Bottled water not safe, study finds bacteria, chemicals

Contaminated water poses a massive health risk to India, as millions suffer from diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastroenteritis every year.

The next time you pick up a bottle of water from a roadside shop to beat the punishing summer heat, better be safe than sorry, say authorities. India's food safety regulator FSSAI is planning a crackdown on companies selling packaged water without proper certification, after tests revealed a deadly cocktail of chemicals and bacteria in samples.

Contaminated water poses a massive health risk to India, as millions suffer from diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastroenteritis every year. This has triggered a boom in the country's packaged water industry, which has reached nearly Rs1,500 crore.

"The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has informed us that they have received several complaints that a large number of Food Business Operators are engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of packaged drinking water without FSSAI/BIS Certification Mark," said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer of FSSAI. "BIS has also received complaints regarding mushrooming of units in various states for especially manufacturing and selling packaged drinking water without licences."

The bureau has established standards for packaged drinking water and packaged natural mineral water, with set quality parameters. The rules come under mandatory BIS certification according to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition & Restriction on sales) Regulation, 2011.

As per this regulation, "No person shall manufacture, sell or exhibit for sale, Natural Mineral Water and Packaged Drinking water, except under the BIS Standard Mark."

Agarwal said states have been asked to provide details of enforcement activities such as numbers of inspections, samples collected, contraventions found as well as action taken.

"As the scorching summers have arrived, the sale of drinking water is expected to rise," he said. "We have also written to all state food commissioners to strengthen the enforcement activities on unauthorised manufacture and sale of packaged drinking water without FSSAI and BIS mark."

A study published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research found several drinking water samples exceeding various chemical and bacterial parameters, which could pose serious threats to consumers.

Over 20 samples were tested at Ghaziabad's National Test House, which showed that sachets of water sold in Delhi had a slew of hazardous qualities. "The bottled water samples showed negative growth for total coliform bacteria, while sachet and local bottled water samples had positive total coliform bacterial counts, which confirmed that they were unfit for consumption," said Dr Ashish Singla, the author of the study. "Keeping in mind the rising demand of packaged drinking water, it becomes important for officials to monitor quality and ensure it's licensed by concerned authorities to safeguard the consumer's health."

According to the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, 6,513 licensed companies were manufacturing packaged drinking water in India as on March 6 last year.

Experts say growing awareness about drinking water safety among urban residents and increasing tourist traffic is driving the market in a country where tap water is seldom potable. BIS ensures compliance of the standards of packaged drinking water and packaged natural mineral water manufactured by its licensees.

As part of a well-defined certification scheme, regular surveillance of the firms is done through site inspections as well as drawing of samples from factory and market followed by independent testing to check if the products conform to specifications.

If such the licensees are found at fault, warning, stoppage of marking and expiry or cancellation of licence can be initiated depending upon the seriousness and frequency of the transgressions.

As the implementation of Food Safety Act is done at the state level, random samples of packaged drinking water and mineral water are drawn by state officials.

Strict action against milk adulterators can stop menace: Supreme Court

It has agreed to the view of the court earlier that the present penalty of six months in jail "was hardly a deterrent" for the menace, which is most common in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Nearly A month after Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan told Parliament that two out of three Indians drink milk laced with detergent, caustic soda, urea and paint, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said only prompt action against milk adulterators can stop the menace.

"You are asking for life imprisonment for milk adulterators. But we would say even the present maximum term of six months jail would be sufficient if the violators are caught promptly, booked and prosecuted. It can create a fear. If they are not caught and prosecuted what do we do? These are enforcement issues. We are not saying adulteration is not going on. It is rampant.

But what do we do? Stop sale of urea? If the centre has some plans, let us wait for it", a bench headed by chief justice TS Thakur told Anurag Tomar, the lawyer for petitioner who filed a PIL on the issue. Meanwhile, the Centre told the court that it has formed a high-level committee to consider whether or not to make the offence of milk adulteration punishable by life imprisonment.

It has agreed to the view of the court earlier that the present penalty of six months in jail "was hardly a deterrent" for the menace, which is most common in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

An affidavit in the court by Rakesh Nayal, a senior official in the Union Health Ministry said the panel, headed by RK Jain, secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority, and representatives from Food Safety and Standard Authority of India will take a decision within three months.

The court had on December 12, 2014 taken serious exception to the Centre's refusal to amend the law to make the offence punishable with life term. "What are you doing about it? In March we had given an ultimatum to the Centre to inform us if you are amending the law and we are now in December," the Bench said when Tomar pointed out the delay. "After perusing the reports submitted by various states, prima-facie we are of the opinion that milk is being laced with contaminants and the practice is going unabated.

"The Centre must come out with necessary amendment to the Act with all seriousness to curb adulteration. We hope the government will take appropriate decision during the winter session of Parliament," the court had said.

About 20% of alcohol samples found adulterated, misbranded

Interestingly, in Bihar -- under prohibition now -- 1,763 samples were collected, 1,320 were analysed, but only 7 were found to be adulterated

Nearly 20% of analysed alcohol samples from across the country were found to be either adulterated or misbranded in 2014-15, with a much higher incidence in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, as per official data.

This apart, 2,676 criminal and 7,860 civil cased were initiated and the number of convictions was of the order of 1,402. A total sum of Rs.10.94 crore was also collected in the process, according to a written reply given in the Lok Sabha by Consumer Affairs and Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

According to the information provided to parliament, 823,265 samples were taken during the year and 74,010 of them were analysed. Out of that 14,599 were found to be adulterated or misbranded.

In Himachal Pradesh, for example, out of 725 samples analysed, 461 -- or a whopping 63.5%-- were found adulterated or misbranded. It was 42.8%in Uttar Pradesh with 4,119 samples testing positive out of 9,605; and forTamil Nadu it was 36.4 percent, with 1,047 out of 2,873.

Interestingly, in Bihar -- under prohibition now -- 1,763 samples were collected, 1,320 were analysed, but only seven were found to be adulterated or misbranded. In the national capital, out of 1,480 samples analysed, 148 were under such a category.

Among the questions posed by Bhagwanth Khuba of the Bharatiya Janata Party, representing Bidar in Karnataka, was whether 93% of the alcohol consumed in India was hard liquor and if most of what is produced is of very low quality, in comparison to other countries.

To that the reply was that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India neither maintained such data, nor did the regulator have any separate statistics to furnish on the quality of alcohol. However, an annexure was enclosed regarding the samples.

The annexure also included data on the first six months of 2015-16.

As per that, 14.5% or 4,106 samples, out of the 28,259 that were analysed, were found to be adulterared or misbranded. But it did not include data from several states, notably Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Uttarakhand.

In Tamil Nadu, the incidence of adulteration or misbranding was slightly lower at 30% and much lower at 18% in Himachal Pradesh, against 36.4%and 63.5%, respectively, for the two states during the whole of the previous year.

The minister also pointed out that implementation and enforcement of food standards was with the states.

Patanjali asked to explain edible oil ad campaign

India’s apex food regulator, FSSAI, and the ad regulator have asked Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved to explain the advertising campaign for its mustard oil.

The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), a body of domestic edible oil makers, had written to the Food Safety and Standards Association of India and the Advertising Standards Council of India last week saying Patanjali was denigrating rival brands even as it promoted its product.

“We have no issue if Patanjali comes out with a good-quality product. They are free to do it and we welcome it. But, saying that other brands in the market are sub-standard is incorrect. We had written to Patanjali a month-and-a-half ago to withdraw the ads because it was misleading. But, we did not hear from them. We were then compelled to bring this issue to the attention of the regulators,” said B V Mehta, executive director, SEA.

Sources in the know say Patanjali will respond to the notices received from the two regulators shortly.

Officials of Patanjali said its campaign was based on facts and that it had no intention to mislead consumers.

Edible oil companies contest this claim, though. “Our kachhi ghani mustard oil is 100 per cent kachhi ghani and not blended with any other oil or solvent extraction as indicated in the ad (by Patanjali). Commercials like this create confusion in people’s minds. SEA has explained in detail in its letter to the regulators why a campaign like this is misleading. I’m sure they will take cognizance of it,” said Atul Chaturvedi, chief executive officer, Adani Wilmar, the producer of the Fortune brand of edible oil.

This is not the first time that Patanjali has had run-ins with the regulators over its products. In the past, it was pulled up for selling noodles and pasta without licence.

Testing Prasadam

Standardising prasadams is a good idea, but getting it implemented could be a difficult exercise

After mortals, it is now the turn of the gods. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is now looking to regulate and standardise prasadam/offerings at temples, mosques, churches and other places of worship. Not that the divine need a FSSAI certificate, but given 300 million faithful—as per the 2001 Census—visit places of worship daily and partake of the food offerings, receiving it as a ‘blessing’, there is a need to ensure quality. With temples, churches, gurudwaras, etc, largely left to manage themselves with very little regulation from the state, there is absolutely no checking of standards of the prasadam—though temples insist that they use the best ingredients and produce the prasadam in a safe manner. Even so, there is no standardisation; from packaging to expiration dates, everything varies from temple to temple, church to church. The food regulator, which zealously wants to get religious institutions or the vendors they source from to apply for FSSAI licences. It has already started working with Mumbai’s Siddhivinayaka temple, Venkateshwara Swamy temple in Tirupati and the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi.

The move, in principle, is a necessary one, but the problem lies in implementing it. As per a report in Mint, not all religious institutions favour a licensing regime; rather, they say, the FSSAI should issue a set of guidelines and encourage voluntary compliance. Given the prasadam/offerings aren’t just food—they come with deeply-held beliefs about culture and divinity—any regulation will have to come only after the faithful as well as place-of-worship administrations have been duly sensitised. And for FSSAI, that is already short of manpower and resources, it will prove a tough challenge.

Food safety field staff functioning just in name

‘No funds, no support staff make monitoring of ground situation difficult’

Food safety remains a mere slogan as the field staff of the Food Control Organization is ill-equipped to carry out duties mandated under FSSAI and is ‘forced’ to compromise quality checks of food business operators. There are no facilities to carry out sampling of foods available in markets, both rural and urban.

While Kashmir’s complacency towards food safety laws has been elucidated through the rickety infrastructure at the Food Safety Lab in Srinagar, field situation is no better. The Food Safety Officers working in field are not provided requisite funds for lifting samples, nor is the material required to lift samples provided by the organization.

A number of FSOs told Greater Kashmir that they have to spend from their own pockets when it 

came to lifting samples. “For each product that needs to be tested, we have to lift four samples. The product costs may range from Rs 5 to Rs 200. We are required to lift a certain number of samples usually around 15 per month. And for all this, the money goes from our pockets,” an FSO said. The FSOs added that if they have to lift a kilogram packet of chilli powder for testing, which costs Rs 150 and four of which need to be lifted as per FSSA, the FSO will incur an expenditure of Rs 600.

The FSOs further alleged that the amount spent on sampling takes a long time to get reimbursed and quite often are they told that the funds for sampling have lapsed and therefore the payments cannot be made.

Moreover, there are no facilities required for sampling. “We require sterile jars- preferably glass, envelops, thread, tapes, sealing wax, computers and stationary for documentation. But we have nothing,” an FSO said.

The recent stress on food safety drives has cost the FSOs dearly as they are made to sample more food items each day, each of which gets heavier on their pockets. Controller Food and Drugs J&K, Lotika Khajuria agreed that sampling money was ‘an issue’. She blamed it on the lack of funds for the organization.

“In the past there have been lapses. We were not being provided the funds that we had projected. But hopefully, this is going to change,” Khajuria said. She further said that the fresh fund projections had ample amount for funding on sampling and all the liabilities of FSOs will be cleared.

Officials who have worked in FCO for many years believe that much of the problems in the department could be attributed to the fact that Food Safety had not been accorded the importance it deserved by the Planning Department of the government. “Very often, whatever the department projected would be trimmed. As if we had asked something that was superfluous and ornamental,” he said.

Nunna mango market flooded with foreign chemical ripeners

VIJAYWADA: After imposition of a strict ban on the usage of carbide for artificial ripening of fruits, the wily fruit vendors at Nunna mango market and Kedareswarapet fruit market took the international route to import ripeners from China and Italy.

Many an eyebrow is raised at the audacious and brazen manner in which the vendors are going ahead with their illegal practices showing scant respect to the rules set by the Food Safety and Health department. The lives of consumers are at high risk as chemical ripeners can cause serious health problems like heart ailments and cancer.

The overseas supply of harmful ripening chemicals came to light during the raids conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Monday at Nunna mango market. The FSSAI officials found boxes containing Ethiopian plant hormone solution, ethylene powder and hand sprayers.

When TOI asked the officials how the vendors could get access to the harmful chemicals, they said the vendors are tight-lipped over the issue. "The arrested vendors are not spilling the beans on how they are managing to get the chemicals," assistant food controller ASF - Zone II Nageswaraiah said.

The officials found the solution and powder stocks in the living rooms of workers in the market. It is amply evident that Ethiopian solution and powder are being used to ripen the fruits. The food safety officials said containers of the chemicals carried the names of China and Italy indicating that they are being supplied from these countries. The officials expressed concern over the trend as many times in the past it was found that duplicate items with fake labels were produced in China.

"We can't tell about the chemical composition of the seized powder and solution by just looking at the labels. To analyse the chemicals, we have sent all the samples to the State Food Laboratory in Hyderabad. Fruit samples were also sent," Nageswaraiah said.

Vendors' association at the Nunna mango market says it has no idea on the chemical consumption and who was transporting the banned chemicals to the market. "Getting chemical powders and solutions from foreign countries is not that for small-time vendors. Some bigwigs may be behind their flow into the market," a vendor at Nunna mango market told TOI. Further, he expressed doubts that this could be a part of a statewide racket.

A Srinivasa Rao, food safety officer said the seized chemical solution and powder are being sprayed on the fruits. "The chemicals are being used for ripening bananas and mangoes, which are harmful to health. Based on the results, action would be taken against the vendors," said IPM officials.

FSSAI decisions: Public kitchens at places of worship to be regulated

The Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) has said it intends to regulate public kitchens run by temple trusts in association with state regulators.

The food regulator had approached the Siddhivinayak and Shirdi temple trusts in Maharashtra and found them open to the idea of scrutiny, said Pawan Agarwal, the chief executive officer of FSSAI. “While temple trusts do get a licence from the FSSAI to run public kitchens, we are speaking of taking public health and safety to the next level by adhering to food safety standards. This calls for greater awareness and scrutiny, which we propose to do along with state food regulators.”

Sanjiv S Patil, executive officer of Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust, said the regulator had surveyed the temple’s public kitchen two months ago and advised them on food safety standards. “We have joined hands with the FSSAI and the Association of Food Scientists & Technologists of India for standardisation and to maintain the quality of the prasadam we offer. We are committed to maintaining our quality standards.”

Nearly 100,000 devotees visit the Shree Siddhivinayak temple each day in Mumbai.

In Kerala, where the popular Sabarimala temple is located, food safety officers do checks at regular intervals to ensure the food served at the temple is safe.

In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, too, major temples have been moving to an automated process of making food, state officials noted.

“We keep a close watch on temple kitchens to ensure hygiene is maintained. Kitchens have been automated to ensure human intervention is limited,” said an official from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, under which major temples in Tamil Nadu fall.

Mobile food-testing facility for educational institutes

After receiving good response in the tricity, the service of the mobile food-testing laboratory, which was recently started by the Department of Food Safety and Standards, Chandigarh, will now be expanded to city school, college, universities and fruit-vegetable markets.

In a communication to the chairman of the Federation of Sector Welfare Association, Bhaljinder Singh, the Senior Medical Officer (Ortho) at the GMSH- cum- designated in-charge of the Department of Food Safety and Standards, Dr Rajinder K Sharma, has sought cooperation for the initiative.

Dr Sharma stated in the letter that the mobile food-testing laboratory would be taken to various sectors and markets of Chandigarh.

The laboratory will also conduct food tests at medical health institutes of Chandigarh. The department has also announced that various activities like lectures, seminars and meetings will also be conducted by the it.

Emphasis on beverages

During summer, the department will keep a check on non-alcoholic beverages such lemonade, packed water bottles and monitor the quality of various food items such as muskmelon, watermelon, cucumber, meat products, cut fruits and milk products.

Besides milk and the products made from it, other products like turmeric, oils, salt, spices, ghee, pulses, grains are already being tested for any adulteration.

Stamp for meat products

The department has also announced that all shopkeepers selling meat and meat products should have an authorised stamp issued by the doctor in-charge of the slaughter house, Chandigarh. The department has also advised traders not to ripen fruits with banned chemicals.

Advanced EMAT machine in food-testing van

To tighten the noose around dairy farmers and milk vendors who indulge in adulteration, the department has planned to install an advanced electronic milk adulteration tester (EMAT) in the mobile food testing van. Confirming this, Sukhwinder Singh, designated officer, Department of Food Safety and Standards, said, “For our excellent performance, the department was awarded the advanced food testing machine by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India last month.”

“This will be a new addition to the inventory of mobile food testing lab and the machine will be doing a close surveillance of milk. The EMAT will test fat content, protein content, SNF (solid not fat), water content, presence of glucose and electrodes in milk,” informed Sukhwinder Singh.

15 milk samples fail test in month

According to Food and Safety Department officials, in the last one month, of 70 samples of milk and its products that were tested by the food van, 15 samples failed the test.

குஜிலியம்பாறை பகுதியில் காலாவதி உணவு பொருள் விற்பனை கனஜோர்

குஜி லி யம் பாறை, மே.4:

குஜி லி யம் பா றை யில் தொடர்ந்து காலா வ தி யான உணவு பொருட் கள் கன ஜோ ராக விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு கி றது. விற் பனை செய் யும் கடை கள் மீது அதி கா ரி கள் நட வ டிக்கை எடுக்க வேண் டும் என்று பொது மக் கள் வலி யு றுத் து கின் ற னர்.

குஜி லி யம் பா றை யில் மளிகை கடை, ஓட் டல் கள், குளிர் பான கடை கள், இறைச்சி கடை கள், காய் கனி கடை கள், பேக் கரி, மெடிக் கல்ஸ், பெட் டிக் க டை கள், டீ கடை உள் ளிட்ட 100க்கும் மேற் பட்ட கடை கள் உள் ளது. இந்த கடை க ளில் பொது மக் கள் பயன் ப டுத் தும் உணவு பொருட் கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு கி றது. இவ் வாறு விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு வ தில் காலா வ தி யான உணவு பொருட் க ளும் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு கி றது. மேலும் குஜி லி யம் பா றை யில் அதி க மாக உள்ள பெட் டிக் க டை க ளில் விற் கப் ப டும் திண் பண் டங் கள் காலா வ தி யான நிலை யில் உள் ளது. இதனை பொது மக் க ளுக்கு விற்று விடு கின் ற னர்.

நாடு முழு வ தும் உணவு பாது காப்பு மற் றும் தர நிர் ணய சட் டம் அமல் ப டுத் தப் பட் டுள் ளது. இதை ய டுத்து தமி ழ கத் தில் உணவு பொருட் கள், பால், குடி நீர் ஆகி ய வற் றின் தரத்தை உறு திப் ப டுத்த உணவு பாது காப்பு ஆணை ய ர கம் உரு வாக் கப் பட் டுள் ளது. தமி ழ கத் தில் காலா வ தி யான உணவு பொருட் களை விற் பனை செய் வோர் மீது அதி கா ரி கள் கடும் நட வ டிக்கை எடுத்து வரு கின் ற னர்.

தற் போது சுட் டெ ரிக் கும் வெயி லின் தாக் கம் அதி க ரித் துள் ளது. இதன் கார ண மாக குளிர் பான கடை மற் றும் பெட் டிக் க டை க ளில் தண் ணீர் பாக் கெட் அதி க ள வில் விற் ப னை யா கி றது. மேலும் குளிர் பான கடை க ளில் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டும் குளிர் பா னங் கள் மற் றும் ஐஸ் கி ரீம் உள் ளிட் ட வை கள் தர மா ன தாக விற் பனை செய்ய வேண் டும் என் றும், காலா வ தி யான உணவு பொருட் கள் விற் பனை செய் வோர் மீது மாவட்ட அதி கா ரி கள் நட வ டிக்கை எடுக்க வேண் டும் என பொது மக் கள் கோரிக்கை விடுத் துள் ள னர்.