DINAMALAR NEWS

“Food security law will be enforced strictly’’

A top food safety official inspects a sweet stall on Bharathi Street in Puducherry. 

“A tie-up is made with all municipalities and commune panchayats so that their licences will not be issued unless Food License Registration is done”

: Firm in implementation of provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, the Union Territory Government has reiterated that the Act will be enforced in larger public interest.

Food Safety Commissioner V.Candavelou said “All alcoholic beverages such as brandy, whisky, rum, wine, beer are covered under the category of food as per Section 3(j) of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. So food business operators involved in liquor business need to obtain food license in addition to license under Exercise Act.”

In an official press release, the Department of Food Safety said its online Licensing and Registration system was last January and FBOs whoever had obtained license/ registration for one year is due for renewal this month. The renewal process was activated 60 days before the expiry of license/ registration. Hence, they are requested to renew their licenses/ registrations one month before the expiry of license failing which a penalty of Rs.100 and Rs.30 per day will be imposed from 31 day to 60 day for licence and registration.

As the entire process was computerised, FBOs defaulting renewal between 31 and 60 day cannot renew their license/registration unless penalty is paid. Hence, the FBOs are advised to renew their licence/ registration one month before expiry to avoid the fines.

The Food Safety Commissioner said that mutton/ chicken stalls, marriage halls, temples offering annadanams, vehicles transporting food items, hotels, restaurants, mobile vendors need to apply for license/ registration.

The department is also taking efforts to issue identity cards to eligible registration certificate holders.

Warning the traders to desist from selling banned products, Dr. Candavelou also said, “The manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of gutka, panmasala and other food products, containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients are banned in whole of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Hence FBOs are advised to desist from selling these banned products failing which a maximum penalty of Rs.five lakh will be imposed.”

The commissioner also said that all packaged food items should carry proper labelling system including date of manufacture, expiry, batch number, as regulations. All food packaging should carry the license number and FSSAI logo with effect from January 2, 2015 onwards. Violations of labelling regulation will attract penalty of Rs two lakh. Dr. Candavelou said, “A tie-up is being made with all municipalities and commune panchayats so that their licenses will not be issued unless Food License Registration is done in the first place.”

50% of ghee adulterated, say food safety officers

COIMBATORE: Food safety officers in the city said close to 50% of the ghee samples they collected in the last one week are found to be of 'substandard' quality. 

"It means they have been adulterated. In the case of ghee, it's mainly vanaspathi," said the designated food safety officer R Kathiravan. "At least two of the four samples tested last week were found to be substandard," he said. 

Vanaspati, which is basically hydrogenated vegetable oil, is known to be high in trans fatty acids. "Unsaturated fat is converted into saturated fat during processing, that's how it becomes solid," said Radhaisri S, associate professor, department of nutrition and dietetics at PSG College of Arts and Science. "It is often used as a substitute for ghee because it is cheaper, but it delays digestion and demands more antioxidants," she added. 

Most of the substandard samples collected were found to be made by small time players functioning out of small houses in various parts of the city. "They do not supply to bigger brands," confirmed Kathiravan. "They mainly bottle it themselves and retail it from petty shops in the neighbourhood," he added. They are usually booked for misbranding too, because their font is unreadable. 

While some manufacturers do mention that their ghee is not for consumption, others don't even provide the nutritional value of their product, said another food safety officer. 

"They claim their ghee is specially made for temple donations, especially for Sabarimala pilgrims. But shop owners rarely ask the customer for what purpose the ghee is going to be used," said the officer. 

Permanently sealing such adulterated ghee manufacturers is also close to impossible, say officers. "The biggest challenge we face is that, every time we seal the unit, they spring up again in another location with another brand name," added the officer. 

The problem of adulteration extends to cooking oil too, said Kathiravan. "Of the 12 samples we have taken in the past one month, two were found to be substandard," he said. "They often sell rice bran oil in the guise of groundnut or gingelly oil. Since they are the same color and many people can't identify the difference in flavor these manufacturers get away," he said. 

Officers advise people to buy oil and ghee retailed by well-known brands and in closed packets. "Now, big brands have also come up with 100 ml and 200 ml sachets, so it is easier for customers to buy in small quantities," he added. 

The food safety office is likely to start cracking down on the manufacturers of the adulterated samples over the next one week. "We will collect legal samples from manufacturers and then file legal cases and seal them," said an officer.

The good food guide

Consumers must educate themselves about what’s good for them and not

India, one of the strongest emerging economies of the world, isn’t far behind when it comes to disseminating information to its consumers regarding food quality and safety.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India promotes stringent regulations and standards for all the food products in the market. Hence, it becomes mandatory for food companies to display detailed nutritional labelling on the product. This information protects consumers from getting cheated and helps them make informed decisions.

However, several questions arise. Are Indian consumers aware of the labels on food packages? If yes, are they able to understand the displayed information in a simple and effective manner?

A nutritional label is not an ancient manuscript that is difficult to decipher. Consumers just need to educate themselves about the requirement of their body and understanding labels becomes as easy as ABC. Take fruit beverages. Whether in bottles or cartons, they display a chart of ingredients and nutrients present.

Consumers must read these labels to make sure these beverages meet their daily dietary requirement and consumption criteria.

Serving size is a measurement of quantity, be it in litres or millilitres. It gives information about the calories and amount of nutrient in the beverage. For example, if one serving gives you 100 calories, then two servings obviously mean the double of what you get with one. Per serving of 1 cup (200 ml) means 100 calories, total fat-14 g and cholesterol-15 mg Double serving is two cups (400 ml), 200 calories, total fat-28 g and cholesterol-30 mg. Therefore read before you consume any fruit drink.

Counting calories

Calories depict the amount of energy we get from this serving. Sometimes, we consume more calories than nutrients in our recommended dietary allowances (RDA). The number of servings is directly proportional to the number of calories. A precise calculation on this can help you control your weight.

Watch out!

As per the National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008/2009-2011/2012 the sugar intake of an average person in Britain is almost 700g a week, which amounts to 140 teaspoons. And 500 ml of cold drink has 17 cubes of sugar.

Fruit beverages are broadly classified into drinks, nectars and juices.

Fruit drinks: Fruit drink or ready-to-serve fruit beverages are calorically sweetened beverages with the least content of fruit juice. These are prepared from juice or pulp or puree or concentrated juice or pulp of sound mature fruit. The ingredients that may be added to fruit juice or pulp are water, peel oil, fruit essences and flavours, salt, sugar, invert sugar, liquid glucose, milk and other ingredients appropriate to the product and processed by heat.

Sometimes, fortifiers like calcium or vitamin C are also added. Beverages under this category are inexpensive and sold the most.

Fruit nectars: These have an average 20-40 per cent of fruit content, added sugars/sweeteners and aromas. Most nectars, other than orange and pineapple (40 per cent of fruit juice) contain 20 per cent fruit juice.

Fruit juices: These have 100 per cent fruit content with no additives or preservatives and are an excellent addition to the health regime, providing vitamins and minerals. These contain natural ingredients present in fruits and vegetables, such as fruit pulp, natural flavours, juice concentrate and water.

These are the healthiest among the three categories owing to the 100 per cent fruit content. Always check the date of manufacture and expiry. The MFD written on the labels means manufacture date (that date when the fruit juice was produced and packaged). Expiry date mentioned on the label makes clear the date after which the fruit juice is not good for consumption and must be discarded.

Juice versus whole fruit: During the process of juice extraction, many water-soluble vitamins are lost. Moreover, the whole fruit is a source of dietary fibre, fruit juice actually contains little to no fibre; 100 per cent fruit juice can have fibres but in less quantity.

For instance, a cup of apple juice has 0.2 gm of fibre, while a whole apple contains 3.3 gm. One cup of orange juice has 0.5 gm of fibre while a cup of fresh raw orange has 4.3 gm. If you need to choose, whole fruit should be your choice.

Roadside versus packaged fruit juices: Packaged fruit juices undergo mild pasteurisation before packaging to prevent growth of micro-organisms. Fruit juices packaged in cartons do not even need refrigeration or preservatives for up to one year. Further, before filling the beverages, the outside package is sterilised using ultra-high temperature process, preventing any kind of contamination within. Thus, juices available in packages are healthier than the street variants.

Puffed packages: Swollen or puffed cartons are the result of microbial action that leads to fermentation and contamination of the fruit beverage. The puffiness is due to this chemical reaction inside that leads to production of gas, and thus the fruit beverage must not be consumed.

Often, the food consumer is guided more by brand and taste rather than the health criterion. But since food labelling policies and regulation ensure that we know what we are eating, it is in our hands to choose nutrition over other factors.

Vitamin C is a weekly dose of consumer empowerment

Consumers must educate themselves about what’s good for them and not The writer is Senior Vice President, Consumer Product Services, TUV SUD South Asia

Check adulteration of sago: farmers

Demanding that a reasonable price be fixed for tapioca, and the government immediately conduct a tripartite meeting to solve various problems faced by them, members of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association on Thursday staged a demonstration outside the SAGOSERVE office on Salem — Bangalore National Highway here.

Led by P. Shanmugam, State general secretary of the association, members said that tapioca was cultivated as main crop in 18 districts in the State. A 70 kg bag of tapioca was earlier sold for Rs. 800, whereas it is currently being sold for Rs. 250.

“The price fall has affected lakh of farmers,” they said.

They said that the steep fall in price was because of the planned maneuver of the sago traders. The Salem Starch and Sago Manufacturers Service Industrial Cooperative Society Limited (SAGOSERVE) should buy sago at a reasonable price. Also, mill owners should have the infrastructure facilities for storing the sago in godowns and also the loan facilities, they added.

Since over one lakh small and medium farmers were involved in the trade and it was the only source of livelihood for them, the State Government should conduct meeting and solve the issue, they said.

There were about 200 units functioning in Salem and Namakkal districts, each crushing about one lakh bags of tapioca and producing sago. Traders insist that the sago be whitened using chemicals before selling in the market.

Hence sago manufacturers are forced to use banned chemicals.

“The government should regulate it as the life of people are in danger, if banned chemicals are used,” they added.

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