Jan 10, 2017
Maharashtra FDA prohibits McDonald’s India from sale of beverages in state
According to the Act, a warning label saying “contains caffeine” is compulsory when sweetened carbonated drinks is sold.
McDonald’s sells three branded soft drinks— Coke, Fanta, Thumbs up. While the brands sell their beverage with the warning on packaged bottles, McDonald’s outlet in Kolhapur was first to have been found contravening the regulation on its plastic and paper cups, used to serve the drink.
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (MFDA) has issued a prohibition order to Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, which operates quick service food chain McDonald’s in India, to immediately stop sale of beverages at its 60 outlets across Maharashtra for contraventions under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 .
In its order, MFDA has said that the popular chain did not comply with the mandatory warning to label its disposable containers whenever carbonated beverages were sold to customers. According to the Act, a warning label saying “contains caffeine” is compulsory when sweetened carbonated drinks is sold.
McDonald’s sells three branded soft drinks— Coke, Fanta, Thumbs up. While the brands sell their beverage with the warning on packaged bottles, McDonald’s outlet in Kolhapur was first to have been found contravening the regulation on its plastic and paper cups, used to serve the drink. Of over 500 McDonald’s outlets in India 60 are in Maharashtra.
“The appellant is the manufacturer of sweetened carbonated beverage with added caffeine and serves all kinds of public including kids, pregnant women, lactating women etc. Considering the ill effects of caffeine and that the appellant serves it by the way of manufacturing caffeinated drinks without disclosing the contents (i.e. CAFFEINE) to highly susceptible groups of public like kids, pregnant women, lactating mothers etc. that can have serious ill effect on their health (sic),” the order said.
The violation was first detected by Kolhapur’s food safety officer, B D Mule in July 2016. The order states that apart from “serious hygiene/ sanitation related issues” the paper cups served to customers had no warning of “contains caffeine”.
Caffeine, one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive drugs, varies from 40 to 80mg in carbonated drinks. Its intake beyond 400 mg in a day is considered a high dose. Generally, coffee-addicted consumers have an intake of over 250 mg caffeine in a day. While US FDA allows its consumption in moderate quantities, Indian regulation requires labelling of “contains caffeine” in its regulation 2.4.5(38) of Food Safety and Standards Act.
The Kolhapur FDA sent a prohibition order to McDonald’s in 2016 to stop sale of beverages following the inspection. The food-chain stopped the beverages sale but later appealed to the FDA commissioner against the prohibition order. “We have observed that none of the Mcdonald’s outlet show the caffeine warning on their containers. Across Maharashtra, we have instructed all joint commissioners to inspect local outlets and prohibit its sale,” said Harshdeep Kamble, FDA commissioner.
Additionally, instructions have been issued to all joint commissioners to inspect similar food-joints that sell soft drinks to customers in unpackaged cups or glasses.
When contacted, the spokesperson for McDonald’s told The Indian Express, “McDonald’s India adheres to all statutory requirements, and is in compliance with all applicable laws pertaining to mandatory food labelling. At McDonald’s India, the health, safety and well-being of our customers are paramount. We have always conformed to the highest quality and food safety standards and will continue to do so at all times “
Food fortification is not magic bullet to fight malnutrition
The Supreme Court order on sourcing natural food locally instead of relying on artificially-fortified commercial products was hailed by experts
Though fortified foods are promoted as an effective means to combat malnutrition, they have been embroiled in controversy in the past.
On January 2, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued draft guidelines prescribing standards for fortification of salt, oil, milk, vanaspati (vegetable oil), atta (wheat flour), maida (white flour) and rice. The food regulator sought suggestions and objections to the guidelines within a month after which the draft regulations will be taken into consideration.
Fortification means adding key vitamins and minerals like iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A and D to staple foods to improve their nutritional content. These nutrients may or may not have been originally present in the food before processing.
"This should not be made mandatory because fortification by its very nature incentivises centralised production and procurement of food," said Biraj Patnaik, Principal Adviser to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court. Patnaik added that he had no fundamental objections to the concept of fortification, if it has been proven that the vehicle used for fortification provides for sufficient bio-availability and bio-absorption. "My argument is that preference should be equally for promoting dietary diversity as the means for dealing with micro-nutrient deficiency rather than emphasising on fortification."
According to the draft guidelines, the regulator will promote fortified foods in the country and take steps to encourage production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption. It will also advise and promote the use of fortified food in government-funded programmes on distribution of food. Though fortified foods are promoted as an effective means to combat malnutrition, they have been embroiled in controversy in the past.
Even the Supreme Court, in its order dated October 2004, had said that private contractors should not be used for supply of nutrition in Anganwadis and preferably, ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) funds should be spent by making use of village communities, self-help groups and Mahila Mandals for buying grains and preparation of meals.
Commercialisation of malnutrition
ICDS is India’s flagship programme and the world’s largest scheme on early childhood care and development. The scheme serves children under six years as well as pregnant and lactating women. Under this programme, six-year-olds and younger children are entitled to 500 calories and 12-15 grams of protein. Severely malnourished children are entitled to 800 calories and 20-25 grams of protein regularly, while pregnant and lactating women are entitled to 600 calories of energy and 18-20 grams of protein a day. This supplementary nutrition is distributed in the form of micronutrient fortified food and/or energy dense food as take-home rations.
The Supreme Court order was hailed by experts who advocated inclusion of locally-sourced natural food in place of artificially-fortified commercial products. Banning private vendors was also seen as an effective way to stop commercialisation of malnutrition.
Patnaik recommends a wholesome approach to tackle malnutrition which deals with multiple aspects, including junk food consumption and micronutrient deficiency. "Government and policy efforts should simultaneously attack both problems—reducing dietary diversity and increasing consumption of unhealthy, ultra-processed food; as well as fortification. It should not be seen as a magic bullet," he said.
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