HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL!!!

Make sure you don't end up eating cat meat biryani!

All the 16 cats, stolen from various residential areas, were kept in a single cage, and were deprived of water to drink.
CHENNAI: Biryani lovers, beware. If you have ordered mutton or chicken biryani at any roadside stall recently in Chennai, chances are that you might have been served cat.
Next time, when you order this non-vegetarian dish at any roadside eatery, make sure the pieces of meat in the rice are only chicken or mutton else you may end up eating cat meat.
Many ‘cheap’ roadside stalls in Chennai are serving cat meat in biryani touted as chicken or mutton.
Tamil Nadu Police and an animal welfare organisation, People for Animals (PfA), in a joint operation have rescued 16 cats, kept for their meat, from Pallavaram area on Friday.
“PfA received information that pet cats were trapped by the narikorvas tribe, who on weekends skinned them and sold the meat to roadside eateries in and around Pallavaram,” Times of India quoted PfA member as saying.
The meat is reportedly used in biryani at the roadside stalls.
According to the report, Two of the PfA volunteers went to the spot on Thursday and befriended youths of narikorava tribe.
The volunteers asked the tribesmen to demonstrate how the cats are trapped and then skinned and recorded the entire demonstration.
The footage was handed over to the police authorities, after which a team of cops rescued the cats and sent them to a PfA shelter.
All the 16 cats, stolen from various residential areas, were kept in a single cage and deprived of water to drink.

A Carcinogen Banned In Food,But Allowed in Water:How Does That Make-Sense?

Back in 2011, in my second year of law school, my father asked me to look up the packaged food labelling regulations in India. This was because he was attempting to get Hindustan Unilever to stop using potassium bromate (IN924a) in their bread (Modern Bread). He eventually succeeded in convincing Hindustan Unilever to stop using IN924a, which they did by 2012. This episode became my inspiration to start my food safety website, foodnetindia. Now, several years later, the Indian government has finally recognized the potential hazards of potassium bromate, and is in the process of banning its use as a food additive. 

This happened after a Centre for Science and Environment study recommended that the FSSAI ban it with immediate effect. The study noted that it is a carcinogen and is banned in most parts of the world, but most bread products in India contained it. The story exploded in the press, forcing the government to take quick action. After the CSE report made headlines, the All India Bread Manufacturers Association stated that they would voluntarily stop using potassium bromate in their products.

Potassium bromate has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid and gastrointestinal cancers in animals... there may be no "safe level" of exposure to this carcinogen.

A hazardous substances notification for potassium bromate by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services points out that it has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid and gastrointestinal cancers in animals. The notification also states that that there may be no "safe level" of exposure to this carcinogen. 

However, The Business Standard recently reported that, despite banning potassium bromate as a food additive, the FSSAI recently proposed to permit limited amounts of bromates in packaged drinking water. The proposal was put up for public comments in January 2016. This does not make any sense whatsoever. The existing regulations do not permit bromates in water in any quantity. The FSSAI, however, states that the proposed change to the regulations are in line with the best international practices. 

I personally believe that if the regulations are amended, the FSSAI would be making a mistake, irrespective of what international practices are. Potassium bromate is a known carcinogen and studies show that the regulations are being flouted anyway. Permitting it as a "contaminant" may just make the problem worse. I believe that this is an occasion where the FSSAI should ignore international practices. Banning potassium bromate in bread was the right thing to do. Allowing it in water most definitely is not! Why ask for trouble?

Roadside eateries use cheaper genetically engineered cotton oil

It is used at few bakeries and smalltime restaurants due to its low cost.

About 95 per cent of the cotton sown in AP and TS is of the BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) variety.

Hyderabad: Oil from the genetically modified BT cotton seed is widely used at roadside eateries, a few bakeries and smalltime restaurants due to its low cost.

About 95 per cent of the cotton sown in AP and TS is of the BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) variety. Ginning mills in Guntur and other parts in the state supply BT seeds to solvent or oil extractors who supply cotton seed cake meal for fish, poultry and animal feed to dairies and edible oil for general consumption.

Interestingly, none of them is labelled as GE derivative or BT based. Executive director of Solvent Extractors’ Association of India B.V. Mehta said, “We are not labelling imported GM oils or the BT cotton oil seed produced here. There is no requirement to label them as per the procedures.”

The oil extractors are located in Bahadurpura in the city and at Adoni in Kurnool and in Guntur. Food safety assistant controller Balaji Raju said, “Cotton oil is edible and allowed. It is mostly used by small roadside eateries and some mix it with other oils and use it. Adulteration has to be checked. As per the Act, the cover should denote what is inside. So it would be legal if they label them as BT cotton seed oil.”

A gazette notification from the ministry of consumer affairs has made it mandatory for packaged foods using genetically modified products as ingredients to carry such labels from January 1, 2013.

Experts say approval for cultivating BT cotton crop is deemed to be approval for all its products and by-products. Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee member Dr S.J. Rehman said, “When the government allows commercial cultivation of BT cotton based on the recommendation of GEAC, it means all the products of the crop are deemed to be allowed. Before approving, they might have done all safety studies including of the cake and oil. Here the question is whether BT or non BT cotton oil is good for health has to be answered by medical professionals. When the bakers and eateries are using this cheap oil they should let the consumer know about it.”

Scientists say that studies revealed that there was no change in composition in the BT and non BT cotton seeds with respect to proteins, carbohydrates, oil, calories and ash content. According to Dr O.P. Govila, retired professor of genetics at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, the seeds have passed all toxicological tests.

Biggest consumer

In 2015-16, India imported edible oil worth Rs 70,000 crore. Of this, 30 per cent was GM mustard oil.

India is one of the largest producer of oilseeds, accounting 27.51 million tonnes of nine cultivated oil seeds during 2014-15, or six to seven per cent of the world’s oil seed production.

Food safety stds focusing on safety rather than adulteration prevention

Mumbai: The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, has changed the manner in which the food industry was working. The focus has changed from prevention of adulteration (which was the focus of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954) to safety and quality.

This was stated by Pankaj Jaiminy, assistant vice-president (food, health and cosmetics), testing, certification and inspection, TUV SUD South Asia. He added that the regulatory framework governing foods was gradually evolving.

“Food research, product and process innovation and changes in consumer behaviour have facilitated the adaptation of food regulations. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is providing guidelines for all the aspects to safeguard consumers’ interest and aims to establish a single reference point for all matters related to food safety,” he said.

This has led to a considerable change in the approach of consumers. Jaiminy added, “This is driven by consumer awareness, and to that effect, organisations are trying to provide the best products in the market.”

“A collaborative approach towards ensuring the safety of food is the key to ensuring the growth of food businesses in India. Most stakeholders currently operated independently, where the challenges in day-to-day operations and implementations are not considered,” he said. Besides, the role of independent agencies also has come to fore in ensuring the food safety standards.

Jaiminy added, “TUV SUD closely works with regulatory bodies as well as food manufacturers to help them achieve parity in their operations. Our experts help companies accurately interpret regulatioms, thereby helping them operate smoothly within the realms of the various laws that are mandated.”

“We work with companies to ensure that they adhere to supply chain regulations and their food products are delivered in the best possible quality to the end consumer. The need of the hour is for businesses, regulators and certification agencies like TUV SUD to come together and come to a consensus with regards to the effective implementation of food safety regulations mandated by FSSAI,” he said. And the efforts are lauded by international bodies as well.

FSSAI made more rapid progress in the last one year than it had in the previous years. Although the foundation was laid during the previous four years, progress with respect to the formation of standards and its harmonisation with the Codex standards was sluggish. Only in recent times did the work gather pace.

Sagar Kurade, president, All India Food Processors’ Association (AIFPA), stated, “The approach has been to align the standards in India with the global ones.”

“Consumers now are treated at par with any modern space globally. FSSAI has been good in putting guidelines and taking the industry perspective into the standards and regulations. The intent is good, and in recent times, the industry has been involved in the process of deliberations. In the last one year, there was regular interaction between FSSAI and the industry, and as a result, the work on standards was more focused,” he elaborated.

Moreover, Kurade felt that there needed to be more clarification on the subjects of novel food, energy drinks, genetically-modified (GM) foods and ready-to-use therapeutic foods amongst others.

It started with the release of the list of 8,000 additives approved for the food industry, based on which 90 per cent of the food industry would not require any pre-approval for its offerings. There were more additions to the list, taking the number close to 12,000.

Besides making the list operational, FSSAI also released frequently-asked questions (FAQs) on proprietary foods that remained a serious bone of contention between the industry and the regulator. Recently, FSSAI also made the guidelines for proprietary food operational. 

FSSAI also released draft notification on nutraceuticals, milk, edible oil, fat, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages containing fruit juice, standards for non-specified food and food ingredients, e-commerce, extraneous material in pulses and food import regulations, amongst others. 

More recently, the apex food regulator released the draft regulations on fortified foods, including atta, rice, edible oil, milk and salt. 

Prabodh Halde, president, Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India [AFST(I)], said, “Several regulatory amendments have taken place at FSSAI, which has offered the food industry a platform to operate smoothly and enabled it to comply with the regulations, formulation and operations.”

“Some of the major developments include quality standards for instant noodles, pasta, fortified atta, fortified maida, durum wheat maida, quinoa, fortified rice, instant noodles, tapioca and sago. Such categories as alcoholic beverages, food fortification, silver warq, frozen vegetables and fruits, which were not covered, were undertaken by FSSAI,” he added.

“Since November 2015, FSSAI released around 28 notifications, which is in itself a great achievement,” Halde said.

Ashwin Bhadri, chief executive officer, Equinox Labs, said that FSSAI’s unified efforts towards harmonisation with Codex under the leadership of Ashish Bahuguna, its chairperson, and Pawan Kumar Agarwal, its chief executive officer, were applauded by Japan. 

“Amendments regarding food additives, adulterants, bringing e-commerce entities under the FSSAI umbrella are major steps which will help achieve the aim of complete food safety in India,” he stated. 

“Sixteen scientific panels - eight horizontal and eight vertical - are enlisted for carrying out all the regulatory work efficiently. They control different sections, businesses, food products and operational procedures,” Bhadri added. 

“Apart from the advisory committees, there are others formed over the course of time for monitoring food imports, like the online food import clearance system (FICS), single-window integration for facilitation of trade (SWIFT), risk assessment cell, joint parliamentary committee on pesticide residues, etc.,” he said.

“One of the achievements in terms of international food safety was achieved in the last fiscal year. On October 5, 2015, a joint statement of intent was inked by FSSAI, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Germany, on cooperation in food safety,” he said.

Before the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, there were nine different laws under different ministries. That created a lot of confusion. With one centralised law and one governing authority (FSSAI), its understanding and implementation by the food business operators (FBOs) has become easier.

This transition has been a revolution in the food industry of India. These standards cover most of the consumer food products, which has eased the life of FBOs. In the forthcoming years, more such amendments will bridge the loopholes existing currently.

New initiatives like this by FSSAI has impacted Indian food businesses in a very positive manner and made things smoother. With slow and steady steps, India is becoming more food sensitive, while FSSAI is ensuring that we eat safe food.

The e-commerce market has understood the significance of the law and has also ensured compliant vendors on their portals. The list of additives and the limits are of a great help to FBOs as they can now follow specific guidelines. 

In a nation like India, which has more than one-third of the world’s stunted children, the rate has almost doubled in the past decade. India has one of the world’s highest demographics of children suffering from malnutrition as per the data provided by World Bank. 

Hence, India needs a lot more to be done to tackle the menace of malnutrition; FSSAI standards for fortified foods ensures compliance with essential nutrients, which improves the health of the children who are going to lead our nation in future. 

Also with FSSAI adding clarity over imports, experts feel that the ease of doing business is now more streamlined. 

“FSSAI cracked a crucial milestone of food imports and making regulations in this regard. The system of imports was streamlined to operate with a single window for fast tracking the process of the clearances and obtaining certifications,” said Amit Lohani, convenor, Forum of Food Importers of India (FIFI). 

“All the systems and allocations made in this regard are appreciated by the food industry as a whole, but at the ground level it is lacking implementation. A reality check or a review should be undertaken by the FSSAI that whether the system which was implemented by FSSAI is actually executed or not,” said Amit Lohani, convener, Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI).

“With regard to ensuring safety in imported foods at the points of entry, FSSAI authorised customs officials to carry out the work of the food safety officer (FSO). This led a positive dialogue between customs and FSSAI. At regular intervals, FSSAI and the customs department meet to spot issues on food safety at the point of entry,” he added.

Meanwhile, FSSAI set its roadmap to ensure safe food for all with its 10@10 initiatives launched on the occasion of completion of a decade of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. 

The regulator has not only set goals to ensure safe food, but it also took a step ahead, taking into consideration imparting nutrition among masses through its recent regulations on fortified foods. Several new initiatives like food concern and food safety app, which are in tune with the current digital boom of smartphones, were also well addressed.

Five quintal of adulterated Mawa seized

New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) Five quintal of adulterated Mawa manufactured for sale during the Diwali festival has been seized and two persons have been arrested in connection with it.

The duo Ramesh and Mukesh Kumar were arrested from Prem Nagar in Kirari on yesterday during a joint raid by police and food department. The raiding party including SDM Rohini Tapan Jha and ACP Sultanpuri Saurabh Chandra, seized over five quintals of adulterated Mawa prepared for sale during the festival of Diwali, said MN Tiwari, DCP(outer Delhi).

The raid at a house in Kirari, led to the recovery of Mawa and sweets being prepared in a very unhygienic and unhealthy conditions. Accused Ramesh was running the business of supplying sweets and Mawa to the local shops.

Prepared sweets were smelling stinky and seem to be adulterated. Sweets were being prepared using synthetic milk, cheap oil, harmful colours and other adulterants, said the officer.

Samples of material were taken by the Food Safety Officer SP Singh for further examination.

A case under relevant Sections of IPC has been registered at Aman Vihar police station in this regard, on a complaint by SDM Rohini and further investigation is underway, added the officer.