Sep 13, 2016
Why so many food product imports get rejected
In the aftermath of the Welspun controversy, Business Standard gets deeper into the issue of global scrutiny facing Indian businesses across key sectors, in a three-part series. Today, we look at the
Monthly data on import refusals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year paint a grim picture of Indian food products. India consistently ranked among the top three countries whose products were rejected for import by the regulator.
An average of the first eight months of 2016 puts India's tally of rejects at 220, second after China's 253. Mexico is third at 189.
India topped the list of import refusals by the FDA in August with 202 products, including soaps, detergents and food products. Food products constituted nearly 60 per cent of the refusal list for August, with salt, rice, edible oils, instant noodles, snacks, bakery products, and carbonated drinks and juices being rejected.
Violations include mislabelling and products containing allergens. Among the manufacturers were Hindustan Unilever, Mondelez India and Nestle India.
The three companies insisted they complied with all the norms and these were not legitimate exports by them.
"Our direct exports to the US take into account quality, safety, labelling and packaging requirements for that market. There is a possibility that the products referred to, which are meant for sale in India, are entering the US through parallel imports. Since the labelling requirements for India are different, it is not surprising that the products do not fulfill the FDA requirement," a Nestle India spokesperson said.
"In 2016 (including August), HUL has not received any refusal from the FDA for any of the products it exports to that market through its authorised distributor. The stocks refused import into the US by the FDA in 2016 have not been exported by HUL," a company spokesperson said.
A Mondelez India spokesperson said the company did not export to the US. "Quality and safety is our highest priority and our products meet all regulatory standards in India," the spokesperson added.
Where lies the problem then
While grey imports could be an issue, the problem of Indian food products not matching up to global standards is an old one for big players.
Food importers and exporters Business Standard spoke to said a key issue was India's inability to fully comply with international norms, such as the Codex Alimentarius.
"There is a variance in food standards, resulting in persistent import refusals by regulators such as the FDA. This is a concern and companies need to look at this closely," said Ashwin Badri, chief executive officer of Equinox Labs, a Mumbai-based laboratory specialising in food, water and air testing.
While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has attempted to bring some parity with international norms by introducing an ingredient-based regulatory regime in place of a product-based approval system that was scrapped last year by the Supreme Court, there is still much work to be done.
"The problem also is that there is no traceability down the supply chain for domestic manufacturers, which results in products suffering from quality issues when exported," said a food importer.
"Apart from Indian food standards coming up to global norms, there is a need to look into manufacturing and supply-side constraints that companies face. The big ones may have some control on quality, but as you go down the line, smaller manufacturers may not, resulting in sub-standard products," he added.
A decade ago, when the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had brought up the issue of pesticide in colas, it had raised similar concerns.
In recent years, CSE has focused on the presence of salt, sugar and trans-fat in junk food, among the key causes of obesity.
Following a hard-hitting study two years ago by the CSE, the FSSAI had issued guidelines on sale of junk food in schools.
Food importers allege lack of action on new guidelines
New guidelines take into account some key concerns of food importers on single-window clearance & random sampling of products
The Forum of Indian Food Importers (Fifi) has rapped the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on implementation of the import guidelines issued by the latter 10 days earlier.
The new guidelines take into account some key concerns of food importers on single-window clearance and random sampling of products. However, the importers forum, consisting of almost 5,000 companies, says implementation is yet to happen on the ground.
The guidelines were overhauled after widespread criticism last year that products were being held up at ports for extended periods due to archaic processes, resulting in delays of months. The country imports about $3 billion of packaged food products a year.
FSSAI subsequently issued new draft guidelines in April and operationalised these earlier in this month.
Amit Lohani, convenor of Fifi, says documents uploaded under the Pre-Arrival Document Scrutiny, the single-window clearance under the new guidelines, is resulting in further red tape, since departments such as animal husbandry are also notified for clearance, in addition to FSSAI. "These are teething issues, which ideally should be resolved. Delays can be avoided if the principle of single-window clearance is followed on the ground," he says.
On random sampling of products, Lohani says the regulator has assured the body it will ensure on-ground implementation shortly. Under the old guidelines, 100 per cent sampling of consignments would be undertaken at ports, resulting in backlogs. The new guidelines have attempted to correct that, industry sources said.
FSSAI chief esecutive Pawan Kumar Agarwal said the changes were aimed at improving transparency and speed. "The guidelines do take into account what stakeholders have been saying. If there are issues, that is a matter of discussion," he said, without specifying timelines for implementation of the new norms.
Alcoholic Beverages Standards 2016: For every alcoholic beverage, a govt definition
The government is ready with its first official document laying down the standards of alcoholic beverages in the country.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has drawn up the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulations, 2016. It is the first time alcohol has been categorised and standardised as a consumable beyond the realms of excise tax. The authority has invited stakeholder comments on the draft standards by October 9, following which they will be notified.
The draft regulations define an alcoholic beverage as a “beverage or a liquor or brew containing more than 0.5% ethyl alcohol (ethanol) by volume/volume as the active agent. The ethyl alcohol used in the production of alcoholic beverages shall be of agricultural origin.” It can be either a distilled alcoholic beverage or an undistilled one.
Everything from a brewery to a distillery have been laid down in the 16-page document that also defines various kinds of alcohol such as brandy, cognac, whisky (bourbon, Irish whisky, single malt, blended malt, Scotch etc are defined in great detail) gin, vodka fenny, arrack, even laying down standards for various grades of country spirits.
Though the standards have been in the works for some years now, the timing is interesting, with politicians waking up to the political opportunities of prohibition. While Gujarat has been a dry state for years, Bihar has banned alcohol sale since April this year. Prohibition was an election issue in Tamil Nadu, while Kerala is going dry in a phased manner. And during his recent poll speeches in Punjab, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has promised to crack down on alcohol.
FSSAI officials say like any other standards, once the regulations are notified any product sold under a particular label without abiding by these regulations can face action like Maggi did last year when its noodles showed high levels of monosodium glutamate and lead content. New products will also need approval based on these standards.
The regulations, without getting into the licence classifications for excise purposes where stores selling wine and beer are categorised differently, lay down standards for both varieties commonly not included under the “hard liquor” head. Apart from the generic definition of wine, other categories include table wine, red wine, white wine, rose wine, dry wine, sweet wine, fortified wine and dessert wine. Beer gets a similar treatment with categorisation into lager, pilsner, ale beer, draught beer, wheat beer etc.
Labelling requirements include declaration of alcohol content by volume with geographical designation or names allowed to be used only for products originating strictly from that geographical region. There is also mandatory allergen warning.
Kerala: Liquor quality on check
KOCHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has issued a draft notification fixing quality standards for liquor in the country. The FSSAI published the notification in the government gazette on September 5 and invited objections or suggestions to be submitted within 30 days from the date of publication of the guidelines. The notification for the first time authorises food safety officials to check the quality of the liquor sold in the country in terms of the ingredients used, manufacturing process and storage.
The FSSAI officials will have the power to examine liquor like any other product when the notification is incorporated into the law. Currently, only the excise department officials in the state are responsible for checking the quality of liquor and their examination is confined to finding whether the liquor is spurious or not. The notification by FSSAI brings the entire gamut of quality into the ambit of the food safety, including the flavours and pigments used for colours. For instance, if a liquor manufacturer labels the product as grape brandy, the manufacturer will be mandated to make it using grape.
"The grape brandy is the alcoholic distillate obtained solely from the fermented juice of fresh, ripe and sound grapes. The distillation shall be carried out to a suitable strength in such a way that the spirit possesses the distinct aroma and taste characteristics derived from grapes and the natural volatile principle already present in grapes or constituents formed during fermentation. In case of brandy made from any fruit other than grapes, the name of the fruit shall pre-fix the word 'brandy' in the definition."
A similar definition is also made of various categories of whisky, gin, rum, vodka, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages sold in the country. The guidelines also stipulate that the liquor should be free from chemicals such as chloral hydrate, ammonium chloride, diazepam, paraldehyde or any other types of narcotic and psychotropic substances, including caffeine which when mixed with alcohol is injurious to health. The notification also contains specific standards for the claims made by the liquor makers. For instance, a brandy when labelled as "matured" shall be matured for a period of not less one year in oak vats or barrels.
Blended grape brandy, when labelled as "matured", should use grape brandy which is matured for a period of not less than one year in wooden vats or barrels.
The water used for dilution to bottling strength should be as per IS-10500. Similar definitions have also been given in the case of maturity for whisky, rum, gin, vodka and other alcoholic beverages. Beer has been classified as light, standard, strong and super strong as per the ethyl alcohol content. Light has 0.5-4 per cent content, standard 4-5 per cent, strong 5-6 per cent and super strong 6-8 per cent.
Allergen warning for wine
If the wine contains more than 10 mg Sulfur Dioxide per litre, the label must declare that “contains Sulfur Dioxide or Sulfite”
If egg white, milk or isinglass is used as fining, clarifying agents in wine and treated with casein, ovalbumin or tartrazine, use of these materials should be mentioned on the label.
Toddy categorised as palm wine
Palm wine is a sweet or sour fermented and vinegary alcoholic beverage. Palm wine, also called palm toddy or 'kallu' or simply toddy, is an alcoholic beverage made from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra and coconut palms.
All wine shall be free from chloral hydrate, ammonium chloride, diazepam, paraldehyde or any other types of narcotic, psychotropic substances including caffeine which when mixed with alcohol are injurious to health.
It shall be bottled or canned and effectively pasteurized or preserved. Wine shall be clear and shall have characteristic colour, taste and foam of its type.
Suppliers seek rate hike soon
Almost all supplier of liquor has sought price hike of about 10 percent, which is being considered by the government. A decision on the matter is likely to come soon after the Onam holidays. It has been five years since the government allowed a hike in liquor prices.
“Over the last many years, we have been pressing for a hike considering the steep increase in raw material costs. The previous UDF government also allowed only around six percent price hike, even as we demanded 10 percent,” Kerala Distillers and Brewers Federation president T.R. Vijaykumar said. The excise policy of the new government is also may be announced soon, industry sources said.
Few mandals seek nod to distribute food
AURANGABAD: Though the food and drug administration (FDA) has appealed to all Ganesh mandals in the city to register with it if they are distributing food items to devotees, only 15 of the more than 1,600 registered and around 4,000 non-registered mandals have done so.
Food adulteration being one of the dangerous trends associated with festivals as huge quantities of food articles, particularly sweets, are sold and distributed during such events, the FDA is keeping a vigil, said Anant Pardhi, deputy joint commissioner (food), FDA Aurangabad division.
The customers, shop-keepers and mandal representatives also need to exercise caution, he said.
If we find sub-standard food being distributed or sold, we will send samples to the laboratory for investigation, he said, adding that action will be taken if the reports show adulteration or poor quality.
The Ganesh mandals have been appealed to register with the FDA in case they are organising 'bhandara' (distribution of food). Mandals have also been asked to keep details of food items they have purchased for 'prasad', ensure hygienic conditions where the prasad is prepared and use clean water. They were also advised to check if the milk and milk products being used in sweets are fresh and store them in a cool place, Pardhi said.
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