TAMIL MURASU NEWS

PIL on food adulteration

Govt apprises High Court about setting up of food testing labs

The government has apprised Jammu and Kashmir High court about the steps taken by it for procuring necessary equipments for setting up two food testing laboratories, one each at Srinagar and Jammu. 

Yash Pal Sharma, Managing Director Medical Supplies Corporation informed the Court about the steps taken for procuring necessary equipments for setting up of two food laboratories. 

“In view of the poor response to the earlier NIT, the Corporation has floated fresh NIT and last date for receipt of documents is 26th September, 2016,” Sharma pleaded. 

The Controller Drugs, who was also present, submitted that the posts vacant in the labs have been referred to the Service Selection Board almost one year back saying they have not made any selection till date. The submission was made by the officer in light of the directions passed by the court on June 10. 

Meanwhile, the court arrayed Chairman SSB as party to the PIL and deputy advocate general Hashim Hussain accepted notice on behalf of Board. The court directed the SSB to complete the selection process be the next date of hearing. 

Hearing a PIL against food adulteration, a division bench of Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey, however, sought the latest status report by September 29. 

On May 15 this year, Chief Secretary of J&K had admitted before High Court that government has failed to implement Food Safety and Standard Act 2006.

He had assured that without waiting for financial assistance from the central government, funds for setting up technologically advanced laboratories at Jammu and Srinagar would be immediately provided by the State.

He had also assured the court that mobile testing laboratories will be provided to the Food Safety Department and the authorities created in terms of Act of 2006 would also be put in place shortly.

In the report filed by the government it was then stated that two existing labs, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, were outdated and literally non-functional.

HC says camel slaughtering cannot be permitted in absence of dedicated abattoir

Taking note of the fact submitted by the State government that at present there are no special facilities available to slaughter camels, the Madras High Court on Thursday said that in such case, camel slaughtering cannot be permitted in the State.

“It is trite to say that slaughtering of camels cannot be the same as slaughtering of goats. There is thus no facility in Tamil Nadu for proper slaughtering of camels where it to be permitted,” the First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan said.

The Bench made the observations on batch of PILs moved by Radha Rajan and others seeking to direct the authorities to ensure that no camel slaughtering takes place in Tamil Nadu.

When the PILs came up for hearing, the Central and State government submitted their responses to the series of quires on the legality of camel slaughtering and the Rules governing it.

Relying on section 28 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 the Central government submitted that the Act does not support sacrifice of animals for any reason. It further stated that slaughtering of animals is allowed only for the purpose of food.

“Camel meat as food has been already prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards (Food products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011,” the authorities said.

Meanwhile, the State government relying on the same provision of the PCA Act claimed that camel slaughtering is permitted as a special case, coupled with the fact that religious sermon permits the slaughtering of camel.

Recording the submissions, the Bench said, “We may only add here is that it is admitted position that there are no camels available in Tamil Nadu and thus a comparison cannot be made of area where camels are found easily. In fact camels are imported into Tamil Nadu from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra… Rajasthan is stated to have prohibited even the export of camels out of the State for the purposes of slaughtering by an enactment.”

Noting that the issue should be set-down for final hearing, but in the mean time in view of the stand of Central government and the provisions of the Central Act at present, we cannot have a situation where such camel slaughtering is permitted especially in the absence of any facility for it, the Bench posted the PILs for further hearing on October 17.

800 kg rotten tomatoes, onions found at food processing unit

NASHIK: Nearly 800kg of rotten tomatoes and onions along with other goods worth Rs 1 lakh have been destroyed by the Nashik Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on Wednesday evening while conducting a raid at a food processing unit in the Nashik road area.

The food safety officers said that during a routine inspection of Mangalam Foods on Naigaon Raod in Shinde, that manufactures tomato sauce, pickles, noodles, mixed fruit jam, etc., it was found that the unit was in a shabby condition. The concerned owners or proprietors of the food processing unit have been violating all the conditions of the license acquired from the FDA.

During the inspection, officials had to destroy nearly 800kg of rotten tomatoes and onions.

An officer said that the flooring of the processing unit was damp and the quality of water used for manufacturing the food articles was also questionable. "About 20 workers had hung their they dirty clothes in the unit and their medical check up was also not done. There is also no provision for warm water to wash the utensils," he said.

Food safety officers Vivek Patil and Sayali Patwardhan who carried out the inspection under the guidance of joint commissioner FDA (Food), Nashik Division U S Vanjari, appealed to people to refrain from food articles like pickle, sauce and jam which are sold loose or even served in in restaurants.

"We have sent the food samples to our laboratory and action against the concerned owner will be taken after we get the lab reports," Vanjari said.

The food processing unit has not been closed down yet as it is not in the power of the FDA unit here. Although the concerned owners have been warned of being shut down if unhygienic conditions are continued.

Liquor Chocolates... Now the Safest, Cheapest Drugs For Youth in City

Hyderabad: Liquor chocolates... have become the easiest business channel for some chocolate manufacturing units in the city to make a fast buck. College goers and high school kids are falling prey for the ‘liquor chocolates’.

The makers are cashing in on the craze for chocolates in the market as they are the safest and cheapest drugs for especially under-aged youths that available in many chocolate cafes and shopping malls in the city.

Liquor chocolates are the candies in different shapes that taste like chocolate with the alcohol/whisky content mixed in it that gives mild intoxication to the consumer. It is difficult to smell the alcohol content in the liquor chocolates. Import of such chocolates is banned in India by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in 2005 and its sale is illegal in India.

Of late, mostly high school students and college goers are targeted for the business selling the ‘tipsy products’ ranging from Rs. 50 to 500 at chocolate cafes and high-end stores in twin cities.

According to a latest report, more than 100 small chocolate companies in GHMC limits have turned to making liquor chocolates illegally to make easy money.

The Excise officials revealed that the products are being sold in miniature bottles and many other shapes with weird names

Acting on a tip off, Excise Department Special Task Force and Enforcement officials conducted raids on a chocolate manufacturing unit in Old Mallepally in Hyderabad. The officials took two persons into their custody and seized 400 chocolates weighing 2kg and seven bottles of whisky and vodka from the unit. The samples have been sent to laboratory for testing.

Excise AES Anji Reddy said all the manufacturing units in the city would be served notices and the inspections will be conducted based on the reports of samples. Many chocolate cafes in the city are making money by selling the illegal products and the sales have been found high during the festive seasons of Dasara and Diwali, he said. Each pack is sold for Rs.1000 to 1600 and the price will be doubled during the peak time.

The officials also said that the liquor chocolates manufacturing units were also training persons for domestic business.

Mobile food testing labs launch today at Thycaud

The air-conditioned mobile laboratories were set up by the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd.

Thiruvananthapuram: Two mobile food testing laboratories worth Rs 1.4 crore will be flagged off by Health Minister K.K. Shylaja at Food Safety Commissioner’s headquarters at Thycaud. Kerala will become the second in the country after Chandigarh to establish mobile laboratories. The laboratories along with two other static laboratories in the state are expected to curb adulterated food products particularly milk, edible oils, masala packets and spices.

The air-conditioned mobile laboratories were set up by the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. Two laboratory officials and a driver will be deployed in each of the vehicles. The mobile laboratories will be anchored around check posts. On official requests, they will be routed to sources where adulterants are found on a largescale. Currently, there are only two Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) accredited laboratories in the state.

Naivaidya's sweet labelled 'sub-standard' by FDA

RAIPUR: In its latest sampling of a sweet product of Chhattisgarh's prominent sweet supplier chain of 'Naivaidya', Food and Drugs department has labelled one of its product as "substandard" as per provisions of food and safety standard Act.

Based on a complaint filed by Sanjeev Agrawal, a sealed box of 'anjeer barfi', purchased from Naivaidya food product at Shastri Market was received by the food and drugs department on August 23. After testing, the 'anjeer barfi' was found unfit for consumption as it contained fibres, vegetable stalks and sand particles.

Complainant Sanjeev said he had bought a packet of sweets which tasted bad and looked stale, following which he bought another box and submitted the sealed pack to the department.

"As the substandard product comes from one of the very prominent brands of sweet products in state, I am going to file a petition at court as well as a complaint in consumer forum," Sanjeev said.

Another application filed by Sanjeev on August 23 was of KLF Nirmal Pure Coconut Oil which looked creamy in appearance and was sent to food and drugs department.The department officials labelled it as 'sub-standard too as per the standards of food and safety standards Act.

Sweet samples collected

VADODARA: Food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation cracked down on shops selling varieties of sweets widely consumed during Ganpati festival.

On Thursday, officers collected six samples of sweets and one of edible oil from shops in Sayajigunj, Jubelibaug and railway station areas. The officers had checked shops on the New VIP Road, Karelibaug and Makarpura Road areas of the city on Wednesday. The samples will be sent to the public health laboratory of the VMC for analysis. The officers have been checking samples of 'boondi', 'motichoor laddus', and 'modaks'

Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) food officers check eateries

VADODARA: The food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Wednesday night continued their drive to check eateries in the city.

The officers checked eateries in Manjalpur, Subhanpura, Badamdi Baug, Kirti Stambh and Ajwa Road areas of the city. The officers checked 132 roadside eateries, eightrestaurants, 13 shops and three cottage units selling food items.

The teams disposed of 460 liters mint and tamarind water used for 'pani puris'. They also destroyed 265kg of material as well as cooked food. Fifteen food business operators were issued notices for not maintaining hygienic conditions. As many as 31 others were issued notices for not having food licences.

VADODARA: The food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Wednesday night continued their drive to check eateries in the city.

The officers checked eateries in Manjalpur, Subhanpura, Badamdi Baug, Kirti Stambh and Ajwa Road areas of the city. The officers checked 132 roadside eateries, eightrestaurants, 13 shops and three cottage units selling food items.

The teams disposed of 460 liters mint and tamarind water used for 'pani puris'. They also destroyed 265kg of material as well as cooked food. Fifteen food business operators were issued notices for not maintaining hygienic conditions. As many as 31 others were issued notices for not having food licences.