UGC directs VCs to ensure canteen operators are licensed, gives matter top priority

FSSAI will conduct instruction exercises for food handlers employed in the canteens/messes of universities and colleges to better the quality of food being served there.

UGC secretary Jaspal S. Sandhu directed Vice-chancellors through the letter to give the matter top priority.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked Vice-Chancellors of universities across the country to ensure that canteen/mess operators at the campuses of universities and their affiliated colleges are licensed under the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, which states that “no person shall commence any food business unless he or she possesses a valid license”.

In a letter to the Vice-Chancellors of all Universities, UGC secretary Jaspal S Sandhu has observed that there are many canteens and/or messes on campuses of UGC recognised educational facilities which are running without a license made mandatory under the Act. “You are requested to kindly ensure the implementation of the FSS Act, 2006 in food establishments of your esteemed university and in all the affiliated colleges,” Sandhu wrote.

The letter also said that the FSS Authority of India will conduct instruction exercises for food handlers employed in the canteens/messes of universities and colleges to better the quality of food being served there. “Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) would also organise training of food handlers working in the food establishments of the educational institutions to provide safe and wholesome food to the students,” the secretary said in the letter. adding, “You may directly contact the FSSAI, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi for the same,” Sandhu wrote in the letter.

He also directed Vice-chancellors through the letter to give the matter top priority.

The FSS Act, 2006 provides the statutory framework for regulating, inter alia the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of food so as to ensure its safety. Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses falls under Regulation 2.1.2 of the FSS Regulations, 2011.

DINAMALAR NEWS

From plate to plough: A clear trend towards non-vegetarianism in India

But per capita meat consumption remains relatively low. This has implications for nutritional and food security.

We define non-vegetarians as those consuming either eggs or fish or meat or any combination of these.

In the eyes of the world, India is seen as a vegetarian country. Presumably, this impression has been created by our best brand ambassadors from political, spiritual and yoga circles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strict vegetarian. The popular yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, and many other Hindu religious leaders too, are vegetarians and preach vegetarianism.

But what is the reality? To know this, we dig into India’s largest household consumption surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). They were conducted in 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12, each time with a sample size of over one lakh households, with a one-month recall period. We define non-vegetarians as those consuming either eggs or fish or meat or any combination of these. By this definition, 62.3 per cent of Indian households consumed non-vegetarian food in 2011-12, up from 56.7 per cent in 1993-94, and 58.2 per cent in 2004-05. So the trend is quite clear — non-vegetarianism is on the rise. The Sample Registration System Baseline Survey 2014, however, states that 71 per cent of Indians were non-vegetarians as on January 1, 2014. But this study covers only that segment of the population which is above 15 years of age; the NSSO survey includes individuals of all age groups. Hence the two are not comparable.

Which state has the most vegetarians? If you are thinking of Gujarat, the home of Gandhi and Narendra Modi, think again. While 28 per cent of Gujarat’s population eats non-vegetarian food, Punjab has an even lower percentage (23 per cent) of non-vegetarians. Haryana, however, has the lowest non-vegetarian population in the country with just 19 per cent non-vegetarian households, and has remained so since 1993-94 (see map).

A state-wide analysis shows that seven states in the Northeast had the highest proportion (97 per cent) of non-vegetarians in 2011-12, followed by West Bengal (95 per cent) and Kerala (92 per cent). At the other end, Haryana is followed by Rajasthan (20 per cent), Punjab (23 per cent) and Gujarat (28 per cent). There has been a sharp increase in the proportion of non-vegetarians in Jammu and Kashmir — from 35 per cent in 1993-94 to 71 per cent in 2004-05.

The percentage of non-vegetarians in the state increased to 74 per cent in 2011-12. The sharp increase is, presumably, due to the exodus of Hindus from the state during this period.

While the trend toward non-vegetarianism is clear, what is interesting to note is that it has been marked by a “chicken revolution”. The proportion of households consuming chicken shot up from eight per cent in 1993-94 to 38 per cent in 2011-12, while that of the fish-eating households increased marginally from 30 per cent to 32 per cent over the same period. The proportion of goat-meat/mutton-eaters has fallen significantly — from 30 per cent in 1993-94 to 15 per cent in 2011-12. The population of beef and buffalo meat-eaters has remained more or less constant at about six per cent over this period. Interestingly, the proportion of so-called “eggetarians” (those consuming only eggs) has fallen drastically from about 24 per cent in 1993-94 to merely 3.5 per cent in 2011-12.

A structural change in the poultry industry by organised large hatcheries like Venkateshwara and Suguna — who have mainstreamed small holders — seems to have ushered in the “chicken revolution”. As a result, broiler meat production rose from less than 0.2 million metric tonnes (mmt) in 1991 to about 2.47 mmt in 2011-12, and egg production from about 24 billion to 66 billion by 2011-12.

Normally, rising non-vegetarianism is attributed to increasing incomes and resulting diversification of diets for better and higher protein intake. However, the Indian story may not be that simple. Religious beliefs have played an important role in keeping meat consumption low in some states. For example, Kerala and Punjab are both prosperous states with comparable per capita incomes, but Kerala has 92 per cent non-vegetarians and Punjab only 23 per cent. Across states, correlation between per-capita incomes and non-vegetarianism does not yield positive results.

Religious movements in Punjab — Arya Samaj, Radhasoami and Namdharis — seem to have played an influential role in restricting meat consumption in the state. It is likely that vegetarians consume more milk to meet their protein requirements. The proportion of milk-consuming households increased from 70 per cent in 1993-94 to 81 per cent in 2011-12. India is the largest producer of milk (146 mmt in 2014-15), although per capita availability (322 g/day) still remains low. Internationally too, among countries with comparable or even lower per capita incomes, India has the lowest level of per capita meat consumption — 2.9 kg in 2015, of which 1.7kg/ capita is poultry meat (see graph: Total annual per capita meat consumption). Pakistan’s annual per capita meat consumption is about four times that of India; the country has a lower per capita income than India.

What do these numbers indicate for food and nutritional security? Indians draw only about one per cent calorie-intake and three per cent protein-intake from eggs, fish and meat. Given the high incidence of malnutrition in India, especially among children, this is somewhat worrisome for nutritionists. Will government policy promote egg or meat consumption for better nutrition? The chances are dim. But the government can give a fillip to poultry consumption by reducing import duty on chicken legs from 100 per cent to say 20 per cent. Meat consumption will increase primarily through private sector initiatives such as of KFC and McDonald’s, which can ensure food safety requirements are met. Modernised, well-equipped abattoirs will also help as they have in making India one of the largest exporters of buffalo meat. Milk and milk-products can be promoted by cooperatives with support from the government.

Further, since chicken rules the roost, not pork or beef, the feed pressure will be much less in India, as chicken is a comparatively more efficient convertor of energy with feed-to-meat ratio of 1.6:1 compared to 5:1 for pork and 7:1 for beef. This, coupled with low levels of meat consumption, will keep demand for feed food subdued. While the trend towards non-vegetarianism is increasing, vegetarians are certainly more benign to the planet’s environmental health.

Gulati is Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture and Verma is a consultant at ICRIER. This column first appeared in the print edition under the title 'Not chicken anymore'.

Food safety sleuths survey market vends ahead of Diwali

JAMMU: In order to ensure availability of wholesome Food articles, especially the sweets, milk & milk products in the market on the occasion of Diwali festival, a team of the Food Safety Officers of Drugs & Food Control Organization today carried out a special day long drive in Jammu Division. 

The special drive has been undertaken under the instructions of Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Bhagat under the overall supervision of Controller, Drugs & Food Control Organization J&K, Lotika Khajuria. During the course of drive, as many as 41 samples of various food articles likeKhoya, Burfi, Paneer, Ladoo, mix sweets, milk, Refined Soyabean oil and Biscuit have been lifted and sent for testing/analysis in the designated laboratories. 

Besides, 35 kgs of decomposed/unwholesome sweets have been destroyed on spot. All the food business operators dealing with sweets and milk products have been sensitized to observe/secure compliance with sanitary and hygienic conditions in their premises as per mandate of the Food Safety Standards (FSS) in letter and spirit and prepare/sell the quality products to the consumers. 

The drive will continue till Deewali festival in the entire Jammu division.

Food safety wing asks people to be alert

TRICHY: Ahead of Diwali, thefood safety wing of Trichy has issued an advisory to the people to be cautious about the quality of raw and cooked food items they buy from outlets across the district. The officials have asked the people to check the standard of packed food items they buy, especially edible oil, as they feel that not enough attention is given to verifying the date of manufacture and expiry as well as FSSAI imprint when it comes to oil products.

"People don't notice such information on the label of the packages. Another important thing is that people can also note down the batch number mentioned on the label as it will be helpful in case of any incidence of food poisoning due to such oils," said designated officer of Trichy Dr C Suresh Babu.

During the Diwali festival, people will be attracted to a range of sweets made with a variety of permitted colours. The overdose of permitted colours in the sweets and savouries will lead to health complications. So, people have been advised to avoid the sweet items in concentrated colours. Food safety officers (FSOs) in every area have been directed to visit the shops and take samples for testing which only would reveal the level of colour used in the items.

Another item that demands extra care while buying is ghee. Agmark-branded gheeis the edible variety while many shops sell the ghee meant for non-edible purpose too.

"Many people do not bother to check if the ghee is endorsed by Agmark," said DO Dr Suresh Babu.

Goa can be model state for food safety: FSSAI CEO

PANAJI: Stating that changing the food safety habits of an individual is a tall order, CEO of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Pawan Agarwal, said that Goa’s small geographical size and low population could help it become a model state in terms of food safety habits.

“Goa is already doing quite well in terms of health; it can also become a model for other states in food safety measures. Therefore, it will be a continuous activity,” said Agarwal, who was in Goa for the launch of the food safety initiatives which have been adopted by Goa.

Responding to the growing controversies involving in food testing laboratories, the FSSAI CEO denied the existence of any political or commercial pressures on the authorities.

“That has passed and you have to understand that food testing is not a perfect science. There are different parameters to distinguish different contents. We are still developing standards for some food items in tune with what is acceptable globally,” said Agarwal, stating that the central government has decided to invest around 500 crore to revamp the infrastructure of the state funded food testing laboratories.

Talking about the problem that food exporters face with certain countries, Agarwal stated that although there are no two ways about safety standards, at times, these controls are employed as trade tactics.

“There are tactical issues which certain countries raise and we have to deal with it in the same way. Our standards have to match the global ones and we have to have a robust internal checking system. Only then, we can question others if they stop our products,” he said, adding that the organization is also focusing on food fortification, to improve the country’s ranking in various global health and nourishment indices.

“Food fortification is an important factor to counter malnourishment in India. We are in touch with other organizations like the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to start food fortification. Some of the states have already started distributing fortified grains through the public distribution system.

Maha govt ignores milk quality survey

Pune: The Maharashtra unit of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is yet to confirm its participation in the union government’s mandatory National Milk Quality Survey, which was initiated in September this year.

This shocking revelation comes even as other states like Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and Tamil Nadu have already completed their milk quality checks and sent the results to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). States like Goa and Haryana are currently collecting the milk samples prior to forwarding it to laboratories for further tests.

Ten cities in Maharashtra including Pune, Navi Mumbai, Jalgaon, Nagpur, etc, have been identified as hotspots. “We are yet to receive any communication neither official letter or calls from FSSAI to the office of commissioner of FDA, Maharashtra,” Monika Puniya, Assistant Director (Technical), FSSAI, informed Sakal Times. 

According to sources at FSSAI, without confirmation, the national body will not be able to share the action plan with the State, which will then have to undertake the survey and complete it in stipulated time. Maharashtra could also be a culprit in causing an overall delay to the national survey, which was supposed to be completed by December this year.

FSSAI, on the basis of the past reports and incidents of adulteration, shared the survey plan to each of the states, which was inclusive of the number of milk samples to be collected, areas of interest for sampling, labs where the samples will be processed, etc. Food Safety Officer (FSO) from each division in the State was assigned to do the job in the stipulated period and share the results with FSSAI.

According to sources at FDA’s Pune division, there has not been any communication from the Mumbai-based headquarters about initiating any milk sampling as yet.

“We are not aware of any survey and have not been instructed about the same so far,” said a senior official from FDA, Pune.

What is National Milk Quality Survey? 

- The survey, argued to be first of its kind, aims to test the quality of milk to understand the prevalence of milk adulteration in states and chalk out measures to curb the menace. During the survey, over 1,700 milk samples will be randomly picked and tested for fat, Solids not Fat (SNF), vegetable oil, detergent, hydrogen peroxide, formalin, sugar, glucose, urea, starch, boric acid, ammonium sulphate, nitrates, cellulose maltodextrin. Each state will have a state-level steering committee comprising members like commissioner of FDA, milk commissioner of the State, personnel from dairy industries and Food Safety Officers (FSO).

D&FCO launches special drive

JAMMU, Oct 23: In order to ensure availability of wholesome Food articles, especially the sweets, milk & milk products in the market on the occasion of Deewali festival, a team of the Food Safety Officers of Drugs & Food Control Organization today carried out a special day long drive in Jammu Division.

The special drive has been undertaken under the instructions of Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Bhagat under the overall supervision of Controller, Drugs & Food Control Organization J&K, Lotika Khajuria. 

During the course of drive, as many as 41 samples of various food articles likeKhoya, Burfi, Paneer, Ladoo, mix sweets, milk, Refined Soyabean oil and Biscuit have been lifted and sent for testing/analysis in the designated laboratories. Besides, 35 kgs of decomposed/unwholesome sweets have been destroyed on spot.

All the food business operators dealing with sweets and milk products have been sensitized to observe/secure compliance with sanitary and hygienic conditions in their premises as per mandate of the Food Safety Standards (FSS) in letter and spirit and prepare/sell the quality products to the consumers. The drive will continue till Deewali festival in the entire Jammu division.

Food safety licence for college canteens mandatory, says UGC

KOLHAPUR: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made it mandatory for the canteens running at institutions of higher learning to have licences under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

In a circular issue recently, UGC secretary Jaspal Sandhu said the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 along with the rules and regulations, provide the statutory framework for regulating, the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of food to ensure health and hygiene.

He said the act stipulates that no person shall commence any food business unless he/she possesses a valid license. However, it has been observed that canteens and other food establishments in various educational institutions have not been licensed under the act.

The UGC has asked the vice-chancellors of the universities to ensure the implementation of FSS Act, 2006 in food establishments on campuses of universities and colleges affiliated to them. "The FSSAI would also organise training for food handlers working in food establishments of educational institutions to provide safe and wholesome food to students."

To obtain the licence, institutions will have to contact the FSSAI, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.

M S Kembalkar, assistant commissioner, FDA city unit, told TOI that it is mandatory for college and university canteens to get the license from the FSSAI. "The FDA unit has started conducting frequent inspections at universities and colleges to ensure that the canteens are complying with norms. If any food establishment is found without license, the owner is given 15 days to obtain the same. A criminal case can be filed for failing to apply for the licence within this period," he said .

Varsity canteens, messes should have licence under Food Safety

Noting that canteens and messes in educational institutions are not licensed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked varsities and colleges to ensure that rules in this regard are complied with. 

In a letter to vice-chancellors of universities, UGC Secretary Jaspal S Sandhu said it has been noted that canteens, messes and other food establishments located in various educational institutions have not been licensed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

"You are requested to kindly ensure the implementation of the FSS Act, 2006 in food establishments of your esteemed university and in all the affiliated colleges," he wrote. 

The Food Safety and Standards Act provides the framework for regulating manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of food items so as to ensure its safety. 

"...The Food Safety & Standards (Licensing & Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011 stipulates that no person shall commence any food business unless he possesses a valid licence," the senior UGC official said in his letter. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) would also organise training of food handlers working in food establishments of the educational institutions to provide safe and wholesome food to the students, Sandhu said.