Mother Dairy, ITC start selling items on safety plank

LT Foods that sells Dawat brand of rice, for example, will market its soon-to-be-launched atta (flour) brand as toxic metal free.

NEW DELHI: Some food processing companies now brand their products as 'adulterant free' and 'toxic metal free', and work with farmers to ensure quality raw material, to differentiate themselves amid increasing consumer awareness and safety concerns.

LT Foods that sells Dawat brand of rice, for example, will market its soon-to-be-launched atta (flour) brand as toxic metal free. "We will be launching our atta under the Devaaya brand. It will be branded as lead free and will resonate our company's philosophy of selling safe produce," said Vivek Chandra, chief executive officer for global branded business at LT Foods.

Shakti Bhog Foods, Mother Dairy, Cargill India and ITC are among other companies that have started branding their products as safe and chemicals free, or working closely with farmers to ensure quality and safety.

"Companies who are just entering the sector or a product category might highlight food safety as product differentiator while marketing. It wasn't used till a year ago but now it is used," said Siraj Chaudhary, chairman at Cargill India.

The company in July started a Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan to promote awareness around food safety for all. "Cargill believes that food safety is a shared responsibility of the farmers, the food industry, regulators as well as consumers," Chaudhary said.

Consumer concerns over food safety have been rising in the country in recent months, particularly after Food Safety and Standards Authority of India banned Nestle's popular instant noodle brand Maggi.

While the Bombay High Court lifted the ban and Nestle is readying to relaunch the instant noodle brand after it proved safe in review tests mandated by the court, the controversy and FSSAI's recent actions against several products helped increase overall consumer awareness about food safety, industry insiders said.

LT Foods' Chandra said the company will work with farmers in Madhya Pradesh during this Rabi season to ensure quality products. "India consumer wants safe and healthy produce which we will ensure," he said.

KK Kumar, managing director at Shakti Bhog Foods, said companies are now working to bring global standards to India. "There is a focus to sell quality produce and consumers are now demanding it strongly," he said.

Kumar said the moisture level in Shakti Bhog flour is only 10.5%, much lower than the 14% limit prescribed by the government. In the past, Tata group had branded its i-Shakti Dals as being much more nutritious and tastier because they did not use polished or damaged pulses, artificial stone powder, colour, or oil.

Similarly, Mother Dairy markets its pulses brand as being unpolished. "Most of the people may be aware that colours, chemicals and metals are part of the food and fruit we eat. What needs to be highlighted now is that the shining white ginger sold in the Delhi market may have got an acid wash or the brinjal must have got a colour wash," said a marketing official of a leading national retail chain.

Food companies said governments, farmers and companies need to work together to ensure quality of food. The challenge in the country is much larger than what few companies can do for their brand and sourcing. The government needs to address the larger challenge like mapping of soil or water quality in this country," said Rajnikant Rai, COO for agribusiness division at ITC.

ET View: Strengthen Regulation To Make Food Safe

Companies must ensure standards on food safety. The controversy over Maggi has reinforced the need to protect consumer interests, though it is a fact that only some laboratories found the noodles to be unsafe. Therefore, it is imperative for the government and the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to ensure that all labs which analyse the chemical composition of food are competent. The certified laboratories must have robust sampling procedures and be adequately staffed to keep an eye on foods across the country.

Inspectors endorse government hostel food mess

PUNE: Boycotting poor quality food prepared allegedly in unhygienic condition, residents of the state-run Sant Dnyaneshwar Boys' Hostel on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation if the issue was not resolved.

The students claimed that they could not even stand the smell of the food dished out to them on Thursday, forget eating. The officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) validated their claim following an inspection of the cooking area in the hostel on the premises of the social welfare commissionerate.

The FDA officials confirmed that the conditions at the hostel mess were unhealthy .They would issue a show-cause notice to the food contractor for violating the food safety norms.

Abhijit Lokhande, an engineering student who stays at the hostel, said, "The food is cooked at the hostel mess in an unhealthy condition. On Thursday, the food served to us was stinking. Hence, we walked out of the mess. Some of us even found ants and pests on chapatis. We have decided to boycott the hostel food."

Lokhande alleged that the cook at the mess was an alcoholic. "He prepares food in inebriated state. When we complain, he hurls abuses at us and even threatens to beat up us."

The state's social welfare department pays Rs 4,300 per month per student to the food contractor for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Usually , breakfast comprises two eggs, an apple, a banana, poha (beaten rice flakes) and milk. Lunch and dinner consist of two vegetable dishes, chapatti, lentil (dal) and rice.

"Food items given for breakfast are usually of poor quality . Fruits are small in size.Even crushed fruits are served at times. Milk has no taste," said Ramdas Nirgude, another resident of the hostel.

Echoing Ramdas, another student said, "Chapatis given in lunch and dinner are often hard and difficult to chew. At times, there is hardly any lentil in dal or and on other occasions it is used in excess."

The food contractor is awarded the work contract every year. The mess staff consists of a cook for preparing vegetables, three woman assistants for rolling chapattis and a supervisor to oversee the work, bring vegetable and other cooking items.

"The present food contractor got the contract last Diwali. We have been complaining against his food quality for long. But nothing has happened. Today's (Thursday's) food was simply unpalatable," said another student.

The officials of the FDA inspected the hostel mess soon after they leant about the students' protest. "There is no denying the fact that the food is cooked at the hostel mess in a very unhygienic condition. The drainage line right outside the mess emits nauseating stench. Besides, the cooking area is unhealthy .But we did not find ants and pests in the food prepared, as claimed by the students. We shall show-cause the food contractor for cooking food in insanitary conditions," said Dinkar Mirajkar, the assistant commissioner (food) of FDA, Pune.

On if the officials had collected food samples for test, Mirajkar said, "We carried out visual inspection. Barring unhygienic condition, we didn't find any problem with the prepared food. Hence, we did not collect any sample of prepared food items."

Mumbai-based Crystal Gourmet Pvt Limited was awarded the food contract for all the 13 hostels of the social welfare department in Pune, including Sant Dnyaneshwar Boys' Hostel.

Prateek Jadhav, an employee of the company who looks after the operations for the 13 hostels in Pune, said, "We are trying to improve the food quality. The students' complaints have increased over the last two months but those are mainly against the cook. I ha ve informed my higher authorities about it as well as the FDA inspection. I am not well. Hence, can't say much about the food prepared today ."

Girish Tike, the branch manager of Crystal Gourmet Pvt Ltd, said, "We are using food ingredients of the highest quality and we never compromise on food safety norms. Some students in the hostel blow up minor issues out of proportion. Our payments are delayed for months, but we don't complain. We try our best to provide the best possible service."

Prasad Lad, the proprietor of Crystal Gourmet Pvt Ltd, said, "I have never been informed about the students' complaints. I will personally look into the issue. Things will be rectified soon."

Hostel's rector Deepak Sawant could not be contacted.

ASCI looks to broaden ties with government

MoUs with health ministry and Trai on the cards; it has signed one with FSSAI for directly processing complaints 

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is likely to soon sign agreements with the Union health ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, seeking to expand its role.

It had recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India, allowing it to directly process complaints received by the latter on misleading advertisements.

The ad regulator is also a partner of the Union department of consumer affairs, acting on allegedly misleading ads received by the latter, on a website promoted for the purpose. This website, operational for a few months, allows consumers to complain about any ad in any medium across categories.

Persons in the know say segments such as health and telecom have seen some serious ad violations of late, prompting the move by ASCI. It recently rapped Bharti Airtel, asking the firm to withdraw its 4G speed challenge ad for being misleading. Similar action was taken against ads by Idea and Vodafone.

ASCI completed 30 years of existence this month. It begins a year-long celebration of the milestone, with seminars, workshops and events. “The objective is to continue our initiative of increasing the awareness about misleading ads, how to complain about these and what are the avenues available to consumers, as well as industry, to do so,” says Shweta Purandare, secretary-general of ASCI.

The self-regulatory body will also step up efforts to educate creators of ads about the ASCI Code and what constitutes an inappropriate one. “We are not here to tell the creative community their job. This effort is simply intended to sensitise them about how to avoid misleading or tall claims in the ads they create that can harm consumer interest," Purandare said.

The ad regulator is also likely to renew its contract with TAM for monitoring print and television ads. Inked in 2012, the arrangement for a three-year period had seen the scanning of about 10,000 print ads and 350 on TV each week. This had allowed ASCI to catch errant advertisers in small towns and cities, taking action against them on its own, said persons in the know.

The body is also looking for a digital agency to monitor online ads, a space rapidly seeing incidents of tall or misleading claims by established brands and e-tailers.

Recently, ASCI said it had upheld complaints against 82 campaigns in June, for misleading consumers. It issues news of action taken against brands with a lag. Names such as Flipkart, Uber and Snapdeal had figured prominently in the list of errant advertisers for June, beside brands such as Vodafone, L'Oreal, Fortis Healthcare and Pernod Ricard. June’s action had followed what the body had done for May, when major advertisers such as Hindustan Unilever, Dabur, VLCC and Aptech were pulled up.

Purandare says most big brands and advertisers do modify ads when the body writes to them, at times within days of the misleading or errant ad being released. This is unlike in the past, when ASCI was accused of acting too late, well after the ad had run its course. Speedy action follows ASCI moving from a monthly to a fortnightly to now a weekly cycle of addressing complaints.

The number of complaints to the body against misleading ads has also shot up almost 13-fold in the past three years, from 148 in 2011. This calendar year could see ASCI touching the 2,000-mark in complaints received.

KEEPING A CLOSE EYE 

• Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is also a partner of the Union department of consumer affairs, acting on allegedly misleading ads received by the latter
• ASCI recently rapped Bharti Airtel, asking the firm to withdraw its 4G speed challenge ad for being misleading
• The ad regulator is also likely to renew its contract with TAM for monitoring print and television ads
• The body is also looking for a digital agency to monitor online ads

Post Maggi row, centre mulls rule on printing Helpline Nos. on Food Packets

 

Noodle flap lands regulator in hot water

Instant noodles, especially Maggi-brand products, are extremely popular in India. 

MUMBAI -- Nestle India is preparing to resume production and sales of its mainstay Maggi brand of instant noodles now that a court has overturned a government order to keep the products off store shelves. The focus now is on whether the food safety regulator will accept the decision or defend its sales ban, which has caused huge losses for many businesses.

A neighborhood grocery store in northern Mumbai has seen instant noodle sales tumble 30% since it stopped stocking Maggi noodles about five months ago.

The store carries other brands, such as the Sunfeast Yippee line from major local player ITC, but "customers still ask for Maggi noodles even now," the owner said.

The saga began in early June, when the government ordered Nestle India to stop production and sales of Maggi noodles, alleging that the products contained hazardous levels of lead. The company objected to the charge, filing a motion at the Bombay High Court.

The court ruled in August that Nestle India could resume sales of the noodles if they were deemed safe by three court-approved testing facilities.

Nestle India's Maggi-brand instant noodles command an 80% market share. © Reuters 

The company issued a statement on Oct. 16 reiterating its assertion that its noodles pose no health threat. According to the statement, the lead content of its instant noodles was proven to be far lower than maximum allowable level under the country's food safety laws. Nestle India also said it would immediately begin production so that it could resume sales.

Major damage

Nestle products have been available in India for over a century and have become part people's daily lives there. Of all the company's offerings, Maggi noodles are by far its most important. The brand commands about 80% of the market and generates roughly a quarter of Nestle India's sales. It is no surprise, then, that the recall order dealt a huge blow to the company's earnings. Nestle India reported a net loss in the April-June quarter.

But the impact has gone beyond just Nestle India. Soon after issuing the production and sales ban, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India published a document outlining plans to test instant noodles from six other companies.

The document also said that all products that have yet to receive final approval would be deemed illegal. This went against the FSSAI's existing stance that makers can produce and sell products while awaiting approval.

Scrambling to respond to the regulator's about-face, the local unit of Anglo-Dutch daily products giant Unilever and Japan's Nissin Foods Holdings recalled their instant noodles voluntarily.

This led to a 90% plunge in noodle sales to 300 million rupees ($4.98 million) over a one-month period starting in early June, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.

"Indian people's awareness toward food safety has been growing sharply, particularly among the middle class," a nutrition consultant in Delhi said. "This shift is one of the reasons why the news reports of hazardous levels of lead in the Maggi noodles created such a strong response nationwide."

But various testing facilities, including one in Singapore, where Indian-made Maggi noodles are sold, started countering the FSSAI's allegation, saying they found nothing wrong with the noodles.

As a different picture began emerging, public anger at Nestle India quickly turned toward the government. And resentment over the food safety body's sudden rule change for noodle makers is still smoldering.

Lack of clarity

The FSSAI's test results differed from those of overseas labs because of the organization's lack of food-testing know-how, said Deven Choksey, CEO of Kisan Ratilal Choksey Shares & Securities. He added that while the regulator's handling of the matter has been immature, debacles like the Maggi case will probably decrease over time.

The FSSAI has not yet publicly commented on the court-ordered test results, so it is unclear whether it intends to continue pursuing the case or drop it. This means Nestle India may not be able to resume production and sales as smoothly as it hoped.

Amit Khurana, an expert on food safety issues at India's Centre for Science and Environment, does not think India has seen the end of the Maggi issue, saying lingering problems remain unresolved.

This lack of clarity from the government is a major problem that foreign companies in India have faced time and again. In the case of the sales ban on Maggi noodles, the FSSAI must clearly state its case.

Without such basic action, the dispute will likely tarnish the business-friendly image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and hurt the government's efforts to boost foreign investment.