US Food Safety Dept Rejects MTR, Wipro Items For Being “Unsafe”

The US has reportedly rejected many consignments of soap and detergent manufactured by Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), along with food items of MTR.

Reporting for the Times of India, Chethan Kumar writes:

In all, 1,859 consignments from Indian companies from various states have been rejected by the US between January and August 2016, and experts said several of them could be victims of parallel exports, where dealers export branded products without the knowledge and consent of the manufacturers.

Speaking to TOI, MTR Foods CEO Sanjay Sharma said, “The shipments rejected by USFDA are all cases of parallel exports done by small traders who send mixed consignments. These exporters purchase locally without caring about the compliance issues of the importing country. Such rejections impact the company and brand credibility in the eyes of the USFDA.”

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, in a written response to TOI, said:

We don’t export to the US. So we are surprised with this report. We suspect that this could be a counterfeit as one of the samples is said to be manufactured in Mysore. We don’t make soaps in Mysore. We face counterfeit issues in Indian market also. We will investigate and ensure that no counterfeit products reach our customers.

Earlier, reports suggested that the Food and Drugs Association (FDA) of the US rejected more snack imports from India than any other country in the first five months of 2015.

Firstpost reported:

The data on the website shows that most of snacks that were rejected were made by Haldiram’s, a major Indian snacks and sweets manufacturer based out of Nagpur. For the month February 2015, the FDA website lists out various Haldiram products under its snacks category in an ‘Import Refusal Report’ which lists refusal actions taken by the FDA against imported products.

Wall Street Journal reported that the reasons for rejection of these products “vary from problems in packaging and labeling to alleged contamination. The FDA website says Indian products have been found to contain high levels of pesticides, mold and the bacteria salmonella.”

School's bid for own food stayed by HC

CHENNAI: A school's attempt to ban home-cooked and anyoutside food for its students, and make lunch prepared by its own vendor mandatory, has been stayed by the Madras high court.

Granting interim injunction restraining Hiranandani Upscale School at Kelambakkam on OMR, Justice M Sathyanarayanan said a circular issued by the CBSE director only sought to inspect students' lunch boxes for unhealthy food. "The circular mandates a particular institution to not compel students to take lunch or snacks provided by it by paying charges," he said.

The matter was brought to court's notice by a parent, Bharathi Rajendran who said that 600 of them signed a petition against the school's decision.

Food licences mandatory for garba stalls

VADODARA: Those operating food or refreshment stalls atNavratri venues across the city will have to obtain food safety licences from Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). Food safety officers of the civic body may also conduct surprise checks at the venues to ensure that hygienic conditions are maintained at the stalls.

According to a VMC communique, the operators of food stalls can contact the food safety officers of the ward where they will operate from. If it comes to light that stalls are being operated without necessary licences, action will be taken against them under Food Safety and Standards Act.

FSSAI to respond on Maggi in a week

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) a week to respond to Nestle India’s plea to permit it to destroy about 550 tonnes of recalled stock of Maggi noodles, which have passed their shelf life.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan posted the matter for September 30. In an application, Nestle said the storage of such a huge quantity of noodles at 39 locations across the country may lead to a health hazard.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Maggi, said earlier too they had destroyed 38,000 tonnes of noodles in the incinerators of the notified cement plants. “We have followed the due process agreed between the FSSAI and the company,” Salve said.

But the counsel for the food regulator said “destruction of stocks as destruction of evidence” was also the subject matter of two petitions pending in the apex court. The counsel sought a week to seek instruction and file a reply to Nestle India’s plea.