DINAMANI NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

Food labels misleading consumers: MSU study

VADODARA: Your favorite multigrain atta or bread that boasts of proteins and fiber will actually give you less than half the nutrition from its regular counterpart. A study by researchers at MS University's faculty of family and community sciences (FFCS) has identified over 200 food products with improper food labeling by the manufacturers of food products that mislead consumers while buying them. The study is funded by Gujarat Council on Science and Technology.

It is mandatory for the food manufacturers to provide information on ingredients, allergens, natural or artificial colours and flavours and nutrition content on the nutrition fact panel. Assistant professor at the department of foods and nutrition of the FFCS Dr Suneeta Chandorkar said that most of the manufacturers fail in incorporating the guidelines set by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

As part of the study, over 1,100 food labels were analyzed to study their compliance with the guidelines laid down by FSSAI. According to the researchers, food labeling is in its infancy in India. As most legislation is voluntary in nature, even the mandatory guidelines are not followed by the manufacturers.

"Fat, trans fat, sugar and sodium are nutrients of concern as these are associated with incidence of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart ailments and various other non-communicable diseases. Ideally these nutrients should be present in lower quantities, but in several foods, hidden or alternative sources were found in ingredients list rendering the food unhealthy. Presence of alternative sources of nutrients of concern makes it difficult for the consumers to interpret food labels accurately," said Chandorkar.

"It is mandatory to provide nutrition information in English, Hindi or a regional language on the product, yet majority of the products we studied provided the information only in English," she added.

"We found that the analyzed values for sodium, sugar and fat were higher than the reported values on the packaging. We also identified major potential allergens," said Meenu Singh, a research scholar.

"An ideal ingredient list will have ingredients in the decreasing order of their weight expressed in percentages," she added.

Over 750 water samples from Jotiba checked

KOLHAPUR: The district health department inspected over 750 water samples from the recently-held annual Jotiba yatra from over 200 sources, including those of restaurants, vendors, water tankers and wells situated on the hill and its 10-km periphery. 

According to officials, unlike last year when almost half of the samples inspected needed purification, this year, not a single sample was impure. The department's drive to sensitise vendors and implementation of sterilisation of water sources played an important role. 

"The drive was conducted to avoid the spread of waterborne diseases. Several chlorine tests were undertaken to check the purity of the samples. Chlorine is considered to clean water by killing micro-organisms. So, its presence is tested in water samples through various tests," said taluka health officer of the zilla parishad's health department A S Kavthekar. 

Kavthekar added that considering the huge turnout of devotees every year, it is always a challenge to keep the water sources pure and plans were drawn in advance. 

FDA cracks down on over 300 food vendors 

The food and drug administration (FDA) carried out an inspection drive on over 300 food vendors for violation of the food safety Act at the annual Jotiba yatra. According to an FDA official, frequent inspections a week before the yatra were a part of this drive to curb any food-related problem. 

"A total of eight members from the FDA were present at the yatra site to inspect the quality of food materials and registration of vendors," said Kolhapur FDA assistant commissioner S M Deshmukh.

During the FDA inspection drive, food samples from the annachhatra, prasad, food from vendors and hotels were taken as samples. According to Deshmukh, those who fail to comply with FDA standards can be fined up to Rs 25,000 or licences or registrations can be suspended. 

Last week, the FDA had notified two vendors at Jotiba for keeping soda beyond its expiry date on sale.

Food operators given deadline for licence

Food business operators in State have been given time till August 4 to obtain licences under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations.

The regulations were drawn up in 2011 on the basis of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidates various acts and orders in the food segment.

The Act also stipulates the formation of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to implement scientific standards to regulate manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food items. Accordingly, the FSSAI commenced operations two years ago, setting February 4, 2012 as the date for obtaining licences, which was extended for six months and later for a year. The date was extended till August 8, 2014, which was again extended by six months.

The current extension has been given to allow the operators to join the system in States where the FSSAI is yet to be fully functional. There were also demands from representatives in food sector to extend the time.

The FSSA aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level and multi-departmental control to a single line of command.

Various norms such as Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, Fruit Products Order, 1955, Meat Food Products Order, 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947, Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967, and Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992, were sought to be repealed after commencement of the FSS Act, 2006.

They have to procure licence within August 4.