SC permits Mysuru lab to test more Maggi noodles samples

The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) to get more samples of Maggi noodles to test the lead and mono sodium glutamate (MSG) contents in its taste-makers.
The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice N.V. Ramana also asked the CFTRI to tell if the lead content found in its tests carried out in October, in pursuance of the order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), was within the limit prescribed under the food safety law and rules framed under it.
The CFTRI had conducted tests on Maggi samples in pursuance of the October 15 directions of the NCDRC.
Giving the lab two months' time to carry out the tests and submit its report, the court said if the lab needed more samples, it should ask for them.
The court was told that more samples were needed as the samples already used for tests could not be reused for further tests.
For more samples, if needed, the CFTRI would approach the NCDRC joint registrar who would collect the samples from the Lucknow godown of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The apex court on December 16 had asked the CFTRI to test samples of Maggi noodles as directed by the NCDRC.
The court had asked the CFTRI to undertake the testing of Maggi samples as it modified the NCDRC order of December 9-10 by which it had asked the Chennai-based lab to test the samples.
Nestle India had moved the apex court challenging the December 9-10 order.
Nestle contended that once the NCDRC sent Maggi samples for testing by the Mysuru lab by its October 15 order, then there was no necessity of further testing by the Chennai lab.
The Centre had moved the apex court against the August 13, 2015 Bombay High Court order which had held that the labs that tested Maggi noodles were not accredited by the NABL, thus their findings could not be relied upon.
The next hearing of the matter is on April 5.

More attention needed on quality of Maggi as it's mostly used by youngsters: SC

New Delhi: In what could spell trouble again for Nestle India, the Supreme Court has made some grim observations on Maggi. The SC expressed concern over the quality of the noodles saying that more attention needs to be paid as the product is being consumed by youngsters.
The SC made the observations while hearing Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) plea challenging the Bombay HC order which lifted the ban on Maggi noodles in 2015.
The apex court asked the government laboratory in Mysore to further clarify whether test reports relating to lead and glutamic acid in Maggi noodles are within permissible parameters under the law. The apex court passed the order after perusing two communications received from the Mysore laboratory which had carried out the test about the monosodium glutamate (MSG) content in the samples.
While Nestle India, makers of Maggi, claimed that the lead content was within the permissible limit prescribed under the Food Safety Act, the Centre said there was a need for comprehensive findings of all other parameters.
Making it clear that it was not passing any interim order, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said there was a need for the clarification.
"We have perused the test reports. We would like Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore to apprise this court on two aspects, whether the test report relating to lead and glutamic acid are within the permissible parameters and to clarify that those are within parameters prescribed under the Food Safety Act," the bench, also comprising Justice N V Ramana, said.
The bench further said the institute in Mysore shall also give clarification on the test relating to glutamic acid. The bench said additionally if the institute feels more samples were necessary, it can requisition the same from the authority concerned.
The bench said for the additional samples the court may communicate with the joint registrar, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), who was appointed as local commissioner. He shall collect the samples from FSSAI godown in Lucknow.
The court said the entire exercise has to be carried out within eight weeks and posted the matter for April 5. The court had on December 16, 2015 ordered testing of samples of Maggi noodles in the Mysore laboratory after NCDRC had directed that it be done in Chennai.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by Nestle India Ltd against the order of apex consumer commission.
The consumer commission had on December 10, 2015 sent 16 more samples of Maggi noodles for testing in the Chennai lab to ascertain the quantity of lead and MSG in them, in connection with the government's Rs 640 crore suit against the company for alleged unfair trade practices.
The apex court, meanwhile, had stayed the proceedings before NCDRC and had directed that the test reports, including the earlier one, be placed before it.
The Bombay High Court had on August 13, 2015 lifted the ban on nine variants of the fast food and asked the company to go for fresh tests.

SC seeks clarity on Maggi’s lead levels from Mysore-based national research lab

The Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore has already submitted the results of tests ordered by the Supreme Court on 16 December
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) if lead levels in the samples of Maggi noodles it tested recently were within prescribed levels.
The Mysore-based national research lab, approved by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), has already submitted the results of tests ordered by the court on 16 December.
The December order stayed proceedings before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and transferred the case to Supreme Court.
A bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and N. V. Ramana asked CFTRI to make a requisition to the government for further samples of Maggi noodles, if required. The laboratory will also clarify that whether tests for glutamic acid are the same as those for monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Appearing for Nestle India Ltd, lawyer Harish Salve told the court that CFTRI was mistaken that Maggi had to be tested for all possible contaminants. The court replied that there was no difficulty in doing so.
The court said health and food safety were the primary concerns.
Maggi, Nestle’s popular snack, came under the food safety regulator’s scanner on charges that it contained excessive levels of lead and MSG. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned Maggi in the market in July. The Bombay high court lifted the ban in August.
The government had also filed a class action suit against the Indian arm of the Swiss food giant for compensation of Rs.640 crore.

Maggi packet to undergo Narco Analysis to find out if MSG and lead levels are within permissible limits

Mysuru: Tired with the inefficiency of various state governments in detecting MSG and lead levels in Maggi, Supreme Court has now asked Mysuru based lab to carry out narco tests on Maggi packs to bring out the truth and put an end to the debate.
Apparently, a few packets of Maggi will be taken the lab and the regular procedure for narco analysis will be conducted. “Although something like this has not been done before anywhere in the world, the situation demands a foolproof method of testing the noodles. Our lab is ready and we are waiting for the packet to arrive,” said Radheshyam Gowda, chief of the lab.
“The packet will be first injected with truth serum and then questions will be asked to the packet to ascertain if the packet indeed has higher than normal levels of MSG and lead,” he added.
The apex court’s decision also brought back focus on Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali noodles which were in news for having worms inside the noodle packet. Baba Ramdev denied that his noodle brand would be undergoing any test and added that his noodle brand is subject to stringent hygiene test and is 100% natural. “Arre bhaiyya agar kuch worms aa bhi gaye toh ye kahavat yaad rakhna ki ‘Early bird gets the worm’,” he guffawed as our reporter tried hard to make sense of what Baba Ramdev said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court decision led to a huge debate between Congress and BJP with the opposition party accusing the ruling party of favoring the corporate.
A prime time debate on Arnab’s NewsHour debate saw spokespersons from both parties trading charges and accusing each other of misleading the nation.
“This test is a sham and biggest joke of 2016. How can they test a packet and find out the truth. I mean at least they should open the packet, boil the Maggi and then ask questions. How will Maggi reply when it still inside the packet?” questioned Sanjay Jah of the Congress Party.

CBSE lists detailed measures to limit junk food in schools

CBSE-affiliated schools will have to ensure that foods such as chips, carbonated beverages and ready-to-eat noodles are not available in school canteens and within 200 metres of schools

Regular monitoring of body mass index (BMI), height and weight of children under an expert’s consultation has also been recommended

Almost ten years after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) first acknowledged the need for limiting junk food in schools, the Board has issued a circular last week with detailed measures to curb their availability in school canteens and replace them with healthy alternatives. The guidelines will be applicable to more than 17,000 CBSE-affiliated schools.
The circular is based on recommendations by a report titled “Addressing Consumption of Foods High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) and Promotion of Healthy Snacks in Schools of India” of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It asks all CBSE-affiliated schools to ensure that HFSS foods—such as chips, fried foods, carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers, potato fries and confectionery items, chocolates, candies, samosas, bread pakora—are not available in school canteens and around 200 metres of schools.
“This is an important move by government as what kids eat at home is in our control unlike what they eat outside. There needs to be some demarcation on what to do and not to do. Just by telling children not to have unhealthy food cannot help curb the situation. Practically banning it and keeping a check on tiffins will put a control by default on everyone,” says Manjari Chandra, doctor and consultant nutritionist at Max Healthcare, New Delhi.
A school canteen management committee of seven to ten members, comprising of a teacher, parent(s), student(s) and school canteen operator(s) needs to be set up in schools to decide the type of food to be prepared in canteens, quality of ingredients and raw materials used in them. Promotion of physical activity amongst school children will also be a focus area for the committee. Awareness in schools through the celebration of events like nutrition week, healthy snacking day, healthy tiffin competition and nutritious recipe competition-cum-nutrition discussion session for parents have also been recommended.
“This is a good initiative by CBSE as fast food creates problems in the long run due to which it should be kept out of children’s reach. We welcome the step wholeheartedly and will implement it successfully,” says Anju Mehrotra, principal at Kalka Public School, Alaknanda, New Delhi. Parents and caregivers should be sensitised about obesity, HFSS foods and physical activity so that they can encourage children to play sports, use skipping ropes, bicycles and stairs instead of elevators, take walks after meals and limit TV viewing. Regular monitoring of body mass index (BMI), height and weight of children under an expert’s consultation has also been recommended.
“Fast food restaurants and manufacturers target children by offering free toys, bags, tattoos in form of their favorite characters, motivating them to buy foods. Instead of marketing HFSS foods, it should be discouraged just like tobacco,” adds Chandra.
CBSE had issued six circulars between 2006 and 2008 to ensure healthy habits in school children, but they were not as comprehensive as the one issued last week. While there is no clarity on the steps the Board will take in case of non-compliance, the circular is broadly aligned with the Delhi High Court judgment of February 2015.
While CBSE has adopted the school-specific recommendations made by the court, it is now time for other ministries and departments, such as Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to implement the recommendations made to them.
Recommendations for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB)

• MIB controls media advertising and publicity control in India. Guidelines for the food quality of products advertised in Indian media should be urgently formulated.
• Strict regulatory measures for advertisement and promotion of prepackaged foods targeted at children should be developed. It should be ensured that false claims are not broadcast.
• Airing of HFSS food advertisements should be restricted during prime time on TV and radio (from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm on weekdays and from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm on weekends and holidays).
• Advertising and marketing of communication of HFSS foods should be dealt in a manner similar to that of tobacco and alcohol.
• Telecasting doctors- and celebrity-endorsed HFSS food advertisements should be banned.

Labelling recommendations to FSSAI

• Nutrition facts labelling should include declaration of total fat, trans fat, saturated fat, sugar, carbohydrates, proteins, salt/sodium.
• Serving size, number of serving size per pack and contribution of per serving to RDA (in per cent) as per National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) should be mentioned.
• Total calorie count on basis of which RDA is calculated; sources of micronutrients, tagging the terms appropriately—such as good source, excellent and so on—should be included.
• For front-of-pack labelling, nutrition facts that provide information in a simpler, easy to understand figurative way should be mandatory.
• Menu labelling for non-packaged food items such as burgers and pizzas should be practiced on point-of-purchase labelling boards, or on paper wraps or boxes at fast food outlets. It should carry information on calories and nutrients per serving size and as a percentage of RDA by NIN.

Recommendations for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

• Nutrition should be included in the school health programme and should be renamed as school health and nutrition programme.
• Cards issued under this programme should include nutrition-related aspects. Health and nutrition screening of each child should become mandatory for every school. Individualised counselling should be provided to the child during parent-teacher meetings.
• It is recommended that counselling and education on nutrition be included under programmes like Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, school health programmes, Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH).

Several posh hotels violate norms: FDA

Kolhapur: The surprise checks conducted by the Food and Drugs Administration officials at many luxury hotels and eateries have found several violations related to hygiene, use of sub-standard material and in some cases, packaged food being served after the expiry date.
One eatery on old Pune-Bangalore road was found using palm oil for cooking. SM Deshmukh, assistant commissioner, FDA, Kolhapur said, "Besides using palm oil for making food, they were also continuously reheating it, which is dangerous to health."
All the charges are finalised after the inspection report was shown to the officials present at the food outlets and hotels and after their confirmation.
A copy of the notice is being served on the outlets and hotels.
A notice issued on January 7 reads that a fastfood outlet had not displayed the board declaring what type of oil is being used for cooking. It was violation of the very first condition of licence under the Food Security and Standards Act 2006.
Continuous heating and reheating of oil leads to formation of trans-fatty acids, which is dangerous to health.
This is also in violation of the Schedule 4 of part 5 of regulation II-3 (j) of the Food Security and Standards Act 2006, the notice states. A copy of the notice is with the TOI.
In case of a multinational outlet that boasts about its high standards of hygiene and cleanliness, the report says that it has not kept the document certifying that the packing material used by them is of food grade quality. Hence, there are doubts about the quality of the packing material.
The food serving trays were kept near cleaning and sanitary equipment; edible and non-edible items were stored very close to each other in the store rooms.
As per the Act, there has to be sufficient distance between such items. The dust bins in the kitchen had no cover, while raw food items like tomatoes were kept in the open at the entrance of the kitchen.
The notice was served on the food outlet on January 7 and it was given 21 days to respond.
The notice also states that the outlets and hotels have to comply with the recommendations and submit a report accordingly.
If any party fails to do so, it may lose its licence, Deshmukh said.
A former mayor who owns the property of one of the hotels under scrutiny confirmed that his hotel has received a notice from the FDA. He said, "I owned the property but it is being managed by another group. The issues raised are minor such as cleanliness and covering some items properly. We will comply with it and submit the report."

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Common food preservative can kill cancer cells

A common naturally occurring food preservative may be used to beat cancer and deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, says a new study.
The researchers focused on the cancer-killing properties of nisin, a colorless, tasteless powder widely used as a food preservative.
"The application of nisin has advanced beyond its role as a food biopreservative," said researcher Yvonne Kapila, professor at University of Michigan School of Dentistry in the US.
"Current findings and other published data support nisin's potential use to treat antibiotic resistant infections, periodontal disease and cancer," Kapila noted.
The researchers found that feeding rats a "nisin milkshake" killed 70-80 percent of head and neck tumour cells after nine weeks and extended survival.
The mice were given a highly purified nisin dosage of 800 mg/kg. Nisin is typically added to food at the rate of .25 to 37.5 mg/kg. Many foods contain nisin, but nowhere near the 800 mg/kg needed to kill cancer cells.
Several products available to consumers also contain nisin - creams and pharmaceuticals to fight infection and mastitis, and a sanitiser in lactating cows.
Nisin also fights deadly bacteria such as antibiotic-resistant MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
"To date, nobody had found bacteria from humans or living animals that is resistant to nisin," Kapila said.
While promising, the results are small and in mice only, so it is too early to say if nisin will act the same way in humans, Kapila said.
The findings will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

What's in lunch box? School to see

Gurgaon: Following guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) on junk food in schools, CBSE has issued a circular, asking all schools to inspect students' lunch boxes and form canteen committees. Gurgaon schools have welcomed the idea of moderating student's food habits, cautioning that a total ban might push students towards junk food.
Most schools that TOI spoke to said they already have a canteen committee, comprising a nutritionist and students, and the food is evaluated and improved based on feedback from students and teachers.
"We have a canteen committee comprising senior students of the school. It is a good experience for them. We though need to devise a plan for inspecting lunch boxes," said Aditi Misra, principal of DPS Sector 45.
While well-known schools like Suncity, Amity International and Manav Rachna International have canteen committees, they were wary about inspection of lunch boxes, saying that might have its own repercussions. "While it is a good idea to monitor food habits of students, considering how detrimental junk food can be for growing kids, being too strict might just push the kids towards banned options," said Rupa Chakraborty, principal of Suncity International School, Gurgaon.
Private schools in the city welcomed the idea and said they would take all necessary measures to follow the direction from CBSE. They said such ideas should be consultative, rather than forced in a blanket ban.
Predictably, children are not very happy with lunch box inspections, though they are all for healthy eating habits. "I think while schools might keep a check, inspection of lunch boxes is a restriction of my freedom to choose what I want to eat. They can have a healthy menu and let us have food of our choice, maybe a day per week or two," said Sakshi Yadav, a Class X student.
There is also a debate on what comprises junk food, as there is confusion over what kind of pasta or noodles come under the rubric. While some schools pep up their menus by preparing healthy versions of noodles and pastas, sometimes using packaged material, FSSAI has classified all ready-to-eat noodles under the banned category.

Nestle fails in bid to quash child slavery suit

The petitioners alleged that the Swiss food manufacturer and two other companies aided and abetted human rights violations by purchasing cocoa from Ivory Coast.
The United States Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Nestle and two other companies to dismiss a child slavery case lodged against them, Reuters reported. Nestle, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co and Cargill Inc are being sued over allegations that they used child slaves to harvest cocoa in Ivory Coast.
The lawsuit was filed by former victims of child slavery in Mali. They alleged that the companies aided and abetted human rights violations by purchasing cocoa from Ivory Coast, despite being aware of the child slavery issue. They claim that the companies wanted the cheapest source of cocoa, for which they offered financial and technical assistance to local farmers.
Nestle, the world’s largest food manufacturer, was recently in the midst of a controversy in India. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had banned its popular Maggi instant noodles, declaring it “unsafe and hazardous” due to the lead content found in it.