New Delhi:
Its back to the wall in the wake of the Maggi controversy, an emboldened packaged food industry has used the political cover provided by the Union food minister's recent stinging criticism of the sector regulator to vent its own frustration about the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India, saying its recent actions had put at risk companies' expansion plans.
“Some of the members... have even expressed their views of leaving their business in food sector including abandoning of their expansion and diversifying programmes,“ the All India Food Processors' Association (AIFPA) said in a letter to Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the minister for food processing industries, on Tuesday. Badal became an unlikely ally of the industry last week when she all but accused FSSAI of overreach and said its actions were hampering investment.
The AIFPA's letter marks the first open criticism of the food regulator by the indus try, which has mostly cowered in the wake of the Maggi controversy , defending the safety of its products as a succession of states banned various brands of instant noodles.
The association, whose members include top domestic producers and the Indian arms of international food and beverage makers such as Britannia, Coca-Cola and Mondelez, has raised concerns over the lack of qualifications and relevant experience prescribed for senior officers in FSSAI. The senior positions included 17 important ones such as directors for food approval, imports, vigilance, quality assurance and training and other joint, deputy and assistant directors, it said.
“Officers appointed for these positions wield wide responsibilities and intrinsic powers. They deal with all important processes such as food approval, quality assurance and have wide range of implications to all the stakeholders,“ the letter to Badal said. FSSAI, which comes under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, banned Swissbased food behemoth Nestle's Maggi noodles last month, stating that the snack was `unsafe and hazardous' after its tests found the presence of lead above permissible lim its and flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate.However, regulators in other countries have deemed Maggi noodles made in India to be safe, casting doubt on the tests that led to the local ban.
“The Maggi fiasco and the arbitrary process of food approval have in stilled fear in the food industry, especially small and medium enterprises... Due to the behaviour of the enforcing authority in states, some of the members of the association have abandoned expansion plans.Some have even opted to quit the food industry,“ said AIFPA President Amit Dhanuka.
FSSAI did not immediately respond to an email sent by ET seeking comment on the association's comments.
Nestle was asked to recall all stocks of Maggi noodles from the market, an exer . 320 crore. Nestle's shares cise that cost it ` were pummeled in the markets and, according to global valuation consultancy Brand Finance, the brand lost some ` . 1,270 crore in value.
As Nestle and the rest of the industry was forced to go on the defensive, they found an ally in Badal.
The food processing minister, while declining to comment on the Maggi noodles case, told ET in an interview that an “inspector raj“ had engendered so much fear among packaged food companies that it was stalling overseas investment, killing innovation and threatening the government's Make-in-India initiative.
Nestle too has dropped its initial reticence to question the FSSAI's actions. It was quoted as having told the Bombay High Court that the laboratories where the noodle samples were tested positive for excessive lead content “lacked accreditation, and are thus inconsistent and unreliable“.
Meanwhile, the New Delhi-based AIFPA has requested her to amend the provisions of the Food Safety Standards Act or the FSS rules and regulations to set guidelines regarding the qualifications and experience of candidates placed in such important positions. The member companies also shared these concerns with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
No comments:
Post a Comment