Coca-Cola’s ambitious plan to introduce fruit juice-blended fizzy drinks hits regulatory hurdles

IBA, which represents Coca-Cola & PepsiCo, has written to food processing ministry, highlighting certain challenges on behalf of the first company.
NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola's ambitious plan to introduce fruit juice-blended fizzy drinks by early next summer — in the wake of PM Narendra Modi urging soft drink makers to do so — has hit regulatory hurdles.
The Indian Beverage Association (IBA), which represents Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, has written to the food processing ministry, highlighting certain challenges on behalf of the first company.
The rules stipulate that the addition of minimum 10% fruit juice or pulp (5% in the case of lemon) is required under the carbonated fruit beverages category. But "addition of this level of fruit juice leads to product instability and also requires a higher level of preservatives to ensure safety and stability of the beverage," the letter said, a copy of which ET has seen. IBA also wants the existing minimum requirement for 10% of total soluble solids in carbonated fruit drinks to be revised to 3%.
"Besides regulatory restrictions, Coca-Cola has also raised the need for quicker product approval," an official directly involved with the matter said. IBA said the Food Safety &Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) "needs to make product approval more efficient".
The note said wide-ranging changes were needed to make the PM's suggestion a reality.
"The usage of fruit juice in carbonated beverages is restricted due to current standards specified in the (FSSAI) regulations." According to the IBA, the "addition of fruit juice in carbonated drinks is possible subject to certain changes in the existing regulatory framework". These "modifications would have to be made in the regulatory framework operative under the Food Safety and Standards Act," it said.
In September, Modi had suggested that 5% of fizzy drinks be blended with fresh fruit juice sourced from local farmers.
"We drink Pepsi, Coca-Cola. I am not asking for much — if 5% of juice from fruits produced by our farmers is added, the farmer will not be forced to search for a market to sell. A single decision can ensure billions of rupees of trade," Modi had said.
The maker of Thums Up cola and Minute Maid juices wants its product to be on the shelves by early summer to gain first-mover advantage besides winning over health-conscious consumers.
Colas have, from time-to-time, drawn criticism from around the world for contributing to higher calorie consumption. Though the category returned to double-digit growth in the July-September quarter due to warm-weather conditions, this may not be sustainable, according to industry experts.
Since formulations are closely guarded secrets and changing them for existing brands is impossible, Coca-Cola is working on a series of juiceblended fizzy drinks variants on a priority basis.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
IBA said pesticide residue rules are also too stringent. Carbonated water using fruit juice would not be able to meet the standard of 1 ppb (part per billion) prescribed for the category.
Besides this, the preservative cap also needs to be bumped up, it said. "Using a microbiologically sensitive ingredient such as fruit juice will need higher allowance of preservatives to ensure the beverage is stable over its desired shelf life."
In the US and some European markets, Coca-Cola sells a caffeine-free, citrus-based, calorie-free aerated soft drink called Fresca. Its Glaceau Fruitwater brand is a fruit-flavoured, sparkling water in the US but doesn't contain fruit juice.

Indian cuisine incomplete without street food

No story on Indian cuisine can be complete without the inclusion of street food, says celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

“Indian cuisine has three important parts – home food,restaurant food and street food. Indian street food reflects the country’s ethos and also mirrors the ever changing needs of the Indian consumer, be it the man on the streets or the one living in an ivory tower,” says Kapoor.
The chef is the celebrity face at the sixth edition of a four-day National Street Food Festival organised by NASVI (National Association of Street Vendors of India) that began here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex.
“As a child, eating street food was something you indulged in without adult supervision. During those glorious ten minutes of a school recess, I indulged in the usual chats, sherbets and ice golas. I try to make them at home and try out a classic street food as well!” says the chef.
The chef, who hosts his own television show, says he is very excited to take a look at the innovative dishes which will be an integral part of the festival this year.
Delicacies such as Ragra Pattis from Mumbai, fish curry and sandesh from West Bengal, non-alcoholic Konkani drinks from Goa, Litti Chowkha and Tash Kebab from Bihar and other innovative dishes are slated to be on the menu at the street food fest.
“Street food festivals are always a good idea because it is the best way of promoting this cuisine. This will create awareness and will expose people to street food from across the country,” says Kapoor.
Shedding light on the importance of health and hygiene associated with street food, the celebrity chef is of the opinion that street food is healthy and hygienic since it is always served hot.
“There is a lot of debate on the safety of Indian street food. There are many who believe that street food of India is many times safer than those served at restaurants!
“It is shocking but this statement is supported by the fact that street food is cooked for the day and served hot on the spot,” says Kapoor.
Breaking out of the usual format of just organising a festival, NASVI has also organized a mass training program on food safety and hygiene of more than 1000 roadside chefs who are participating at the festival.
“With street food there is no monitoring of ingredients used. It is not just about the freshness but also whether or not the colours used are safe for consumption, whether the food is stored in an area free of contamination from insects, animals and dangerous bacteria.
There is a lot here to be regulated and regularized, a mammoth task considering the number of hawkers and food vendors in every lane of the country,” says Kapoor.
Urging vendors to serve hygienic food to patrons, the culinary expert says there is need for strict food laws but not at the cost of the appeal of the street delicacies.
“Yes, there should be hygiene and other laws related to safety of food in place, but with these laws the charm and the raw appeal of street food shouldn’t suffer. I would request the vendors to look into the quality of ingredients, do not compromise on the health of patrons. Do not serve anything that you wouldn’t serve your own family!” says Kapoor.

'Street Sathi' empowers vendors

New Delhi, December 28

'Street Sathi'-a free android application that enables street vendors to cater to the growing needs of the urban market remained one of the major highlights of the four-day National Street Food Festival, which came to a close at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex today. 

The App, which is available on Google Playstore, has been developed by Dheeraj Agrawal who himself was a street vendor, but pursued technical studies and now works for a leading Indian company. 

"The new mobile app comes as a promotional platform for the vendor while a user can browse through information including the vendor's vending hours, menu, specials and photos, besides location," he noted demonstrating its use through a street play. 

Vendors can upload information about their cuisines on the app that would allow users to look out for nearby street food vendors by proximity, popularity and cuisine type. 

Noting that the initiative aims at empowering street food vendors, they said that NASVI is aiming at a greater outreach and plans to rope in all the street food vendors in the country in coming months for training on Street Sathi App. 

The annual festival, which celebrates the rich culinary tradition and culture of Indian street food, witnessed a participation of over 800 street vendors from various states this time when vendors had put up their best and displayed more than 500 mouth-watering savoury delights. 

The food extravaganza not only served as an opportunity for food lovers to get the taste of lip-smacking Indian as well as Chinese delights but also allowed vendors to display their culinary skills. 

Ahead of the sixth edition of the event, vendors were provided with training about usage of the android app and given lessons along with personal hygiene practices, food safety, cleanliness and food preservation among other things, said Arbind Singh, coordinator of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), the organiser of the festival.

Survey of street vendors, hawkers in Salem

To enumerate the number of street vendors and hawkers in the city, a Chennai-based private company would begin a global positioning system (GPS) satellite survey on December 29.

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 paves way for protecting the right of urban street vendors and to regulate their vending activities.

The Act mandates forming a Town Vending Committee that should conduct a survey of all existing street vendors within Corporation limits at least once in five years and also frame guidelines for relocating such vendors.

The Act provides the right to vendors, who possesses a certificate of vending, to be entitled for new area, for carrying out vending activities, that is determined by the committee.

Hence, the Corporation has appointed the company to carry out the survey in the city limits so that welfare measures and their rights are protected.

Corporation Commissioner K.R. Selvaraj has requested all vendors to provide complete details to the surveyors so that the survey report is accurate and used for further decision-making process.

Though no proper survey has been carried out so far by the Corporation, about 6,817 hawkers are said to be in the civic body limits.

Vendors asked to provide complete details to those conducting survey