Food safety department of HP lacks concern about duties, says state HC

The Himachal Pradesh High Court said that the state food safety department is unconcerned about its duties. In three years’ time, the department collected only 117 samples, and analysed just 65 of them. 

The court stated that despite several complaints of the rampant use of vaccines such as oxytocin in milk, fruit and vegetables, the food safety department was lacking in its approach to deal with the situation. It also observed that the lab to check the presence of such vaccines was ill-equipped.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, passed orders while hearing a petition taken up suo moto by the Court as public interest litigation (PIL) on a report published in a Hindi daily on the misuse of the oxytocin vaccine.

The Court said, “Amicus Curiae Satyen Vaidya submitted that only 11 fruit samples of fruit four vegetable samples, 11 non-vegetarian food samples and 91 milk samples were lifted in the entire state during the last three years, despite the huge paraphernalia of the food safety department and the drug control administration.”

“The concern of the food safety department towards its duties is evident from the fact that 117 samples were collected and only 65 were analysed. The Composite Testing Laboratory (CTL), Kandaghat does not have the facility for detection of oxytocin in food samples,” it added.

The Court said, “It was not specified whether the food samples were sent specifically for detection of oxytocin or not.” 

It also observed that the Amicus Curiae also submitted that the Drug Control Administration had failed to provide data about the steps taken by it to check its abuse and was conspicuously silent about the possibility of drug oxytocin being illegally imported into the state from other parts of the country, and even overseas.

No date was provided to show steps taken by the drug control administration to keep strict vigil and check on the manufacturers and chemists indulging in its sale, barring one seizure in the last three years, when 254 injections of oxytocin for veterinary use were seized.

No prescribed norms

Himachal Pradesh’s health safety and regulations director filed a response in the state High Court to the comments of the Amicus Curiae on the issue of the large-scale use of harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruit and vegetables.

In reply to this, he submitted that the matter, under the present circumstances, pertained more to research rather than the regulations. The state government did not have any mechanism to test the factum of oxytocin in fruit and vegetables, milk and non-vegetarian products injected with the said drug.

The reply added that the government of India had not prescribed any norms, under either the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 or the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSR), 2011, for carrying out tests of oxytocin in foods.

Media reports of the misuse of oxytocin and its harmful effects on human health were not based on any scientific data, and no such ill-effects were reported by the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the animals on which experiments were carried out.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) had not published a scientific report on the adverse effects of the rapid metabolisation of oxytocin, to undetectable levels, in the liver and kidneys of animals who consume milk containing a high amount of the hormone.

Since the half-life of oxytocin varies between three and 12 minutes, its continued presence in milk, vegetables and fruit is unlikely. 

In humans, oxytocin is not absorbed when taken orally, as the same gets converted into amino acids by peptide digesting enzymes. 

Himachal Pradesh’s health safety and regulations director also submitted that the state regulatory authorities had not received any complaint regarding the illegal import of oxytocin. The Court has directed the Centre to file its reply within six weeks and posted the matter for April 1, 2015.

Health Dept Needs More Teeth to Ensure Food Safety

KOCHI: Even after the full-fledged Food Safety and Standards Act-2006 came into existence, there is no clarity as to which agency should conduct the inspection of the food sold in the State - the Food Safety Department or the Health Department.

Reply to an RTI query submitted on October 16, 2014, shows that the authority to conduct food inspection is vested with the Food Safety Department, not the Health Department.“The lack of clarity in the matter is the primary reason why the Food Safety and Standards Act could not be implemented successfully in Kerala,” says sources in the Health Department.“Call it a paradox. The Health Department, which has around 5,000 staff, carries out all the activities pertaining to food safety, but without any legal backing. Meanwhile, the Food Safety Department, which is legally responsible for such activities, is facing severe staff shortage. The issue could have been easily sorted out if the Health Department officials were given the power to conduct food safety inspections,” they pointed out.

The RTI report says that as per a government circular (66562/RC(3)/2012 LSGD), the role of a Health Inspector is restricted to field inspection. The local bodies issues licence based on the inspection conducted by a Health Inspector. “But, that is a circular, not a law,” said the sources.The RTI report further points out that according to the Food Safety and Standards Act, a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner is mandatory, not the health card issued by the Health Department.

“So, where is the legal backing for the inspections being carried out by the Health Department? Effective checking would be possible only if both the departments go hand-in-hand. In every gramapanchayat, there is one health inspector, and two or more junior health inspectors. Sadly, the government has not been able to utilise their services, and has restricted them to the areas of immunisation, family planning and prevention of non-communicable disease, which do not require strict monitoring,” said the sources.The Health Department has a tendency to follow the Madras Public Health Act-1939 and the Travancore Cochin Public Health Act-1955 quite often. However, reply to another RTI query moved in the Health Department on November 22, 2014, states that Chapter-XII (from Section-114 to 121) that deals with food control, and sections of Madras Public Health Act that gives the Health Department power to tackle food safety issues, had been annulled with the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Directorate of Health Services Director Dr P K Jameela said that the Health Department had the power to intervene everything that has something to do with the well-being of the people. “Both the departments have to go hand-in-hand to make the process successful. Besides, a Unified Public Health Act can settle this issue to a great extent,” she added.

SLAUGHTERHOUSES, MEAT SHOPS TO TAKE LICENCE FROM BOTH CENTRE, CIVIC BODY

Slaughterhouses and meat shops in the country will have to have mandatory licences both from the civic bodies and the Central Government. The country’s top Food regulator, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has issued notices to food safety commissioners and secretaries of urban local bodies across the country in this regard. It has also asked the officials that proper infrastructure and hygiene were maintained in such shops and slaughterhouses.

Asking the food commissioners and secretaries of urban local bodies to ensure compliance with the legal provisions as well as animal welfare measures, the apex body has called for a clear action plan. “It may kindly be ensured that no abattoir or slaughter house operates without a valid licence or registration,” the direction says.

As per the norms under the Food Safety (License and Registration of Food Business) Regulations 2011, all slaughterhouses are required to be licensed and registered with the FSSAI, an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry.

The FSSAI has also proposed installing CCTV at all strategic positions in the slaughterhouse, which would be an effective deterrent as far as hygiene and ‘stunning’ norms are concerned.

The notice also comes in the wake of the Supreme Court order direction to all states and Union Territories to constitute State committees for slaughterhouses within a specified time and sought compliance by them.

Pointing out that provisions in the Motor Vehicles Act for proper transportation of animals are followed strictly, the FSSAI has also directed the food safety commissioners to ask the local commissioners to ensure that livestock is not ill-treated during transportation. “Stringent action must be taken against the violators under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” says the notice.

The food authority has also asked the food commissioners and urban local commissioners to take necessary steps to prohibit slaughter of animals other than those allowed under the food safety regulations.

Illegal meat shops removed

Following complaints from the members of the public on illegal sale of meat and suggestions to ensure sale of quality meat, the Coimbatore Corporation conducted surprise raids across the city.

According to Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan, five teams at one each a zone were kept ready on Saturday night without being told the task to ensure that the raid yielded maximum result.

And the teams did prevent illegal shops from selling meat by removing the makeshift structures and seizing meat.

In the five zones, the Corporation officials seized 856 kg meat and dismantled 107 illegal shops, almost all of which functioned on weekends out of temporary structures.

The maximum seizure was in Central Zone, where the officials seized 256 kg meat from 39 shops.

The second highest seizure was in the south zone – 245 kg meat.

Officials in the Corporation said that the health workers took the seized meat to the dump yard in Vellalore, doused it in phenyl and then buried it deep in the ground to prevent misuse.

Dr. Vijayakarthikeyan said that the move would continue for the next few days.

China arrests over 110 people for selling contaminated pork

China has arrested more than 110 people, suspected of selling pork from pigs that died from disease, and confiscated more than 1,000 tonnes of contaminated pork in its latest crackdown on food safety violations.

The Ministry of Public Security said on Sunday the people were part of a network made up of 11 groups who, since 2008, had been buying pigs that had died of illnesses from livestock farms at low prices.

The meat was sold off to markets in 11 provinces, including Henan and Guangxi, or was processed into bacon or cooking oil for sale. The accused also bribed food supervisory authorities to obtain quarantine certificates, the ministry said.

eventy-five of the suspects have been prosecuted. Several food quarantine staff have also been sent to prosecutors, said the ministry, which had been investigating the network since the end of 2013.

Food safety remains a major concern in China after a series of high-profile scandals that has involved tainted milk powder as well as donkey meat. The scandals have embroiled foreign corporations such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and McDonald's

In 2013, more than 10,000 dead pigs were found floating down Shanghai's Huangpu river after the regional government cracked down on criminal gangs that had been selling abandoned carcasses as meat on the black market, fuelling overcrowding on farms.

China's top food watchdog said last Wednesday food and drug safety was "grim" and pledged stronger oversight.

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