Jul 12, 2016
HC direction to Chennai Corpn on slaughter house
The Madras High Court has directed the ChennaiCorporation Commissioner to spell out its stand whether any place can be declared as a slaughter area under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act-1919, when under the Central Act on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 there are rules framed known as Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules 2001.
The First Bench Comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan gave the direction yesterday on a PIL filed by Radha Rajan seeking to direct the authorities to ensure that no camel slaughter takes place in Tamil Nadu.
The court asked the Food Safety and Standard authority ofIndia to file Counter affidavit within two weeks failing which the Joint Secretary of the department shall remain personally present in Court with records.
Stating that certain aspects which need to be addressed by the authorities of the Centre and the state such as whether slaughtering of camel is permitted, whether there are abattoirs in existence where slaughtering of camel can take place after completion of requisite formalities, the mode and manner of transportation of camels and posted the matter for further direction to August 18.
Packaged water: Pepsico, Coca Cola, Bisleri have valid license
Pepsico, Coca Cola and Bisleri have got a clean chit from food safety regulator FSSAI for their packaged water facilities, while crackdown is underway on some smaller players operating without valid manufacturing licences.
The three players -- Pepsico, Coca Cola and Bisleri -- command 60 per cent market share in the packaged drinking water segment.
After examining all relevant documents of these three companies, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) today said that Pepsico, Coca Cola and Bisleri have "valid FSSAI/BIS license/certification".
"It can be safely concluded that the said food and beverage operators (FBOs) comply with relevant provisions of FSS Act, rules and regulations," FSSAI said in a statement.
Last month, FSSAI had asked state authorities to crackdown on mineral water packaging units that are operating without its licence. As many as 75 per cent of the packaging units owned by various firms were said to be operating without an FSSAI licence. These units were operating under a BIS certification.
When contacted, FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said, "Their (Pepsico, Coca Cola and Bisleri) names were not in the list of companies not having valid licence. But they figured in the media reports. So, we asked them to submit the details."
These three companies have 60 per cent share in packaged drinking water market in the country, he added.
FSSAI had asked the three companies to submit all the details of various manufacturing/processing units including third party manufacturer and processors after they claimed that they have valid licences by FSSAI and BIS.
Out of total 5,842 registered water packaging units, 1,495 units have both BIS and FSSAI licences, while 4,347 units have only BIS certification.
Agarwal said, "We are still in the process of cracking down on those units which do not have valid licence. Those are mostly small companies."
Pepsico sells its packaged water under the brand name Aquafina, Coca-cola sells under the name Kinley, while Bisleri sells packaged water under its own name.
Ludhiana’s Radisson Blu hotel fined Rs 26 lakh over substandard food products
Finding food products at Hotel Radisson Blu on Ferozepur Road here as substandard, the Ludhiana administration has imposed a Rs 26-lakh penalty on its management. The fine has been imposed for violation of Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and Rules 2011 after the food samples were not found substandard in the laboratory tests.
Another popular shop, Chaurasia Pan Parlour on Chandigarh Road, has been fined Rs 2 lakh.
Issuing magisterial orders in this regard, additional deputy commissioner Rishipal Singh said samples of jam, noodles, imli (tamarind), curd and chutney from the hotel and those of True Lemon (ready to serve beer) from Chaurasia Pan Parlour had been taken for test.
The laboratory tests found all the samples below the quality standards set under the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and Rules 2011. The owners have been directed to deposit the amount in government treasury immediately.
Rishipal said the violations of Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 in any form will not be tolerated.
Clarifying its stand, a spokesperson of Hotel Radisson Blu said most of the samples taken by the health department were of imported packed products. “Nestle curd, Stute Diabetic Jam and How How Rice Noodles (made in Thailand) were among the samples found substandard. Hence, we cannot be held responsible for their quality. We provide globally-acceptable products to our guests,’ he said.
He said they will appeal against the order and present the bills of the products to the authorities for taking up the matter with the companies concerned.
For violation of Food Safety & Standard Act 2006, hotel Radisson Blu fined Rs 26 lakh
He informed that when these samples were checked as per the government process in the laboratory, all these products were below the quality standards under Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and Rules 2011. A checking report from Food Analyst Punjab, Chandigarh, was also issued. Keeping in mind the safety of residents and public interest, Hotel Radisson Blu has been fined Rs 26 lakh and Chaurasia Pan Parlour Rs 2 lakh. This fine has been imposed under section 51 of the act. The violators have been directed to deposit the amount in government treasury immediately.
While giving a clear cut warning to those selling below standard food products, Rishipal Singh said that the violation of Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 would not be tolerated at any cost. He said that if any person is caught violating the act, hefty fines would be imposed on them.
Want relief for bad food? Store vomit sample
NEW DELHI:
Did you get an upset tummy after eating from a local restaurant? Then you may be eligible to get up to 35 lakh in compensation under the Food Safety Act.
Not so easily, though.
First, you have to preserve some of the food that you ate and get it tested at the city’s food safety lab at the earliest.
Second, you have to preserve the sample of your vomit or stool and get a physician to certify you have had food poisoning.
If you furnish all the proof, the manufacturer or vendor will, after a prolonged court battle, pay you Rsl lakh in race of any harm, Rs 3 latch for grievous harm and Rs 5 lakh for death, according to section 65 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
“For claiming compensation, the person has to get the same food that he ate, tested. And, the sample has to be tested within 24 hours, otherwise, the manufacturers may contest that the food went bad because the consumer did not keep it under proper refrigeration,” an official from Delhi’s food safety department said.
“It is a very strict Act and a person will have to prove beyond reasonable doubt in the court of law that he/ she got sick because of the food. This means we have to medically examine whether the food poisoning happened due to the same strain of bacteria or virus found in the food,” the official added.
The official agrees that the conditions for compensation are impractical.
“The onus lies with the consumer to collect the proof. Nobody saves half their sand-wich or a little bit of the dal, just in case they fall ill later. And, what if the person gets sick after four days? Then, even if they complain and we find the food to be contaminated, we can only take action against the manufac-turer or vendor. They will not receive any compensation as they will be unable to prove the food they had four days ago was contaminated,” the official said.
It may take a couple of hours to two days for an infection to set in. “If the toxin is already present in the food product because of the action of a bacte-ria, a person will get sick in two or three hours. But, if the person ingests the infection, it will take a little longer. The most com-mon bacteria – staphylococcus takes 6 hours and bacillus cereus takes 12 to 24 hours to start act-ing,” said Dr Srikant Sharma, senior consulting physician at Moolchand hospital.
To date, no ease for compensa-tion has been filed under the Act, whidi came into force in am.’This clause is beneficial in case of mass outbmaks, where several people fall ill and we can register a stronger cases Even then the evidence will mostly be circumstantial,” the food safety department official said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)