DINAMALAR NEWS

Naga Hoho welcomes setting up of SIT, hints at food adulteration too

DIMAPUR, JULY 17: Naga Hoho has welcomed the setting up of SIT by state government in order to set off investigation into fuel adulteration racket in Nagaland and appealed the SIT to deliver acceptable testimony to the people without delay.

Naga Hoho also expressed concern over food adulterations in shops and market and selling of food items beyond expiry date, saying over the years, many people must have died in the state owing to various foods related illnesses though many cases have been kept in the dark.

A press statement issued by Naga Hoho President P.Chuba Ozukum and Secretary Information & Publicity C.Daipao said, “As per the Food Safety and Standards Acts 2006, a Food Business Operator is a person by whom the business is carried out or owned and is responsible for ensuring the compliance to this act, rules and regulations made and are held responsible for the supply of safe food to the consumers. 

Every food business operator must compulsorily ensure that the articles of food satisfy the requirements of this act at all the stages of production, processing, import, distribution and sale within businesses under his control as per section 26 (1) of FSS Act 2006. Also, the petty food manufacturer shall follow the basic hygiene and safety requirement, provided in part 1 of schedule 4 of the regulations and get themselves registered.”

In this regard, the Naga Hoho appealed to the state government and concerned authority to perform their duties not only for the sake of salaries and facilities but to monitor timely as per the established Acts of all Food Business Operators like Food retailers, hoteliers, restaurant owners, wholesalers, exporters, importers, warehouse owners, distributors, packaging and blending operators, manufacturers, processors and whosoever is associated with any Food Business for the well being of common people.

On fuel adulteration racket in Nagaland, the Naga Hoho said, it has become a regular phenomenon which is a grave concern for every citizen, organizations and associations whereas the oil business belongs only to a section of people who are rich and influential.

“Off late, oil business is mushrooming in the state that is traceable in every nook and corner particularly in the National Highways. At the same time, the first and pertinent question come to every car owner as and when they go to filling station is – which petrol pump is not adulterated?”

The Hoho lauded organization’s recent initiatives towards discovery of fuel rackets in some petrol pumps at Dimapur wherein few kingpins have been arrested and booked under the law.

The Hoho said, those culprits should not be released on bail under any circumstances and even the lawmakers and any advocates should not try to bail out for the sake of earning considering the plight of the people.

The Naga Hoho felt that fuel adulteration racket in Dimapur is just an iceberg and that needs thorough check in entire districts. “We also wonder as to why the competent authorities and district administration should always wait for the public to find out the adulteration? In spite of the fact that the state government machineries are supposed to check the adulteration rackets from time to time.”

Extra virgin olive oil healthiest for frying fish: study

The frying techniques, the nature of the oil used and the fish species have been shown to exert a great influence on the changes that take place during the process.

Healthiest way to fry fish is using extra virgin olive oil.

The healthiest way to fry fish is to use extra virgin olive oil, especially if this is done in the microwave, a new study has found.

The frying techniques, the nature of the oil used and the fish species have been shown to exert a great influence on the changes that take place during the process.

Researchers from University of the Basque Country in Spain have shown that the choice of cooking oil is hugely important owing to its impact on the lipid profile in the fish and on the possible generation of toxic compounds in the oil during frying, which can influence food safety and human health.

To conduct this research, fillets of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) were shallow-fried in a frying plan and in a microwave oven using extra virgin olive oil and refined sunflower oil.

The changes that took place in the lipid composition of the fish and of the frying oil were studied by means of Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (H-1 NMR).

During the shallow-frying of the fish under domestic conditions, not only do the fish lipids migrate to the frying oil, the components of the oil are also transferred to the fillet of fish.

As a result, the composition of the oil used for frying is modified. It is enriched by the acyl groups (fatty acids) that are present in a higher concentration in the fish fat than in the original oil, and simultaneously it is depleted in the acyl groups present in a higher concentration in the original oil than in the fish fat.

So after having been used for frying, the extra virgin olive oil was richer in omega-3, omega-1 acyl groups, linoleic and saturated fats (from the fish) and poorer in oleic, which is the main acyl group in olive oil.

Likewise, after having been used for frying, the sunflower oil was richer in all the acyl group types (coming from the fish) except linoleic, which is the majority acyl group in sunflower oil.

Both types of oil were enriched by small amounts of cholesterol from the fish. Besides the migration of lipids during frying, because these oils are subjected to high temperatures (170 degrees Celsius) in the presence of oxygen, certain small-scale thermal oxidation may take place in them.

In the extra virgin olive oil used for frying fish, this thermal oxidation reaction did not occur as it is more degradation-resistant than sunflower oil.

Yet in the sunflower oil used for frying fish in the frying pan, secondary oxidation compounds (aldehydes) were formed; some of them are regarded as potentially toxic depending on the concentration in which they are found.

It should be pointed out that these compounds did not form in the sunflower oil in the microwave oven.

Therefore, in view of the results obtained and bearing in mind the generation of these compounds that are potentially harmful for health, the healthiest option for frying is to use extra virgin olive and fry in the microwave, researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Food Research International.