Does apex court verdict on food product approval impact Maggi? (To go with: Food watchdog found exceeding mandate on product approvals)

Does the ban on Maggi noodles get impacted by the Supreme Court order of Wednesday? It agrees with the Bombay High Court's verdict that an advisory by the food safety watchdog on product approvals for some categories of food was without legal sanction.

This question is being raised as Maggi Oats Noodles with Tastemaker version falls under one of the eight product categories over which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had issued the advisory in May 2013, calling for prior product approvals before launch.

And this category is proprietary food. The other seven are irradiated food, organic foods, foods for special dietary uses, functional foods, neutraceuticals and health supplements. Even the ministry of food processing was opposed to proprietary food being part of the advisory.

The apex court bench of Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice N.V. Ramana on Wednesday upheld the order of theBombay High Court that had struck down this advisory, saying if the watchdog wanted to add some more products under its wing, it ought to have sought a fresh government notification.

The high court order had come after a company Vital Nutraceuticals, and the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) challenged the May 2013 advisory of the regulator.

Nestle's contention has been that the food safety regulator did not have the powers to issue such an advisory. It has also maintained that the product had been launched when there was a stay imposed on the advisory.

It has also said it had reverted within the stipulated time to the food safety authority's letter, asking for some details. "We responded within 30 days with the required clarifications, and our letter of March 24, 2015 was acknowledged by FSSAI," the company spokesperson said.

But both the government and the food safety authority have faulted this interpretation.

In its June 5 order, banning all variants of the noodle brand, the food safety authority had said that since Maggi Oats variant was "proprietary food", a product approval was necessary. Even if Nestle were to go by the stay order, it had no sanction to launch the product in the first place, the authority said.

The government, in its Aug 11 petition before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, also made a similar case.

"Despite being fully aware of such an advisory, the opponents (Nestle) began the manufacturing and selling Maggi Masala Oat Noodles in July 2014 with utter disregard for the rules and regulations as prescribed, with the sole objective of reaping profits," its petition said.

"On Aug 27, 2014, after the Maggi Oats Noodles was launched, the opponent company sought product approval of the product from the FSS Authority. For this act alone, the opponent company ought to be burdened with heavy costs."

SC deals body blow to FSSAI

Says product approval advisories invalid; regulator said to be working on fresh approval process to govern proprietary foods

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of food companies in a case questioning the product approval advisories issued by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The matter, from last year, has a far-reaching implication for packaged food majors, as it clears the air on product approvals pertaining to proprietary or non-standardised food items.

The present ruling also has a bearing on Nestle’s Maggi noodles, whose 10th variant, Maggi Oats, was recalled because it had no product approval. The ruling, say sources in the know, could give Nestle the confidence to challenge FSSAI’s “arbitrary” product-approval process.

Packaged food companies and FSSAI have been at loggerheads over product approvals pertaining mainly to proprietary foods. At least 700 product approvals are said to be held up for over a year and a half, as FSSAI has issued repeated clarifications and advisories to companies — most of those for product approvals sought for proprietary foods.

The matter had reached a head when a Mumbai-based company, Vital Neutraceuticals, approached the Bombay High Court last year challenging FSSAI’s powers to issue product-approval advisories. These advisories were issued on the basis of arbitrary guidelines, Vital said in the court, prompting the latter to rule it as illegal.

The Supreme Court, which was hearing an appeal filed by FSSAI in this case, upheld the Bombay High Court verdict, and lifted the interim stay given in the matter earlier.

According to Ashish Prasad, partner at solicitor firm Economic Laws Practice, today’s order implies “there is no requirement of a product approval system sought to be implemented by FSSAI. This does not mean FSSAI does not have powers under law to act in case of unsafe food, etc”.

Anticipating a negative verdict, the food safety regulator is believed to be working on draft regulations governing proprietary foods in India.

There are detailed food product standards specified under regulations put in place by FSSAI in 2011. These, however, cover only 377 food items.

Everything outside this regulatory framework is non-standardised or proprietary in nature for approvals to which FSSAI depends on guidelines framed by it. Proprietary foods include noodles, mayonnaise, sauces, syrups and many more items of common consumption.

The friction between food companies and FSSAI is growing because most of the applications the latter receives are for non-standardised products. Food companies have maintained that a proper regulatory framework should be in place to cover these food items.

Food dept raids grocery shop, seizes 2.5 quintal of expired edibles

MEERUT: The Food and Safety Drugs Administration (FSDA) raided a grocery shop in Lisari Gate's Ahmed Nagar Colony late on Monday evening and seized 'expired' food items weighing as much as 2.5 quintals, following a tip off from a local resident. The edibles past their use by date included biscuits, flour, spices and condiments, rice and dalia. 

A case under section 27(3)(a) of The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was filed against the owners of the shop on Tuesday. If they are found guilty, the accused will have to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh. 

"A local resident informed us about this grocery shop, following which we sent a team to the spot. But I guess, the shopkeepers got to know about our move well in advance and hid the expired items being sold. It was after a raid that the stock was located," said J P Singh, chief food safety officer. 

"The sellers mainly targeted poor and illiterate people who hardly check the expiry date of the items before purchasing them," Singh also said. 

The accused, Sajid and Saeed, residents of Lisari Gate, and Islamuddin, a resident of Ajrara village have confessed to purchasing expired food items from Delhi at prices lower than market rates and selling them to poor people in Meerut. 

Meanwhile, notices are being sent to the manufacturers of the expired edibles - most of which are based in south India, Singh also informed.

35 eateries asked to pull down shutters

Raids conducted by Health Department officials, notices served

The Health Department on Tuesday ordered closure of 35 eateries and served notice to another 2,144 in the State for violation of public health polices.

The closure order and serving of notices were on the basis of raids conducted by the department in hotels, bakeries, catering centres, soda manufacturing units and ice factories across the State.

During the raids, the department collected Rs.1.09 lakh as penalty under section 69 of the Food Safety Act.

A sum of Rs.58,750 was collected from hotels alone for violating public health parameters.

The raids conducted as part of the Safe Kerala, an initiative to check infectious diseases and promote public health, found 980 teams drawn from various wings of the Health Department inspecting as many as 12,785 eateries in the district, an official release here said.

The raids were conducted to ensure steps were taken to provide a clean and healthy environment where food was cooked and served to public.

The team carried out checks in the eateries to establish the hygiene, including personal hygiene of cooks; quality of water; facility for dumping waste; and drainage facility.During the raid, the team imposed fine on 55 persons who were found smoking at public places, the release said.

Officials collect Rs.1.09 lakh as penalty

Rs.58,750 has been collected from hotels alone

HC exposes food regulator's farce

"The FSSAI tests were vitiated and the results, unreliable."

The Bombay High Court’s revocation of the ban on Nestle’s Maggi noodles exposes the utterly casual attitude and worse of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the testing of food articles and taking action based on the tests. The court’s order and observations are an indictment of the food regulator on many counts, as it found that the FSSAI action was unjustified, its methods were illegal and the procedures wrong. The FSSAI, headed by CEO Y S Malik, had banned the popular snack on the claim that it was “hazardous and unsafe for human consumption’’, as some tested samples allegedly had high levels of lead. But the court has found that the FSSAI action violated the principles of natural justice, because Nestle was not issued a notice or given a 

hearing. It turns out the action was unilateral. 

Worse, the court found that the tests done by the FSSAI were vitiated and the results were unreliable. It noted that the samples were not collected in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act and the due procedure prescribed in the Act was not followed. The testing was not done at accredited laboratories. In fact, there was wide variation and even a contradiction in the results with tests in some states finding the samples safe and others finding them unsafe. The court also questioned the FSSAI why all variants of Maggi were banned when the tests found only three variants unsafe, and why it went in for the ban when Nestle had recalled the packets from the market. The answers and explanations were not convincing.

It is a matter of serious concern that the national food regulator could act so irresponsibly. If it banned a food item on the basis of unreliable tests and following wrong procedures, it could also allow unsafe food to be sold and distributed. It should be noted that Maggi produced in India was found safe in Singapore, the UK, the US and other countries where the standards are more rigorous, and by CFTRI in Mysuru. The controversy showed that there are no uniform standards of testing in the country. The government, which allowed the FSSAI to take the drastic action, should also share the blame for the scandalous affair. It has damaged the country’s reputation. The shabby treatment of Nestle did not show that the ease of doing business in India has improved in any way. While Maggi has to face the tests ordered by the court, it is the FSSAI which has failed the public and judicial tests for now.

Just 2 Officials Manning Food and Safety Dept

VISAKHAPATNAM : The Food and Safety Department which is supposed to protect people from adulterated food in the district, has just two officials. One carries out field inspections while the second official is a supervision officer. As a result, in the absence of strict vigilance and enforcement, wholesalers and retailers of fruits liberally use carbide for early ripening of fruits.

In fact, there is a ban on the use of carbide for fruit ripening but wholesalers are using the chemical freely and selling the fruits in the market, at the cost of people’s health.

There is a good demand and market for fruits in Visakhapatnam district. According to the information, over 60 per cent of all varieties of fruits are imported to Visakhapatnam from the Rajahmundry, Ravulapalem and Tuni centres of East Godavari district. Wholesalers purchase fruits from the farmers during harvesting and use carbide for ripening them before they hit the market through the retailers.

In fact, the agriculture market committees are also responsible to check the carbide usage at the godowns itself. Except on a few occasions, there are no raids or preventive measures from the agriculture market committees.

Though the market committees have good knowledge and information, no steps are being taken to arrest carbide usage as the market committee members belong to the local areas.

“The use of carbide for fruit ripening is not a new thing. In fact, for the last three-and-a-half decades, we have been using it for ripening fruits. If we wait for natural ripening, there is no guarantee that the fruits will ripen evenly, leading to 75 per cent loss in business. No wholesaler will be able to stay in business if they rely on natural ripening. I don’t understand why the government suddenly raised such a hue and cry, confusing people,” said Bandreddi Appala Raju, a wholesaler.

However, he said that there were no cold storage godowns and other infrastructure support from the government and the present methods had been in use for the last several decades.

However, the officials of the Food and Safety department are only doing a perfunctory job.

The officials, on suspicion or on a tip-off, collect samples and send them to the testing laboratories in Hyderabad. The labs are supposed to send reports within 14 days of receiving the samples. If the samples belong to highly perishable goods, it is common for wholesalers to request the reports at the earliest.

But, according to the information from the department, reports take at least a week’s time, by when the fruits are sold.

“We can’t ask the retailers to stop selling fruits till the reports arrive. We are only two officers for the whole district. However, we collect samples from various places and send them to State Food Laboratory in Hyderabad,” said Shiekh Ghouse Mohiddin, designated officer in the Food and Safety Department, Visakhapatnam rural.

Though fruits and vegetables in the region are being chemically ripened, the food safety department does not have the facilities to detect the presence of calcium carbide and other chemicals.

Unless the department is strengthened with district-level labs, vehicles and sufficient manpower, food and fruit adulteration cannot be stopped, a senior official from Hyderabad felt.

“Not only seasonal fruits like mango, all regular fruits like banana and pomegranate are also ripened by carbide. It is impossible to rely on nature in fruit business. Some people suggest several ways for easy ripening, but ultimately the cost of the fruit will increase. Corporate companies use ethylene gas for manually ripening fruits for their outlets, so as to meet demand. They also have cold storages and other facilities, which we do not,” said Rothu Suryanarayana, a leading fruit wholesaler.

Food safety is a grey area in India and a few of us think about it

Fried samosa and lemon-soda from a roadside stall or a sandwich made in front of you using allegedly freshly baked or toasted bread or packaged noodles or branded ketchup or soft drinks or fancy high-priced meals at a 5-star hotel or the food being used at home – do you have any idea of the supply chain that brought it to your palate?

Especially, but not only, the cooking mediums we use. Vanaspati, edible oils, ghee or butter. How did they reach you, are the conditions of carriage in letter and spirit the same as they would be in other countries, especially with the international brands? Or is everybody on par with the roadside stall at the end of the day?

The recent noodles with MSG controversy has opened this subject to supply chain audits from farm to food-store by not just the government agencies but by many of the players themselves. And having had experience of carrying food grade products both dry and liquid, bulk and unitised, as also co-ordinating the earliest movements of refrigerated food product exports from India, I speak from practical experience as well as knowledge.

International movement of food grade and potable products like grains, lentils, edible oils, potable liquids and similar are carried by ships under extremely stringent conditions. It starts from there.

At the other end, the customer is told something like – store in dry and cool conditions. Or, needs refrigeration at all times. Consume in 2 hours after being opened. So on and so forth.

Look carefully at the laws pertaining to colas (sweetened carbonated coloured waters), for example – they need to be transported and stored in temperature controlled conditions, not stored out in the open next to highways or moved around in open trucks. No where else in the reasonable world will you see crates of soft drinks lying exposed to the sun and heat – very simple reason why, the chemical changes that occur make them very carcinogenic. And the plastic packaging leaches into the soft drink.

Point one – the complete supply chain has to be under temperature fetyand pressure controlled conditions. And stored in shade. Do any of us leave our vegetables and food out in the open in the sun (except to dry)? Even the footpath vendors will place an umbrella over the fresh food and sprinkle water on it while perspiring themselves. But we educated people will buy processed food that has traveled across deserts and mountains and sea-ports in open trucks!

And the quality of those trucks.

A ship carrying edible oils, for example, not only has to provide pressurised and temperature controlled stainless steel or specially lined tanks, but can also for the rest of its natural life as a ship never carry a grade of any liquid cargo which is higher in rating than the most inferior cargo carried unless the owners are ready to spend a huge sum of money getting every square centimetre of tank space, every running centimetre of piping and every valve thoroughly cleaned by independent facilities ashore.

Many of these liquid cargoes have very complex instructions as a part of the seller-buyer contracts which have to be followed to the last dot on the i. These instructions, as far as the ship is concerned, end at the valve on the ship connecting to the pipeline from ashore. 

What happens after that?

Typically, in an Indian seaport, the better importers and exporters have their facilities on par with the best worldwide. Their tank farms and tank containers for onward transportation by road and/or rail are maintained to global best practices.

But there are others who take short-cuts right from the moment the liquid edible cargoes leave the ship for imports into India. Seaports in India are not open for public scrutiny, but the signs of all sorts of short-cuts are visible on our roads and off our highways as well as at storage facilities up-country, Food Corporation of India go downs and silos are just one example but by no means are they alone or are some of the private players paragons of virtue.

And then there are tanker-trucks. One way they will carry, say, edible oils. On the return leg they will carry, say, molasses. Cleaning between cargoes is done, if at all, manually using laundry soaps and human beings using brooms and mops. The question of temperature and pressure control simply does not exist, and very often the tanks used are not even insulated. As a result, the liquid edible oils and food grade products which would move from, say, a Gujarat port to a factory in a North Indian state, would go through a few weeks on the road during which they would absorb not just traces of previous cargoes and cleaning agents but also experience temperature changes from ultra cold nights to hot days as they drive through the plains.

It is time we started asking the corporates who sell us packaged food, especially liquids, how do they move their products across the country?

Especially, but not only, the cooking oils and the soft drinks.

And if they don’t answer, then please ask FSSAI.

DINAMANI NEWS

காய்கறிக்கு அடுத்து பால் கேரளாவின் புதிய ‘செக்’

கூட லூர், ஆக. 19:

தமி ழ கத் தில் இருந்து கேர ளா வுக்கு தின மும் லட் சக் க ணக் கான லிட்டர் பால் கொண்டு செல் லப் ப டு கி றது. இந்த பால் கெடா மல் இருக்க பார் ம லின் என்ற வேதிப் பொ ருள் கலக் கப் ப டு வ தாக கூறப் ப டு கி றது. கேர ளா வில் ஓணம் பண் டி கையை (ஆக. 28) முன் னிட்டு தமி ழ கத் தி லி ருந்து வழக் கத் திற்கு அதி க மான அளவு பால் அனுப்பி வைக் கப் ப டு கி றது. இதில் கலப் ப டம் இருப் ப தா கக் கூறி ஆய்வு நடத்த, கேரள அரசு அதி கா ரி களுக்கு உத் த ர விட்டுள் ளது.

இதை ய டுத்து எல் லைப் ப கு தி க ளான குமுளி, பாலக் காடு, களி யக் கா விளை உட் பட ஆறு இடங் களில் பால் வண் டி களை, கேரள உணவு பாது காப்பு அம லாக் கப் பிரி வி னர் சோதனை செய்து வரு கின் ற னர். இதற் காக எல் லைப் ப குதி சோத னைச் சா வ டி களில் தற் கா லிக ஆய் வ கம் அமைக் கப் பட்டுள் ளது. ஓணம் பண் டிகை முடி யும் வரை பால் கலப் ப டம் தொடர் பான ஆய்வு தொடர்ந்து நடத் தப் ப டும் என அதி கா ரி கள் தெரி வித் துள் ள னர். தமி ழ கத் தில் இருந்து வரும் காய் க றி க ளைத் தொடர்ந்து தற் போது பாலுக் கும் கேரள அரசு ‘செக்’ வைத் தி ருப் பது அதிர்ச் சியை ஏற் ப டுத் தி யுள் ளது

கடைகளில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் திடீர் ஆய்வு முதல் எச்சரிக்கை நோட்டீஸ் கொடுத்தனர்

பொள் ளாச்சி, ஆக. 19:

பொள் ளாச்சி அருகே நெக மத் திற் குட் பட்ட பகு தி யில் செயல் ப டும் பேக் கரி உள் ளிட்ட கடை களில் சுகா தா ர மான உணவு பொருட் கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு கி றதா என்று உணவு பாது காப்பு அதி கா ரி கள் நேற்று திடீர் என்று ஆய்வு நடத் தி னர். இதில் குறிப் பிட்ட சில கடை களுக்கு முதல் எச் ச ரிக்கை நோட்டீஸ் கொடுத் த னர்.

பொள் ளாச் சியை அடுத்த நெக மம் மற் றும் அதனை சுற் றி யுள்ள பகு தி யில் செயல் ப டும் பேக் கரி, ஓட்டல் களில் சுகா தா ர மின்றி உணவு பொருட் கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு வ தாக மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு அதி கா ரி களுக்கு புகார் வந் தது.

இதை ய டுத்து நேற்று, பொள் ளாச்சி வடக்கு பகுதி உணவு பாது காப்பு அலு வ லர் கள் சனா வுல்லா, செந் தில் கு மார் மற் றும் சுப் பு ராஜ், கோவிந் த ராஜ் உள் ளிட்டோர் அங் குள்ள கடை களில், சுகா தா ர மான முறை யில் உணவு பொருட் கள் விற் ப னைக்கு வைக் கப் பட்டுள் ளதா என நேரில் ஆய்வு செய் த னர்.

நெக மம் பஸ் நி லைய பகுதி, பல் ல டம் ரோடு உள் ளிட்ட பகு தி களில் செயல் ப டும் ஓட்டல், பேக் கரி மற் றும் டீக் க டை கள் என சுமார் 40க்கும் மேற் பட்ட கடை களில் ஆய்வு மேற் கொண் ட னர்.

அப் போது, பல கடை களில் விற் ப னைக் காக வைக் கப் பட்டி ருந்த பொருட் கள் சுகா தா ர மான முறை யில் திறந்த வெளி யில் வைக் கப் பட்டி ருப் ப தை ய றிந் த னர். இது தொடர் பாக இரண்டு பேக் கரி உரி மை யா ளர் களுக்கு அதி கா ரி கள் முதுல் எச் ச ரிக்கை நோட்டீஸ் கொடுத் த னர். மேலும் ஓட்டல் அறை யில் உணவு பொருட் கள் தயா ரிக் கும் பகு திக்கு சென்று ஆய்வு செய் த னர்.

இதை தொடர்ந்து சில கடை களில் ஆய்வு மேற் கொள் ளும் போது அங்கு புகை யிலை போதை பொருட் கள் விற் ப னைக்கு வைக் கப் பட்டி ருப் பது தெரி ய வந் தது. இதை ய டுத்து அந்த புகை யிலை, போதை பாக்கு பொருட் களை அதி கா ரி கள் பறி மு தல் செய் த து டன் எச் ச ரிக்கை விடுத் த னர். மேலும் ஓட்டல், பேக் க ரி களில் விற் ப னைக் காக வைக் கப் பட்டி ருக் கும் பொருட் கள் சுகா தா ர மான முறை யில் வைத் தி ருக்க வேண் டும். இது முதல் எச் ச ரிக் கை யா கும், இது போன்று செயல் தொடர்ந் தால் நட வ டிக்கை எடுக் கப் ப டும் என்று கடை உரி மை தா ர ரி டம் அதி கா ரி கள் தெரி வித் த னர்.

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கட லூர், ஆக. 19:

கட லூர் நக ரில் தனி யார் மருத் து வ ம னை கள் கேன் டீ னு டன் செயல் ப டு கி றது. உணவு தரம் அதன் தயா ரிப்பு மற் றும் விநி யோ கம் செய் யும் முறை யில் போதிய சுகா தார தன்மை கடை பி டிக் க வில்லை என மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு துறைக்கு தொடர் புகார் கள் வந் தது. இதை ய டுத்து நெல் லிக் குப் பம் சாலை யில் உள்ள பிர பல மருத் து வ மனை கேன் டீ னில் மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு அலு வ லர் ராஜா தலை மை யில் அலு வ லர் நந் த கு மார் உள் ளிட்ட அதி கா ரி கள் திடீர் ஆய்வு செய் த னர்.

உணவு வகை களை சோத னை யிட்ட அவர் கள் சமை யற் கூ டம் தூய் மை யாக வைக்க அறி வு றுத் தி னர். மேலும் பரி மா றப் ப டும் உண வு கள் சூடாக வழங்க வலி யு றுத் தி னர். உணவு விற் ப னை யில் கூடு தல் விலை இருக்க கூடாது என வும் எச் ச ரிக் கை செய் யப் பட்டது.

கட லூ ரில் தனி யார் மருத் து வ மனை கேன் டீ னில் உணவு தரம் குறித்து உணவு பாது காப்பு அதி காரி ராஜா ஆய்வு செய் தார்.