Eateries in Kothamangalam under health department scanner

KOCHI: The state health department has directed district officials to check the quality of food served in hotels and cool bars in Kothamangalam and Nellikuzhi areas, where a severe outbreak of jaundice and hepatitis-A have been reported.
The move follows the death of three people. Health officials suspect that people contracted disease after eating from a hotel in Nellikuzhi.
Officials said though the disease is under control, more than 280 people have been infected in Nellikuzhi panchayat alone.
The total number infected, taking into account adjoining areas, would come to around 360. "Our surveillance teams are in the area as the number of infected persons is high. The chances of hepatitis-A spreading is high," said Dr N K Kuttappan, district medical officer, Ernakulam
A nine-member team of specialists led by Dr G Arunkumar from the Manipal Institute of Virology has reached the area to study the outbreak. "The team will investigate whether this is a new strain of virus. The severity of the disease and the reasons behind the quick outbreak has to be studied. The team will submit their preliminary report in a couple of weeks," DMO said.
During a review meeting held at Kothamangalam on Friday, the director of health services Dr R Ramesh directed the food and safety department to ensure preventive measures for controlling the jaundice in Nellikuzhi and neighbouring areas.
Awareness classes and surveys are being conducted in the area.
A team of five doctors conducted a special medical camp in Cheruvattoor primary health centre. Blood samples of 253 people, who took part in the camp, have been sent for testing. The blood samples are being sent to the mobile lab set up by the social security mission and to the temporary lab set up in the health centre. The mobile lab was set up on the request of the district collector
Dr Ramesh, directed the health department officials to open 24-hour diagnostic labs in Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha hospitals. A 24-hour control cell has been opened in Kothamangalam taluk hospital. Control room number is 0485-2822603.
"Measures have been taken to clean the water bodies in the municipality," said Manju Siju, Kothamangalam municipality chairperson.
She said that ASHA workers have been deployed to visit households to give awareness to people. Chlorination, rainage cleaning and waste management have been undertaken by the panchayat following the spread of disease.

Huge consignment of Fruit juice imported from Bangladesh seized

The Food Safety Unit of A and N Islands has seized huge quantity of fruit juice bottles like Litchi Juices, Mango Juices from the Godown of Baba Lokenath Company, which were allegedly imported from Bangladesh via Kolkata without any License, clearance acquired from the food safety unit of Port Blair. Andaman's Food Safety unit has today confirmed that all bottles has 'Made in Bangladesh' mark printed on it. "The brother in law of the owner of the Baba Lokenath Company has been questioned in this case, as the owner is out of town for some treatment," senior officer of Andaman's Food Safety unit told UNI on the condition of anonymity. According to reports, Baba Lokenath Company has obtained a license of manufacturing Sev but the company somehow indulged in this business of importing soft drinks in Andaman via Kolkata. The Food Safety Unit has seized the stock of Bangladeshi manufactured Cold Drinks of around Rs 1,40,000. As per details concerned agencies are now recommending for cancellation of license of the private firm in this case.

CSE Recommends Ban on Celebs Endorsing Sugary Foods

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has recommended a complete ban on celebrities endorsing foods high in salt, sugar or fat. Delivering her opening address at the briefing, Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE, said, "The government is considering amending the Consumer Protection Act to provide for five-year jail term or a penalty of Rs 50 lakh to hold celebrities responsible for false and misleading claims.
"But the same amendment says that there will be no liability if precautions are taken and due diligence is done before deciding to endorse a product. In other words, this amendment amounts to nothing."
The expert committee on Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 has recommended a penalty of Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment of up to two years or both for a first offense by a celebrity responsible for false and misleading claims. The penalty is Rs 50 lakh and five-year imprisonment for a second offence.
"But there are two problems with this proposal – one, manufacturers have not been held equally guilty and two, celebrities may not understand the science behind the claims and conduct due diligence," said Amit Khurana, Programme Manager, Food Safety and Toxins team, CSE.
Some of the suggestions made by CSE are strengthening nutrition facts labeling system, ascertaining nutrients, approving food advertisements, banning celebrities from endorsing foods high in salt, sugar or fat and instituting and enforcing stringent legal and financial penalties for misleading claims.

The speakers at the workshop included Sanjay Khajuria, Head of Corporate Affairs, Nestle India; Ishi Khosla, Nutritionist and Founder, The Weight Monitor; Shriram Khanna, Managing Editor, Consumer Voice; Rajesh Sagar, Professor and Head, Deparment of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences; Santosh Desai, MD and CEO, Future Brands; Pawan Aggarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; and Hem Pande, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.

Take 5: Prasadam is made with faith in God. It can’t be called food, says TTD Health Officer

The FSSAI has held that since laddoo is food as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, the TTD must obtain a food safety licence for the laddoo

Dr S Sharmistha, Health Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)
After a complaint that the famed Tirupati laddoos were being made in an unhygienic manner, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has held that since laddoo is food as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, the TTD must obtain a food safety licence for the laddoo. Dr S Sharmistha, Health Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) responds:
1. How many laddoos does the TTD make in a day?
The TTD prepares two lakh laddoos on weekdays and up to 3 lakh on weekends, holidays and festivals. The laddoos are prepared by members of a particular Brahmin sect who have been doing this work for centuries, at a kitchen in the temple of Lord Venkateshwara.
2. How do you ensure hygiene standards?
The TTD uses 41 items to prepare the laddoos and other prasadam. From jeera to ghee to flour, to dry fruits, all are inspected for quality, hygiene and freshness. We have a state-of-the-art food testing laboratory. No other temple in the country has such facilities. We also regularly conduct health checks on the laddoo makers. Traditionally, they shave off their hair and wear a single clean cloth while in the kitchen. The prepared laddoos are taken to distribution spots under security escort.
We regularly take inputs from the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad. We also consult experts at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Hyderabad on hygiene and safety, and follow guidelines of the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore. Besides, the entire process is captured on CCTV.
3. So can Tirupati laddoo be labelled food, as has been contended?
No, it is prasadam, an offering to God. The first laddoo of each batch is offered to the Lord, which is then mixed with the rest of the preparation and distributed to the pilgrims. It is a very sacred process, and the prasadam is made with devotion and faith in God and cannot be called food. The faith of pilgrims should also be respected and it should be referred to only as prasadam.
4. Should food inspectors be allowed access to the kitchen?
The TTD Board has set up a sub-committee to look into the FSSAI demand to certify the laddoos. It will give its report on December 20. Traditionally, the TTD has never allowed any outsider to set foot in the kitchen except the TTD’s own health officers. No one has ever taken ill after consuming the temple’s prasadam.
5. What about allegations of insects etc found in laddoos?
These are false allegations. Because of some grudge or rivalry, some miscreants introduced external objects into the prasadam in a few instances.

Packaged food labels may carry soon details of salt, sugar content

Presently, information on them need not be disclosed unless it is part of advertisement pitch

Food and beverage companies may have to compulsorily disclose additional information on the sugar, salt and sodium content of their packaged products, as part of a proposed revision of food labelling laws, said a top official of India’s apex food regulator.

Currently, packaged food companies — including those who make instant noodles, biscuits, snacks and breakfast cereal — need specify only the energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat content on their covers.

Information on other constituents such as sodium, salt, vitamins need not be disclosed unless companies claim it as part of their advertising pitch. For instance, details on fibre content in biscuits or the percentage of trans unsaturated fatty acids (trans fats) need not be specified unless a company promotes them as “high fibre” or “zero trans-fat.” This gives companies leeway to not disclose if, say, their high-fibre biscuits are also high on sugar or sodium. The World Health Organisation recommends that an adult should not have more than 25 gm of sugar per day while the American Heart Association says that an adult should not consume more than 2.3 gm of sodium. While both of these are critical to the healthy functioning of the body, they can, in large amounts aggravate diabetes and hypertension.

In several countries, companies are required to specify the proportion of the daily recommended sodium, salt and fats that will be consumed in a packet or serving of processed food. A forthcoming update to India’s food regulations will consider incorporating this.

“We have set up various panels on scientific assessment and labelling to consider these issues and may incorporate this in our revised labelling norms,” Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, told The Hindu, “However this is quite a challenge and requires much consultation.”

Draft likely in a month

A draft of these notifications is expected in a month but after that would require clearance by the Health Ministry for it to become a norm, according to Mr. Agrawal.

On Friday, the Centre for Science and Environment made public a report Food Labelling, Claims And Advertisements — in the presence of Mr. Agarwal — detailing instances of under-reporting by several food and beverage companies.

“In contrast to best practices in other parts of the world, there is no mention of several other types of nutrition claims,” Amit Khurana, programme manager, Food Safety and Toxins team, CSE, said in a statement.

“There is a clear trend of focussing on a single attribute of a product while making claims…a look at the content of a few popular packaged food claims suggests that these could be unhealthy due to nutrients other than those claimed.”

As an example, the report mentions how a Coca-Cola can in the United Kingdom and Mexico specifies — along with the energy content — what percentage of the daily recommended fat, saturates, sugars and salt are met if a single can is consumed. In India, no other information is available other than the carbohydrate, protein, sugar and energy content (in grams).