Packaged food items have high salt content: Study

Packaged food items including 'papads', sauces and spreads, sold in India have high level of salts which causes high blood pressure, increase the risk of stroke and heart attacks, the leading causes of death and disability in the country, a study said today. 

The study on 5,796 packaged food products, by The George Institute for Global Health India, revealed huge difference in salt content in two similar products, with some even containing almost 10 times more salt than others, it said, adding less than a quarter of these products would meet the UK-2017 salt targets. 

It was also revealed that no nutrition information was printed on the labels of food products, therefore, they failed to meet the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) national nutrition labelling requirements for processed foods (2011). 

The research was conducted by George Institute for Global Health, Public Health Foundation of India and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control in India. 

The study said two-third of the products do not list salt on the nutrition information panel and do not meet International Codex Alimentarius requirements. 

Some products contain excessively high levels of salt like papads which have a mean sodium content of 1219mg/100g - with a range of 2-4000mg/100g. 

This illustrates that papads can be made with as little as 2mg of sodium/100g, 2000 times less sodium than the papad with the highest sodium content, it said. 

"The main problem caused by salt is high blood pressure which greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. These are all now leading causes of death and disability in India," said Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health India.

The research looked at 9 main food categories which contribute salt to the diet in India and revealed that many food groups contain excessively high levels of salt. 

It found that cooking sauces, table sauces and spreads contained on average five-and-a-half gram of salt per 100g, with some containing 10 times that amount and others with almost no salt at all. 

"This is particularly alarming as sauces and spread are often added to meals and with such high salt contents, it will add substantially more salt to the diet," said Jha.

Similarly, 'papads' contained up to as much as 5g salt/100g, whilst others contained no salt. 

"These findings clearly illustrate that food manufacturers are able to produce these foods with much less salt," said Clare Farrand, Senior Project Manager for salt reduction strategies, WHO Collaborating Centre for Salt reduction at The George Institute for Global Health in Sydney. 

She said that there is an urgent need for the government of India to develop a clear set of criteria or targets to reduce the amount of salt added to food by the food industry." 

It said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends all member states reduce mean population level salt intake by 30 per cent by 2025. 

"We think it is important that Indian consumers can easily see what is in their food; there is a clear need for better food labelling," said Prabhakaran from the Public Health Foundation of India and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi. 

He noted that it currently is not mandatory to display salt levels on food packaging but it is certainly something one needs to consider. 

Talking about the implications, the research said that incomplete nutrition information makes it impossible for people to know what they are eating and hard to make a healthier choice while absent nutrition information makes it difficult to monitor amounts of salt, fat and sugar in widely consumed food products. 

To help Indians make healthier packaged food choices and stay healthy, The George Institute India has launched 'FoodSwitch' - an nutrition mobile app. 

The 'FoodSwitch' app will display a colour coded label coloured green (good), amber or red (limit) depending upon the amount of salt in the product while it will also show the same colour coding for fats and sugars, it said.

DINAMANI ARTICLE

Food chain served notice for reusing 16-day-old oil

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government health department has served a notice to food chain McDonald's after routine checks earlier this month revealed three of its outlets in Jaipur were reusing oil over 16 days old.

The health department served a notice to the Panch Batti-based McDonald's franchisee, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd, on Monday directing it to improve its products in accordance with the Food Safety Act within a fortnight. The department officials had conducted an inspection at the McDonald's on June 17.

The notice said, "According to the records (oil quality evaluation form) at your restaurant during the month of June, heated vat of vegetable oil was continuously used from June 1 to June 16 and there is an 'OK' remark given by quality evaluator manager and crew."

It is universally acknowledged by experts on the subject that reuse of oil is extremely harmful for health.

Rajasthan Cancer Foundation chief and former surgical oncologist, Dr Rakesh Gupta said, "Deep frying of oils, especially vegetable oils, produces large amount of cancer-causing substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons andacrylamide. At higher temperature, these are present in larger amount. In addition, the toxic aldehydes produced also lead to a higher occurrence, not only of cancers, but heart disease, dementia, malformations during pregnancy."

Asked for its reaction, a McDonald spokesman told TOI, "An important aspect to understand is that there are no standards defined in India for oil-in-use. Yet, at McDonald's, we follow standards and processes that ensure consistent quality and safe food is sold across all our restaurants."

He added, "McDonald's in India has a robust oil management system developed and used worldwide by the corporation in 130 countries over the past 60 years. These processes are best in class and ensure the oil-in-use is checked every day and meets all the applicable standards."

Rajasthan health authorities said that if edible oil is completely oxidised due to continuous heating, it become unsafe for human consumption.

"We have collected the sample of both fresh oil and oil from heated vat and sent to laboratories to find out how much unsafe was it for human consumption," an official Dr Sharma said adding that if the samples fail, the matter will be send to court.

Officials said that when they inspected the Panch Batti-situated McDonald's, they allegedly found that the palmolein oil had turned black due to continuous heating. "It is heated at 360 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day. When it is reduced due to heating, they top up the oil to fill the heated vat. They have not changed the oil completely for 16 days," an official said, who inspected the restaurant.

IRCTC joins hands with Defence Lab

Doctors fall ill as food safety goes for a toss at hospital mess

HYDERABAD: Doctors at Gandhi Hospital and Osmania General Hospital are regularly falling ill thanks to the poor hygiene at the mess being run at the two hospitals.

Common complaints being made by the duty doctors after having their meals at the mess include vomiting sensation, stomach ache and low grade fever. In rare cases, a few have come down with typhoid too.

In fact, the situation is worse at the Gandhi Hospital mess above the emergency block, with the doctors claiming that it is infested with rodents.

"It's the worst place to have food, but we are helpless as 70-80 duty doctors working for 24 hours at a stretch cannot bring food from home. I have an upset stomach now," said a senior doctor at Gandhi Hospital on condition of anonymity.

The mess at the hospital neither has a fridge to store vegetables nor proper containers to store cooked food. One can see rotten tomatoes, chillies and other vegetables left to dry on pieces of paper and half-eaten food kept in dirty plastic containers without lids. Leftovers from lunch being served for dinner is also quite common. Adding to the troubles is the fact that the wash basin is situated in the common eating area itself.

"Poor quality food in unhygienic conditions could lead to acute gastroenteritis, hepatitis infection, food poisoning, fever and typhoid. Though we are supposed to be served eggs, milk and fruits every day, it's never followed," said Dr R Raghu, general secretary of the Gandhi Hospital unit of Telangana Government Doctors' Association. He also alleged that inspectors from the food safety department have never come to test the food samples.

The situation at the Osmania General Hospital is much the same. "Two months ago, I was down with abdomen pain and fever after eating at our mess. We brought up the issue of unhygienic condition at our mess with the authorities, but to no avail ," said a third year postgraduate medico at OGH.

Doctors also alleged that the menu card, which was prescribed by the director of medical education (DME) for duty doctors in teaching hospitals, is only on paper.

"It is quite unfair that the government spends a measly Rs 82 per doctor to provide them food during duty hours. It must be hiked to Rs 150 per day so that better quality food can be served in hygienic conditions," said Dr G Srinivas, president, Telangana Junior Doctors' Association.

However, when contacted, both OGH and Gandhi Hospital authorities denied the allegations. "The hospital food is served to both doctors and patients only after it passes quality tests every day. However, if any individual doctor has any issues, it can be brought to our notice," said Dr G V S Murthy, superintenent, OGH.

In the case of Gandhi Hospital, Dr S V Masood, deputy superintendent, said there was no problem. But he promised to get food samples randomly picked and tested at their microbiology department from now on.

Delhi Paper Clip: Milk sold in NCR does not meet safety standards

The study found that tests conducted on 30 milk samples (open and branded) collected from Delhi/NCR showed that all samples were alkaline.

Milk being sold in Delhi/NCR is adulterated and does not “conform” to standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), according a study conducted by teachers and students of Maitreyi College. The study was published in the February 2015 issue of Delhi University’s Journal of Undergraduate Research and Innovation.

The study found that tests conducted on 30 milk samples (open and branded) collected from Delhi/NCR showed that all samples were alkaline, although in varying degrees. Of these, 73.3 per cent tested positive for neutralisers and 10 per cent tested positive for SMP (skimmed milk powder). The three milk samples which tested positive for SMP were branded products, procured from Gurgaon, Noida and west Delhi.

The study also notes that all samples tested positive for maltose — “which has never been reported as an adulterant earlier in milk” — and cane sugar. However, they tested negative for glucose and starch. “Normal milk has a pH of 6.7. But all the samples tested were alkaline in nature. Alkalinity generally results from adulteration of milk with neutralisers/stabilisers. Neutralisers are added to prevent curdling and thereby, increase the shelf life of milk,” says the study conducted by J Singh and B Roy of the Zoology department.

The study also notes that “sugars other than lactose are added to give diluted milk its characteristic sweetness and also increase the thickness of milk to adjust the lactometer reading”, while SMP is added to “increase the SNF (solid not fat) value of diluted milk”.

Health dept shuts its eyes over food safety violations in Patiala

Throwing caution to the wind, street vendors in the city are putting the health of residents in danger by not using gloves while preparing and serving food items. The health department, too, has miserably failed to take action despite open violation of food safety norms by these vendors.

As per the food safety norms, the street vendors are required to wear gloves, while preparing and serving food. The health department is supposed to raid such establishments, including the roadside vendors, violating such norms.

In Patiala, a large number of residents visit Sheranawala gate, Leela Bhawan, Adalat Bazar, Anardana chowk, Arya chowk and other places, especially during evening time where roadside vendors are present in hoards. The residents without knowing the ill-effects consume food products, including snacks prepared by these vendors without caring about the hygiene of the consumers.

Even as the health department has three food inspectors in the district and one food inspector for the city, checking and raids are a rare phenomenon, which only encourages such eating establishments to flout the norms.

“It has become a regular practice and people are not raising questions on such vendors. It may become the cause of different diseases. Sometimes, I have questioned the vendors, but it is worthless to argue with them because they are not ready to follow these norms,” Daljit Kaur, a consumer said.

Jagdev Singh, another consumer, said, “Such unhygienic food can create jaundice and other diseases like diarrhoea. Though the food products are being sold at unhygienic places and forms, the administration is not taking action against it.”

District health officer Dr MS Dhaliwal, said, “Guidelines are issued to those vendors who prepare food in unhygienic conditions. Gloves are mandatory for the street vendors. I will look into the matter and if we find vendors serving food without gloves, action would be taken against them.”

“We always collect samples and send it to laboratories for purity tests. Soon we are going to collect samples and check whether the norms are being followed or not,” he added.

Food safety raids continue in curry powder manufacturing units

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Food safety department has closed down Prasad Oil Mill in Kinfra Park in Kasargode district after finding that it was functioning without license and in unhygienic condition. The department has restarted inspections in curry powder manufacturing units on Monday.

The squad formed under the directive of food safety commissioner G R Gokul conducted raids in 19 manufacturing units. Of these, 4 institutions were given improvement notices, three were slapped a fine worth Rs 18,000. The department collector statutory samples of 14 curry powders and 37 surveillance samples. In the raids held in June 20,21, 22 and Monday, the department has conducted inspections in over 100 manufacturing units. Of these, 19 units were given improvement notices and a fine worth Rs 1.26 lakh has been slapped.

During the first phase of raids, Nirapara Roller Flour Mill, Attingal, which was engaged in powdering and packaging of wheat, was closed down by the food safety department after finding that it was functioning in unhygienic circumstance. The department also seized and sent for lab test powdered products such as cumin, coriander and turmeric worth Rs 4.71 lakh manufactured by Palakkad-based Anakkara Food Processing and Export Private Limited.

The first phase raids were conducted in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kannur districts. The second phase which began on Monday, will cover the next seven districts.

Artificially ripened mangoes destroyed

Close to five tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes kept for sale in about 30 shops in Netaji Market were destroyed by a team of officials from the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department in a swift raid on Monday morning.

The team determined that the traders had sprayed ethylene to ripen mangoes.

Ethylene is used to ripen mangoes under controlled conditions and mangoes ripened by direct spraying of the chemical are quite harmful, District Officer for Food Safety and Drug Administration Karunanidhi who led the raid said. Though the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has specified simple methods to ripen fruits by placing ripened and unripe fruits together in airtight containers, and spreading of unripe fruits as layers over paddy husk or wheat straw for a week, traders use ethylene for quick ripening.

The mangoes had to be confiscated and destroyed as the traders had flouted the procedure, Mr. Karunanidhi said.

FSSAI all set to crack whip on unlicensed packaged water cos

Documents obtained exclusively by CNBC-TV18 show that nearly 4,000 food business operators dealing with packaged water do not have an Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) license.

The food regulator has confirmed to CNBC-TV18 that nearly 4,000 packaged water companies in the country are operating without a license and steps are being taken to set this right. 

Documents obtained exclusively by CNBC-TV18 show that nearly 4,000 food business operators dealing with packaged water do not have an Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) license. 

Also, of the 6,000 food business operators in the country, only 1,500 have both an FSSAI license and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification, whereas the top 20 packaged water brands are on the right side of the law. 

Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI said, “There must have been some kind of communication gap among these businesses whether or not they are required to have FSSAI license so we are approaching them and we are finding no resistance at all from these companies.” 

The BIS is learnt to have told the FSSAI that nearly 80 percent of the companies dealing with packaged water are in direct violation of the FSS Act of 2006. “BIS is responsible for ensuring standards of packaged water, in fact FSSAI has delegated the responsibility to BIS. Now BIS does not have any powers of prosecution so if there is any problem they can cancel the license of manufacturer but cannot prosecute them,” Agarwal said. 

The food regulator has now stepped up and has written to the state food commissioners to crack down on unlicensed packaged drinking water. 

It has also directed all fixed-base operator (FBO) dealing with packaged drinking water to obtain a license immediately.

STANDARDISING the business of Food

FSSAI today rings a bell of alarm among most hoteliers and restaurateurs, as they remain wary of unprecedented enforcement officials and the uncalled for inspector raj. Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, states his point of view.

Talking about FSSAI, he said, “FSSAI was formed with the legislation of 2006 and from 2011, it has started work, once its regulations were formed. In the beginning we stressed on the product standards of packaged and other food products. The focus was not that much on the service industry. In the food business either we have commodities, or there is packaged or processed food and there is the service industry that include restaurants, cater-ing establishments and hotels.” From a food safety and hygiene point of view FSS Act has brought all the licensing requirements under one umbrella. There were disputes about some of these issues which high court has in its order clarified.

He added, “Catering establishments from the very beginning have been under the purview of FSSAI. All catering establishments whether they are government canteens, street food joints, food vendors at railway stations, food plazas, mobile units, temple kitchens, or kitchens of religious places. They all come within the purview of FSSAI and many of them are already licensed and registered with us. Recently we have taken up a special drive, as per which those who have been left out and have not got registered under FSSAI, will be also be registered. Whosoever is providing Pawan Agarwal Food food to public at large, will need to be registered under a FSSAI license.” Addressing the concerns of hoteliers, he said, “As far as the concerns of FHRAI and NRAI, independent or chain of hotels are there, they are very much justified. We have said that if you all genuinely believe that there is a need for improving the hygienic standards of restaurants, some of them are doing a good job, one must accept, but we do recognise the fact that many of these restaurants they require to do much more than what they are doing currently.

We are all on the same page that a lot more needs to be done in this particular space. What is to be done? How it has to be done? We have left it to them. We will co create the regulatory framework for restaurants and hotels and catering establishments. Up till now our entire focus has been on getting these establishments licensed by us, registered with us.”

Giving an idea about the standards that they are going to enforce, he said, “Then there are certain obligations of that license, which are still being deliberated on. There cannot be same standards for everybody, therefore we are taking a dual step, and there will be certain basic hygienic standards, applicable to all, with a zero tolerance policy in basic standards. We will encourage hotels, restaurants and catering establishments, to follow more advanced standards, more than what is given in the basic. That is voluntary. Wherein they certify that they themselves have volunteered and are following those standards. Then there will be a third category of hotels and restaurants, who want to follow global standards. They will be much better than even advanced standards. Then we will say that if you are significantly better than our advanced standards and are at par with GG We will encourage hotels, restaurants and catering establishments to follow more advanced standards, more than what is given in the basic. That is voluntary 9 the global standards, you have to demonstrate that you are at par with the global standards, and then we will have soft enforcement on them.”

Giving his take on heavy metal residue in food products, he said, “This concern of pesticide residue, heavy metal residue, this is a concern that is of recent origin. Until now even the testing facilities of the same were not available. I feel this concern to an extent is overstated by the industry. The processor for the pesticide limits, even the bigger chains if they are sourcing local material, there is hardly anything that they can do. Except when they are procuring it, they test the raw material and they find it above those limits, then they do not buy it.

Then the farmer per force is allowed to adopt good agricultural practices. This is a long drawn affair and boils down to changing the farming practices. Ground water levels are down in some areas there is an extensive amount of arsenic in the subsoil. If there is farming in those areas some of that arsenic will go into the food chain and will create problems. They require long term solution, a solution that goes beyond even the preview of FSSAI. The issue goes down to improving the agriculture and farming practices. These are issues that will actually take decades of research, experimentation, changing the behaviour, changing the farming practices. We will not hold our restaurants and hotels responsible for some of the things that are not in their control.”

Final list of 11,000 food additives operationalised; potassium bromate off

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has operationalised the final list of 11,000 food additives that can be used by food businesses in various food categories. This culminates an important process in developing food standards for food additives that began about three years ago, according to a FSSAI statement released here recently.

The process to harmonise the food standards in the country with international Codex standards started in February 2013. FSSAI’s ‘Scientific Panel on Food Additives’ undertook the task of sifting through 6,000 provisions of food additives under the erstwhile PFA Act and harmonised them with Codex provisions and finalised a list of about 11,000. This was approved with suitable modifications in the 15th Scientific Committee held on December 10, 2014, and later in the 16th Food Authority meeting held on January 16, 2015. It may be noted that though the PFA Act was repealed to give way to FSS Act, the standards and list of approved additives were carried forward.

Thereafter, these standards of food additives were draft notified on August 4, 2015, and released for public consultation on October 13, 2015, inviting suggestions and comments from various stakeholders. No comments were received in respect of as many as 8,000 provisions of food additives. These were made operational in addition to the pre-existing provisions contained in Regulations 3.1 of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, on December 23, 2015. The final list of about 11,000 food additives provisions that has been operationalised recently replaces the 8,000 provisions of food additives that were operationalised on December 23, 2015, and also the pre-existing provisions, said the statement.

The industry has welcomed the move. Sometime back, the FSSAI released a clarification with respect to proprietary food, which has been a serious bone of contention between the industry and the apex food regulator. But with 11,000 additives approved, the problem of proprietary food is resolved to a great extent.

Potassium bromate goes off list

Further, post-controversy with regards to potassium bromate used in bread and bakery products, the apex food regulator has decided to remove it from the approved list. As per the statement, “At least two additives, namely potassium bromate (normally used in bread and bakery products) and cyclamates (normally used in jams, jellies, marmalades, dairy-based drinks, confectionery etc.) have been removed from list of permissible additives. Hence, after this final list of provisions of additives, potassium bromate and cyclamates are not allowed in any food category in the country.”

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has welcomed the removal of potassium bromate from the list of approved additives by FSSAI.

“We are happy to know that the FSSAI has banned the use of potassium bromate. Our study on bread last month raised this issue and FSSAI had announced to ban it soon. We welcome the prompt action. The chemical was banned in most parts of the world but allowed in India until now. The new law will reduce public health risk from a possible cancer-causing chemical,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director-general, CSE.

“We had also recommended a ban on the use of potassium iodate as a flour treatment agent in bread-making. The industry has already declared not to use both these chemicals in public interest. We hope that the FSSAI soon prohibits use of potassium iodate as well,” added Bhushan.

A CSE study in May 2016 had highlighted the use and presence of residues of potassium bromate and/or potassium iodate in bread-making in India. These chemicals have been banned in several countries worldwide due to their possible adverse health effects. Potassium bromate is a known possible cancer-causing chemical. Use of Potassium iodate in bread can lead to excess iodine intake which could be linked to certain thyroid-related diseases.

Subsequently, the All India Bread Manufacturers’ Association representing the organised industry had declared its intention to withdraw the use of potassium bromate and potassium iodate in bread-making.

FSSAI will also discuss the issue of use of potassium iodate in food in the country.

It may be pointed out that FSSAI has already notified the specification of proprietary food so as to facilitate the food businesses to manufacture and process new food which may contain the standardised/approved ingredients in the Food Safety and Standards Regulations and may use the food additives permitted for the category or sub-category. FSSAI has also finalised a list of food additives with respect to alcoholic beverages in alignment with International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) Standards. With this, FSSAI has achieved a landmark in setting of the standards for various foods in the country.