Consider Banning Fatty Food In Canteens: Delhi Government To Schools

The court had also directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to implement its guidelines on making wholesome and nutritious food available to school children.

NEW DELHI,: Delhi Government has directed schools in the national capital to consider banning sale of food items which are high in fat, sugar and salt content from their canteens and sensitize students about their ill effects.

"All the heads of government and private schools are directed to sensitize the students and parents about ill effects of food high in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) through morning assembly, teacher interactive period and parent- teacher meetings," the Directorate of Education (DoE) said in a circular sent to schools.

"The schools may also consider banning the sale of such foods from school canteen. Also ensure that the cafeteria sells fresh and healthy foods which are low in fat," it added.

The order also details the adverse effects of each of the constituents of HFSS, as prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Some of the suggestions by the government for sensitizing the students include, "maintaining a notice board for creating awareness; organizing drawing, painting, slogan writing activities and debates in a class wise manner with special emphasis on lower classes; and dedicating morning assembly once in a month for this purpose".

"Spread the word for healthy food options like vegetable sandwiches, fruits, paneer cutlets, khandvi, poha and low fat milk shakes with seasonal fruits, lassi and jaljeera etc," the DoE circular said.

The communication comes following a Delhi High Court judgment ordering the regulation of junk food consumption among school children through restrictions on the sale of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, such as chips, fried foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in and around school premises.

The court had also directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to implement its guidelines on making wholesome and nutritious food available to school children.

Kudumbasree mela a big draw

The ongoing exhibition of products from Kudumbasree units within the Corporation of Cochin area and the food festival has turned out to be a big draw.

More than 50 units are participating in the mela, being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor. Among the participants are 12 food providers.

Products ranging from pickles and spice powders to chappals, ready-to-wear products and cleaning agents are on sale at the exhibition. Bamboo furniture, soaps, bags etc are also on show at the exhibition. The food stalls, serving items like biriyani, tapioca and fish curry, cutlets and chops are also big hits with the visitors.

An official of the Corporation of Cochin said that the mela had been organised to give a chance to the units to showcase their products and to bring the customers directly in contact with these units. This is an opportunity for the unit owners to reach over the middlemen to market their products, the official added.

Many of the units do not sell their products directly except at melas like the one now on in Kaloor, the official added. The Corporation of Cochin official said that food products makers had recently been told to get Food Safety and Standards Authority of Indian licences for their products as under the new rules, all food product-makers need the licence.

Food safety official to be India’s face at International Workshop

Chandigarh, 

Sukhwinder Singh, Designated Officer, Department of Food Safety and Standards, Chandigarh Administration, has been nominated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Ministry of Health, for a workshop on food labelling and nutritions to be held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, from Februrary 29 to March 4.

The workshop will cover broad descriptions of the European Union’s food law applicable to food labelling, nutrition labelling, nutrition claim and health claim, including historical perspective.

Officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, The Phillippines and SAARC Secretariat will participate in the workshop.

How FSSAI License Can Impact Your Restaurant Business

Most of the restaurant players, small or big food chains, and other allied businesses perceive Food Licenses from FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) as mere a permission to operate food businesses. However, very few people know that it can be used as a marketing tool to increase business. Thanks to Maggi Probe and its extensive coverage in media, most of the people know about the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). In this article, we will discuss a few points on the FSSAI license and the impact it can have on your restaurant business.

1. FSSAI Logo on Menu's and Pamphlets:

Most of the restaurants and food outlets put their logos on the menu to make their customers aware about their FSSAI registration. We also see FSSAI logo on different packaged food and beverages. This logo depicts the trust and validity of the product that it is safe to consume. FSSAI logo with license number placed rightly on menu, boards or pamphlets can help food outlets increase their business. There a lot of unorganized players which do not possess FSSAI license, and if your restaurant is certified from authority then the certificate acts as a USP and will attract more customers.

As customers trust more on the food outlets and their hygiene, that possess food license compared to the outlets in the competition. It also helps in building trust and reliability within customers for the restaurant. The restaurant, QSR or food outlet can also place the Food Certificate on that particular area of the wall which can attract more eye balls. For example, at the entrance, at the billing counter or even at the waiting area.

2. Legal Aspects

Most of the new food outlets and restaurants avoid the taking Food License to save on the money and to avoid the hectic process of documentation in the early days of business. However, the procedure is quite simple, and there are a lot of legal consultancies which can help in getting FSSAI with an ease at nominal fees as compared to the penalties or fines that have to be paid to the authority later for not having a license. To avoid the later repercussion, one should get its FSSAI licenses with other valid permissions before officially opening the food outlet.

There may be instances when a customer takes a legal action against the restaurant in case of food poisoning, allergic reactions etc. The food license provides a cushion for restaurants in such cases, as it is given that the food outlet or restaurant is certified to sell food items follows certain instructions and standardized process and products. However, on serious complaints and allegations even food license cannot save you from legal actions, and at the same time FSSAI may cancel the license. 

Therefore, care must be taken at all times to maintain the quality of food at your restaurant.

3. Customer Acceptance

For those who are opening the restaurant for the first time, or starting a new outlet must possess food license not just because of legal formalities and to avoid fines or penalties but to get accepted among consumers. Most of the people will perceive your restaurant as a brand if your restaurant is certified from the Food Standard and Safety Authority of India. At the early stage of operations, it is very hard to market or make people aware about your restaurants. But with FSSAI logo the new restaurant would be widely accepted by the new customers. Moreover, to attract more and more customers, the new restaurant can also use FSSAI logo on their bills and packaging for home delivery which will further enhance your relationship with your customers.

4. Helps in Business Expansion

If you are already a renowned restaurant or food outlet and you want to replicate your success in a different area of the same state then you can use your existing food license. Also, if you want to go big and open a chain of outlets in a different state of the country then you have to get a central license from FSSAI. The food license also helps restaurant owners to get bank loans and funding for expansion. However, only food license alone will not facilitate the funding but other sale tax and financial documents are also required. 

5. Corporate and Big Ticket Businesses

In today's world, getting big ticket businesses and corporate events aren't easy for any restaurant or food outlet due to their strict and tight regulations. Apart from the registered tax number at the state level and central level, many corporations require food licenses from FSSAI. So, FSSAI registration is as important as the other essential papers and legal forms. So it is more than a necessity than a need of just getting a permission of operating the business peacefully.

6. Standardization of Kitchen and Raw Materials

FSSAI expects that every food outlet and restaurant that is certified under the authority should follow certain rules, procedures and process to maintain a standard and hygiene in the kitchen. Moreover, the guidelines from FSSAI help restaurant owners to procure standard raw materials and grocery which further gives assuredly of quality food. 

According to news, only 1 out of 15 food businesses are registered with FSSAI. There are around five crore food business in the country and only 33 lakhs of them have FSSAI licenses. Last year, FSSAI took on famous noodle brand Maggi for the excessive lead content. Later, many small or big food outlets and restaurant chains were raided on the grounds of Food adulteration and hygiene. Post this event, many food outlets rushed for their registrations and while some of them improved their kitchens and outlets. 

In the latest notification, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has given the mandate to all the food businesses to register latest by May 4, 2016. Below are the details to how to apply food license for your food outlet and restaurant.

We cook food in state of the art kitchens: ISKON on Palghar case

Mumbai : ISKCON on Sunday explained their stand with regard to the incident in Palghar school in which over 100 students were hospitalized after consuming the mid-day meal. In a press release it said that it cooks food in state of the art kitchens certified for ISO 22000 to ensure hygiene. The cooking is done using modern equipment and processes, it added.

All our utensils are made from Food Grade Stainless Steel, said the release. ISKCON is certified by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for following norms of procurement, processing, packaging and dispatching. On the day the fateful incident took place, the organization’s supervisor had tasted the food as per protocol, the organization said. The meals are generally dispatched in sealed insulated stainless steel containers to reach schools. Also, the school principal on receiving the sealed containers first tastes the food, before it reaches the children. This protocol too was followed on that day, it said.

On receiving news of the children being hospitalized, the organizations’s Assistant Branch Manager Ganesh Nakhate and our Branch Manager Balaji Iyer immediately rushed to the school and then to the hospital, it said. They were told that three children complained of nausea and were taken to the Primary Health Centre.

Other students also became panicky and nervous and soon started complaining of nausea, it said. None of the students vomited, had loose motions, or were dehydrated, said ISKCON in defence. The students were given treatment as a precautionary measure and all students were discharged and normal, it said. ISKCON says that its managers were told by the locals that many students had banana wafers and pickles before having their midday meal, from the stall opposite the school. The collector has sent the samples of these for investigation. It has been reported by one newspaper that the quality of the water from the well from which children drink water is also bad and may be the cause of the problem, the release said. ISKCON further said that from the same Wada Kitchen they prepare meals which are supplied to 25523 children of 321 schools in Wada and 19422 children of 123 schools in Vikaramgad talukas a total of 44,945 children from 552 schools every day. On February 25 too, the same was done, yet the problem was reported from only one school. Lucky Kulkarni, ISKCON spokesperson said, “Since it is only a bunch of children from only one particular school that have faced the problem, there is a need to understand the issue with proper facts and investigation.”

Artificial ripening a bigger menace than thought

Vendors using carbide powder to ensure quick ripening of mangoes at the Kothapet fruit market in Hyderabad.

Of the 140 fruit samples from across the State between last August and February this year, 72 have been found unsafe for consumption

In a sustained campaign propelled by judicial monitoring, food safety authorities are discovering that the use of fruit ripening agents is more widespread than what was thought earlier.

Ever since a petition was filed last year in the High Court expressing safety concerns over quality of fruits sold in the State, food inspectors in all districts have conducted raids and collected samples to ascertain the extent of practice. The exercise has overturned existing notions that ripening agents are used mostly for mangoes and apples.

Of the 140 fruit samples collected between last August and February 18 this year from across the State, 72 have been found unsafe for consumption. Many of the samples include banana, pineapple, sapota, grapes, and even strawberries.

Ethephon and calcium carbide are the usual culprits, food safety experts say. A plant growth regulator, ethephon is allowed for use before harvest in tomatoes and mangoes, but State Food Laboratory found that it is being used on fruits like banana to hasten ripening.

From Hyderabad alone, about 50 samples were collected from February 18 through February 20. While results of the entire batch of samples are yet to be made available to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), at least three samples were found to be ‘unsafe’.

IPM, in tandem with municipal agencies, is overseeing the exercise in the State. Samples were also collected from Warangal and Nizamabad this week. Officials expect many of the other recently collected samples to also fail the test.

While the exercise of collection and testing has uncovered the extent of the problem, citizens wonder if it is adequate.

“The consumer movement should be strengthened by the government through involvement of consumers. Additionally, the execution of the law should be non-compromising,” says V.B.J. Chelikani Rao of United Federation for Residential Welfare Societies.

Officials say the completion of legal process from the start of prosecution proceedings can take a very long time. The GHMC is fighting adulteration battles in local courts that pertain to as far back as 1999.

The public glare of the problem and court monitoring has fuelled some action, including shutting down of an ethephon ripening unit in Moosapet earlier this month.

Tips for buying fruits

• Chemical testing is the surest way to detect use of ripening agents and adulteration, say experts 
• Check for waxy deposits by scratching an apple’s surface. Shiny apples are usually culprits. 
• A banana has been artificially ripened if the outer peel is yellow, but still raw on the inside 
• White deposits on fruits indicate use of calcium carbide 
• If fruits ripen rapidly in just a day or two, chemicals are most likely at work.

Fraud foods in India are rising. But are we doing enough to kill this multi-headed monster?

India has to put up a tough fight against the many-headed monster of corruption. The rot of greed has permeated every sphere of our lives, including the food that we consume. In their greed to make fast money, food makers are now resorting to infusing heavy toxins in their products. They make their quick bucks, and we, the people, line up at the doctors’ clinics for the myriad diseases that bog us down.

Tests conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India FSSAI found that the five states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh — account for more than 90% of food fraud in India.

India is the world’s worst food violator, according to Food Sentry, the global food source monitoring company. In an alarming trend, more than 1/3 of raw food adulteration occurs due to presence of excessive or illegal pesticides, pathogen contamination and filth or insanitary conditions. Reportedly, most violated foods are raw or minimally processed, including seafood, vegetables, fruits, spices, dairy products, meats and grains.

Milk, as reported by IndiaSpend, is one of the most-commonly adulterated food items in India, followed by oil and eggs. In 2012, FSSAI found that more than two-thirds of Indian milk is adulterated with items like salt, detergent etc.

In June 2015, the Uttar Pradesh Food and Drug Administration tested Delhi-based milk producer Mother Dairy’s samples and found detergent in it. The dairy producer took no time to contest the claims and said that the samples collected by the regulator were not tested. The co-operative said the test was done on “loose milk samples collected at village level” which were yet to be accepted by Mother Dairy’s.

Another dairy product, the innocent-looking ice-creams are major health threats too. Quite often, ice-cream makers use non-permitted colours, artificial sweeteners and dubious jelly agents which don’t meet the set Indian standards. Nevertheless, our kids continue to have dollops of this dessert, notwithstanding all the knowledge about harmful ingredients.

The non-profit body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) opened a can of worms in 2003, when it declared colas sold in India contained pesticide residue. As people took to the streets to protests against the cola giants Pepsico and Coca Cola, the two MNCs vehemently refuted the charges. Their tall claims fell flat a year later, when the Joint Parliamentary Committee supported the findings of CSE.

Unlike India, Europe and America follow high food standards. But numerous products that are banned in EU are still sold in India as popular food. The aerated citrus flavoured drinks Mountain Dew is banned in over 100 countries, including the EU. But we continue down it our throats, as inspired by a popular Bollywood star in its TVC.

In a 2010, national new daily, The Hindu, reported that the honey sold by reputed Indian brands Dabur, Himalaya and Baidyanath was contaminated with harmful anti-biotics. The strict food safety regulations disallow Indian-made honey to be sold abroad

The list can go on. Bribery in most cases solves the issue, and sadly, we continue to ingest harmful food due to lax food regulations. What we need is, a stringent food regulatory body that is independent of all red tapes. After all, food safety will ensure our next generations grow free from toxins.