tea contains iron filings due to the friction of the machinery used in its processing.
The presence of iron filings in tea has been under the authority's lens for some time. Last year, the regulatory admitted that zero presence of iron filings is not possible in tea. Traders want the Tea Board of India to make the right noises to increase the limit to 500 mg per kg.
Food and Drug Authority officials in Pune have decided send a few samples of loose and packaged tea sold in the city to a laboratory to check if they have iron filings beyond the permissible limit. Safety-conscious countries have permissible levels of filings between 120 mg per kg and 500 mg per kg.
Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (drug), FDA, Pune said the manner in which tea is processed is to be blamed for the presence of iron filings. "Tea powder may have some iron filings in it because leaves are crushed and processed and chances of fine iron particles being released from the crushing machinery and sticking to the tea grains cannot be ruled out," Kekare said
Tea leaves are dried in a sieve fitted with a mesh and leaves are crushed using iron rollers. "Factories use huge magnets to remove iron filings from tea powder, but some particles may be left behind," said Dilip Sangat, assistant commissioner (food), FDA.
Iron in human bodies carries oxygen for haemoglobin. "But any overload can be a causative factor in liver cirrhosis, osteoporosis, scurvy, diabetes, heart failure, oesophageal cancer and infections," said an internal medicine expert.
Signs and symptoms of iron overload are non-specific. Hence, a physician faced with common findings like chronic fatigue, joint pain, osteoporosis and diabetes must look for iron overload. Inexpensive diagnostic tests that show the overload are ferritin levels and transferrin saturation.
BOX

 The order
In continuation of the statutory advisory regarding the limit of iron filings in tea that 150 mg per kg issued on May 23, 2014, it has been decided to extend the timeline up to May 23, 2015. The order has been issued with the approval of the competent authority by virtue of power conferred on FSSAI under 16 (5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
S Dave, FSSAI advisor in a statutory advisory issued to the enforcement staff on November 21
Strange Brew
* The continuous presence of iron filings in tea has raised safety concerns and there have been many demands to fix an upper limit
* In the absence of standards so far, tea manufacturers do not mention the extent of contamination by iron filings
* Iron filings enter tea dust due to wear and tear of the machinery, but the problem is noticed even in new machinery
* Many developed countries have fixed the maximum level for iron filings in tea at 120 mg/kg, the Indian limit is slightly higher
* The limit is as high as 500 mg/kg in poor countries. Sri Lanka allows up to 200 mg of iron filings per kg

LABEL NORMS - Festive favourites stuck in ports dampen spirits

Pune:

Forget celebrating Christmas and New Year's this time with imported confectionery, truffles, Panettone (a bread loaf imported specially for Christmas), berries and of course, some imported scotch, whiskey and beer.
The imported product market, a roughly estimated Rs 100 crore business in India during Christmas and New Year's, is practically floundering with products stuck at ports or sent back to their countries owing to stringent label norms by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
TOI had earlier reported that the FSSAI rules on product labeling have led to a shortage of imported food products such as canned fish to condiments, sauces, vinegars, cheese, honey , pastas, and many others. The rules mandate imported products to have 17 label requirements. The norms not only seek customized product labels just for India, but also say that all labels should bear the MRP , information in English, the manufacturer's name, ingredients and FSSAI logo number, among other things.
With the holiday season fast approaching, high-end restaurants in the city are already feeling the heat --several exotic ingredients and imported liquor brands have begun to fade from their menus.
The owner of a specialty food store that sells international groceries and gourmet foods told TOI that it is a catch-22 situation -people are unable to get imported products through official channels, but the `grey market' seems to be brimming with imported products.
“There is a 50%-60% shortage of imported products right now, which is likely to continue come Christmas and New Year's when products like chocolates, candy , chewing gum, biscuits and cakes are in huge demand. The entire imported food industry also suffered a setback during Diwali this year,“ the store owner said. He added that people like to have continental dishes during Christmas and New Year's and these dishes depend heavily on imported ingredients. “Cold cut meats are consumed during this time and are facing several import issues right now,” he said.
Amit Lohani, founder-director, the Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI), a national body of food product importers, said that till a week ago, some categories of imported food products were being accepted by the authorities based on Codex Alimentarius standards, a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety. “However, they have now stopped clearing shipments as per Codex standards and products are being cleared only as per FSSAI standards. So many imported bakery items, which are used during Christmas, are not coming in, such as imported berries or flours,” said Lohani.
Lohani added that Panettone and turkey for instance are imported products and may not be available this Christmas. Around 800 shipments of imported products are still stuck at various ports, while many of the earlier shipments have been sent back to their countries, destroyed or abandoned, as per laws.
Ravish Arora, director, at restaurant Incognito said that the situation is unlikely to be resolved by Christmas or New Year’s. “Japanese items such as teriyaki sauce and sake, which are an integral part of the menu, are particularly in shortage.
Among imported alcoholic drinks, Arora said the restaurant has stopped getting supplies of Triple sec (a variety of Curaçao liqueur), Jägermeister (a German 70-proof 35% abv digestif), Sauza Tequila, Kahlúa and some beers. The owner of another high-end restaurant in Koregaon Park said that imported single malts and scotches are not available and the shortage could continue till New Year's. November and December see a decent demand for imported liquor, he added.
A liquor retailer told TOI that supplies of imported liquor are not regular at all. “We are now stacking goods for New Year's but we are doubtful about their demand since prices of imported alcohol have gone up by 5% recently . We also have limited stock. Though retailers may get many of the imported brands, restaurants do not as most of the imported alcohol stocks are first being picked up by retailers, leaving nothing or very little for restaurants,“ he said, adding that come New Year's, customers may not get what they want on the imported liquor shelf.
A source from an international spirits company said that around 40 to 50% imported alcohol brands are not available, and the situation is likely to be the same during the upcoming festive season. This includes scotch, beer, liqueurs, tequila, among others. Sources in the industry , however, said that the limited stock of imported liquor and imported products is unlikely to affect their prices.

2 more shops caught selling flood contaminated medicines

Srinagar, Nov 24: Authorities have caught two more medical stores selling flood-hit medicines, an official handout.
“A team of Food Safety Officers of Drugs and Food Control Organization headed by Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety, District Srinagar visited Ram Bagh, Nati Pora, Chana Pora and Hazuri Bagh areas of Srinagar City. Two medical stores namely M/S Al-Saba Medicate and M/S New Khan Dispensary at Nati Pora were found displaying flood affected food supplements worth Rs 20000.00 and same was destroyed on spot,” an official handout from Food Safety Officers of Drugs and Food Control Organization said.

திரையரங்கு கேன்டீன்களில் காலாவதி தின்பண்டங்கள் பறிமுதல்

கடலூர், நவ. 25:
கடலூர் பகுதி திரையரங்குகளில் உள்ள கேன்டீன்களில் விற்பனை செய்யப்படுகின்ற தின்பண்டங்கள் தரமானதாக இல்லை என்ற புகார்களின் பேரில் நேற்று கடலூர் தந்தை பெரியார் சிலை அருகே உள்ள பிரபல திரையரங்கத்திற்குள் உள்ள கேண்டீனில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரி டாக்டர் ராஜா தலை மையில் அலுவலர்கள் நந்தகுமார், சுப்ரமணியன், மாரிமுத்து, கொளஞ்சியான் ஆகியோர் சோதனையிட்டனர்.
இதில் கடையில் விற்கப்பட்ட 100 பாக்கெட் கான்பார்ப், 100 மிராண்டா பட்டில்கள், வெங்காய வத்தல்கள் 200 கி.லோ என ரூ.5 ஆயிரம் மதிப்புள்ள தின்பண்டங்கள் மற்றும் குளிர்பதனங்கள் காலவாதியானவை என கண்டறியப்பட்டது. அவற்றை பறிமுதல் செய்த அதிகாரிகள் கேன்டீன் உரிமையாளர்களுக்கு எச்சரிக்கை நோட்டீஸ் வழங்கினர். இதுபோல் மீண்டும் நடந்தால் திரையரங்கிற்கு சீல் வைக்க நேரிடும் என உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரி ராஜா தெரிவித்தார். மாவட்டம் முழுவதும் உள்ள திரையரங்கங்களில் இதுபோல் அதிரடி சோதனைகள் நடத்தப்படும் எனவும் அவர் கூறினார்.

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