Hyderabad: Milk adulterators arrested, oil, grinders, phones seized

The milk is adulterated with vegetable oils and milk powder. This can cause severe vomiting, kidney infections and heart complications.
Hyderabad: The Cyberabad SOT busted a milk adulteration racket on Monday. The gang used to adulterate milk by mixing vegetable oils and milk powder.
The three-member gang from Keesara, used to buy milk from nearby villages and sold them to companies like Heritage Dairy, after adulterating it.
Cyberabad SOT additional DCP E. Ramchandra Reddy said the gang was operating in the Cherial village. The accused T. Narsimham, K. Sudhakar and M. Ganesh Reddy are residents of Cherial village and are milk traders.
The trio were running the racket successfully for nearly three months. They procured milk from traders in nearby villages at `35 a litre. Every day they collected nearly 180 litres of milk from the villagers.
“For each litre of milk they mix a litre of vegetable oil and half kg milk powder and mix it thoroughly. Due to this the milk becomes thick and fat content increases,” said Mr Ramch-andra Reddy.
Later, they sell the same to dairy firms like Heritage for `40 a litre.
Consuming this milk is dangerous. Adults can vomit and will have irritation in the stomach, fatty liver, kidney infection and heart complications, while kids will suffer infections in the throat and in the digestive system.
Police seized 300 litres of milk from the gang, along with five kg milk powder, two tins of oil, two grinders and two mobile phones.
The arrested men were remanded to custody.

Chicken-fed fish can give you salmonella

Salmonella accumulates in fish fed with chicken waste.
Hyderabad: Salmonella infection is one of the biggest risks facing those who eat fish fed with chicken waste, doctors said. Symptoms like diarrhoea, fever and abdominal cramps are the first signs of infection.
The Task Force (west zone) of the Hyderabad police seized 8,000 kg of chicken waste from Langer Houz on January 14 which was being transported to fisheries in Bhimavaram.
Thirty-five year old Syed Abbas and 26-year-old Syed Imran were transporting the chicken waste in a van and were caught at the National Weigh Bridge by the police.
DCP B. Limba Reddy said, “They collect chicken waste from small shops and supply it to private fisheries in Bhimavaram. They have been handed over to the GHMC veterinary department for action.”
Police said the two supplied the waste regularly to fish farms in Andhra Pradesh. “The two have been in this business since the last five years and they supply it to cattle and pig farms too on the city's outskirts.”
A dairy farm owner in the Old City said, "Chicken waste is a good source of protein for animals. Instead of spending a lot of money on expensive feed this waste comes in handy for farm owners who are struggling to control costs.
They mix water in the chicken waste and give it to animals which makes it easy for them to eat.”
Dr Venu Gopal Pareekh, senior surgeon said, “Salmonella is found in most chicken products including eggs, meat and chicken droppings. It accumulates in the fish. When humans consume it the bacteria enters the digestive system and causes diarrhoea, fever and abdominal cramps. These symptoms develop 12 to 72 hours after infection and the illness can last four to seven days. The diarrhoea causes dehydration and treatment has to be aggressive or it can cause complications.”

Organic food: Absence of enforcement aides fakes

Visakhapatnam: Beware, all health aficionados. Next time you go to a local supermarket to buy ‘organic food’, chances are that you may end up buying a fake product. It needs to be certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and carry a label from the certifying agencies under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).
There have been no checks or raids by the FSSAI to regulate the organic products market. Recently, representatives from the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) collected 25 samples of organic products from various parts of the country, particularly, New Delhi and, found, that most of them were not complying with the certification norms. The packets carried the FSSAI symbol, but not the license number, and many did not have the certification number of an authorised laboratory.
The CCFI also found that for the past eight years, the FSSAI had not booked a single violator for wrongly labelling organic products. With the increasing awareness among the public about the ill effects of chemical additives in food products and vegetables, consumers are willing to pay more for organic products. Many stores have cropped up across the state, selling exclusive organic products.
“There are instances where certain products are being loosely sold as organic farm produce. Buyers need to check whether the product, has the certification label by the FSSAI and its license number,” said Bandaru Naresh of Sumaja Ecowellness that markets organic products from farmers’ cooperatives.
With a flood of products claiming to be organic’, those with the genuine article are finding it difficult to get their products tested and certified. The National Project on Organic Farming committee, in its report to Parliament, pointed out that there were only 25 third party laboratories for testing and certifying organic products across the country. In AP, at present there is not even single laboratory that tests the organic products.

OPERATIONALIZATION OF STANDARDS OF FOOD ADDITIVES

FSSAI brings clarity on proprietary food by issuing notice on standards

New Delhi
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the apex food regulator, seems to have reviewed its position and keen to shed its anti-food industry image. That is because, after hectic representation and negotiations among the industry, MoFPI (ministry of food processing industries) and health ministry, during the past one-and-a-half years, the FSS Regulations, 2011,seem to be now moving in the direction to accommodate concerns of the industry, particularly with respect to proprietary food.
FSSAI in December issued notification of operationalisation of more than 8,000 additives. This is now followed for standards of proprietary food. Recently the FSSAI has issued a clarification with respect to proprietary food, which explains such food and the regulations governing these products.
Industry experts said that this was a right move and operationality would be improved but concerns remained with regard to licensing as the erstwhile system of product approval (PA) was linked to the licensing and registration process. “Still the online system demands for PA for licensing. The FSSAI should therefore correct the anomaly in the online licensing and registration system,” says one industry representative while adding that the current notification clarifies on proprietary food in a more elaborate manner than Section 22 of the FSS Act.
Section 22 deals with the following categories of foods: (i) genetically-modified articles of food, (ii) irradiated food, (iii) organic foods, (iv) foods for special dietary uses, (v) functional foods, (vi) nutraceuticals, (vii) health supplements, (viii) proprietary food and novel food. According to the earlier point of view of FSSAI, Section 22 stipulates, “Save as otherwise provided under this Act and Regulations made thereunder, no person shall manufacture, distribute, sell or import any novel food, genetically-modified articles of food, irradiated food, organic foods, foods for special dietary uses, functional foods, nutraceuticals, health supplements, proprietary foods and such other articles of food which the Central government may notify in this behalf.”
According to the new notice, proprietary food means an article of food that has not been standardised under these regulations, but does not include any novel food, food for special dietary use, functional food, nutraceuticals, health supplement and such other articles of food which the Central government may notify in this behalf.
Further, proprietary food shall contain only those ingredients other than additives which are either standardised in these regulations or permitted for use in the preparation of other standardised food under these regulations. Also, proprietary food shall use only such additives as specified for the category to which the food belongs and such category shall be clearly mentioned on the label along with its name, nature and composition.
The notice also mentions that proprietary food product shall comply with the prescribed food additives provisions and the microbiological specifications and all other regulations made under the Act. And that the food business operator shall be fully responsible for the safety of the proprietary food.
Meanwhile, the MoFPI, which represents the parent organisation for the food industry, feels elated with the much contended issue of approval now being a thing of the past. According to the ministry officials this will lead to a much-needed impetus to the industry and the slowness that was visible due to PA delays would be no more. And with streamlining of the regulations, the FDI into the sector will also see growth. This will further help in innovation and new product categories that will eventually help the sector to grow.

DINAMALAR NEWS

44.9% food samples fail FSDA test

MEERUT: As many as 130 samples out of the total 289 collected by the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) over the past nine months have failed tests at a laboratory in Lucknow. The samples were collected from April to December last year.
The results imply that as many as 44.9% samples had failed tests in the past nine months. However, the FSDA authorities got richer as they collected Rs 13.90 lakh as fine from 33 defaulters.
JP Singh, chief food safety officer, said, "The FSDA maintains a record of samples of every financial year. From April to December last year, we conducted as many as 1,019 inspections during which our team collected 289 samples. Once the samples are found to be substandard or unfit for consumption, a period of one month is given to the defaulters - in case anyone asks for a re-analysis. After a period of one month, the file is sent to Lucknow to seek permission to file a case. We found that 130 samples had failed the test."
Of the total 130 defaulters from whom samples were collected, cases have been registered against 118 and one has been punished.
"Out of the 130 failed edible items, 91 were found to be substandard, 13 were unsafe and 26 violated the norms of preparation of food items," said Singh.
While the maximum samples that failed the test were that of milk - with collected samples being 69 and failed samples being 18, the least number of samples that failed the test were that of sweets (other than milk-made sweets) - with collected samples being 13 and only one failed sample.
When Singh was asked whether the huge number of failed samples pointed out at the incompetency of bringing wrong-doers under the scanner, he added, "The huge number of failed samples is an indication that the defaulters concerned will now think twice before selling adulterated food. This does not mark incompetency; rather it points out the fact that we have been able to bring these defaulters to public notice."
The FSDA department conducts anti-adulteration drives on a monthly basis and on festive occasions to ensure that edible items being sold by shops are for consumption and not substandard.

Parties urged to include pesticide pledges in poll manifestos

Thiruvananthapuram:The Council for Ban on Pesticides, a joint platform of around 20 various organizations, has called on all political parties to vouch for an effective ban on use of dangerous pesticides in their election manifestos ahead of the assembly polls.
The demand was raised during a day-long protest by the activists in front of the residence of CM Oommen Chandy , alleging the government has succumbed to threats from pesticide companies and has stopped the food and safety commissioner from conducting inspections to check excessive use of pesticides in vegetables and other food items.
The council has also decided to launch a state-wide rally from Kasargod on February 1, to spread awareness against the use of pesticides and to gather public support on the need for political parties to make clear in their manifestos their commitment to reduce use of chemicals on crops. The rally will conclude at Thiruvananthapuram Gandhi Park on February 14.