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DINAKARAN NEWS

Swallow this: 20 percent of packed food is adulterated

KOCHI: As Aparna, a health-conscious working mother in Kochi, enters a hypermarket, she knows exactly what to buy. But she was in for the shock of her life buying biscuits! The ‘fat-free’ digestive biscuits she bought for her diabetic father contained 15 per cent hidden fat, which hiked his daily caloric intake to precarious levels.

Wrapped in sugar-coated advertisements, grossly misleading health claims on labels of packed food products are shoved down the throats of credulous customers daily.

Now, the bummer. Official data has made a startling revelation that about 20 percent (one-fifth) of all packed food items sold in Kerala are either adulterated or misbranded.

According to the annual report of the Public Laboratory Testing, authorities had registered a total of 586 cases in connection with adulteration and slapped Rs 1.38 crore as a fine between 2014 and 2016. The report notes of the 4,931 samples analysed from Kerala, 923 were adulterated or misbranded. Sources said the samples of various food articles of brands across the spectrum have been found to be adulterated or misbranded.

“Be it coconut oil, milk, tea, rice, spices or items included in our daily diet, adulteration is taking place at an alarming level. Harmful chemicals were also found in many of these products. The best way to tackle the issue is to create awareness and further strengthen the monitoring mechanisms,” said a food safety officer.

While food manufacturers often use nutritional facts to make health claims on their products, the regulations do not have a list of authorised or unauthorised health claims. Most health claims are misleading as health depends on the total diet and lifestyle, not just on one product. Though rules under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, mandate that such claims are scientifically substantiated, they are vague on the substantiation standards. Experts say the low conviction rate and lack of officers are prime reasons for such food items finding their way into the shelves.

Hotels to oppose menu that mention calories

The United States has made it mandatory for hotel menus to mention the calories, from May 5, 2017.

Hoteliers, however, are in strong opposition to the proposal. 

Hyderabad: The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) of India is keen to get hotels to list the calories contained in the food items on their menus. The United States has made it mandatory for hotel menus to mention the calories, from May 5, 2017.

The FSSAI as a part of its health initiative wants all restaurants, hotels, snack bars and eateries to display the amount of calories in their dishes. Hoteliers, however, are in strong opposition to the proposal.

Mr Adarsh Shetty, president of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association, told this correspondent, “It is not possible for all small restaurants and eateries to display the calories in their food items. Why must we look at Western laws and try to implement them? Making it mandatory is not in the good interest of a large number of restaurants who are against it.”

The Food and Drug Administration has made it mandatory for hotel chains with more than 20 units to display the calories in their menu. In India, this is the first step towards implementing such an act. A senior food inspector said, “Presently, the regulator is looking at it on a voluntary basis. They are going to ask the larger chain of restaurants and high-end hotels to have calories on their menu.”

Hotelier Kamlesh Barot said, “We are working with the regulator and trying to have 200 members from various metros generate data on calories in the dishes and other nutritional information. None of us have this data, and we have to work from scratch.”

The hoteliers are worried as each of them has a different method of cooking. Besides, it would require engaging the services of a nutritionist to evaluate the exact amount of fats, carbohydrates, sugars and nutrients in the food.

A senior hotelier said, “This is an additional cost for the hotel as the evaluation can’t be done overnight. It will be an exercise of two to three months. How many of them can bear that extra costs? After seeing the calories, is it going to affect the number of customers?”

“What if the biryani in Delhi Barbur has more calories than the biryani in Cafe Almaz? Will the hotels lose out on their business,” he asked. “We do not know if this exercise is going to help us in the business or create trouble.”

Food inspectors state that the objective of FSSAI is to have a healthy menu in the hotels and the exercise was being taken up towards that end. “The ultimate benefit is for the customer, who must know how much calories they are consuming and accordingly consume their meals,” an official said.

Safe food education on FSSAI menu

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 14: 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now decided to take on a new task of an educator.

As part of its integrated programme to promote safe and nutritious food at various levels, the FSSAI is running a pilot project to train domestic workers.

Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said that as part of the various citizen outreach programmes, FSSAI is running a pilot programme in collaboration with the Domestic Sector Skill Council and resident welfare associations at New Moti Bagh (New Delhi) to train domestic workers to make them aware about practices that need to be adopted for safe, hygienic and nutritious food at home.

“This is one of the pilot projects that have been launched to empower citizens and promote awareness and education about food safety. We want to integrate our programme with the everyday lives of people,” Agarwal said.

FSSAI last year had launched an integrated programme called “10@10” initiatives to promote food safety at home, schools, workplaces, places of worship, street food vendors among others.

The regulator hopes learnings from this pilot will help develop a scalable model of training and educating domestic workers which can be expanded to other regions of the country. This initiative is being undertaken under the aegis of the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana under Skill India.

Manish Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, National Skill Development, told BusinessLine that, “We have had RPL (recognition of prior learning) courses for street vendors and domestic maids on how to maintain hygiene in food.”

He said this work is being done in collaboration with its partner agencies.

Besides this pilot, FSSAI has also been working with various experts to develop books and e-learning materials that will educate citizens about simple tests that they can conduct to check on adulterants for some of the commonly used ingredients.

“We want food safety and nutrition to become a social movement that is not just driven by the regulator but all the stakeholders including citizens,” Agarwal added.

Food safety and nutrition education and training can also be gained through FSSAI’s FoSTaC (Food Safety and Training) Portal as well.

FSSAI constitutes panel to identify nutritional gaps

The Panel on Food Fortification and Nutrition will also review standards for all suitable food fortifying vehicles in addition to healthy dietary intake of fat, sugar and salt.

Ministries of health, women and child development, biotechnology department and Indian Council of Medical Research will also be working with the panel.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has constituted a panel to identify critical nutritional gaps in the Indian diet in general and also in specific specific target groups.

The Panel on Food Fortification and Nutrition will also review standards for all suitable food fortifying vehicles in addition to healthy dietary intake of fat, sugar and salt. The panel would include Dr Ambrish Mithal (Medanta) Dr C S Pandav and Major General (Retd) Dr R K Marwaha (AIIMS), Dr Anura Kurpad (St. John’s Medical College), Dr Yogeshwar Shukla (CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research), Prof H P S Sachdev (Sita Ram Bharatia Institute of Science and Research), Dr K M Nair (National Institute of Nutrition), Dr P Ramachandran (Nutrition Foundation of India), Dr Sumit Arora (National Dairy Research Institute) Dr Sirimavo Nair (MS University, Baroda) and Prof Harsulkar (Bharati Vidyapeeth).

Ministries of health, women and child development, biotechnology department and Indian Council of Medical Research will also be working with the panel. According to National Family Health Survey (2006-07) and the World Bank (2006), about 70 per cent preschool children suffer from iron deficiency anemia. As many as 57 per cent preschool children have sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency.

World Bank (2006) figures say Iodine deficiency is endemic in 85 per cent of districts. Folate deficiency leads to Neural Tube Defects, the most common congenital malformation in India with an incidence that varies between 0.5-8/1,000 births. It is estimated that 50-70 per cent of these birth defects are preventable. To deal with endemic nutritional deficiencies, FSSAI has launched the Food Fortification Resource Centre to promote large-scale fortification of food across India.

Delectable food still a far cry for rail passengers

PATNA: While the railways is focusing more on improving food quality on running trains, general refrain of passengers is that they are still being served poor quality meals on premier trains originating from different stations under East Central Railway (ECR) jurisdiction in Bihar. Railways has not revised its menu for long distance trains, such as Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and Patna-New Delhi Sampoorna Kranti Express, sources said.

Passengers hardly find quality of pulse, rice, vegetables, soup, cutlets and non-vegetarian meals delectable on Rajdhani Express. “Railways is charging flexi fares in the Rajdhani Express these days. At least meals served to elite class of passengers must be fresh and of good quality,” said an aggrieved passenger, adding that meals served on other Rajdhani Express trains are good in taste.

According to an IRCTC official, railways has set up a centralised catering monitoring cell (CCMC) in New Delhi with a view to keeping a tab on food quality served to passengers on running trains. “A toll free number, 1800 111 321, has also been started by railways for registering complaints in case of passengers’ grievances,” he said, adding the cell has been getting passengers’ complaints and suggestions every day.

According to sources, railways has introduced a defined quality assurance programme under which passengers are to give a feedback opinion about the quality of meals served to them on running trains. An interactive voice recording system (IVRS) has also been introduced in select trains to record passengers’ opinion about the food quality being served to them on running trains, sources said, adding this system is not strictly followed in most of the trains running from Bihar.

Reacting to poor quality meals being served to passengers on trains, a Railway Board official said, “Railways had introduced a third party audit of catering services to maintain transparency in its functioning. This practice was made mandatory in every zone, including ECR. The basic purpose of introducing this system was to maintain quality and hygiene in supply of meals and breakfast to passengers either on running trains or on railway platforms,” he said.

A railway board official admitted that several cases were detected about sub-standard food served to passengers on running trains in different zones last year. “Railways imposed fines on the agency concerned in about 52 cases of complaints,” he said.

According to sources, railways is also planning to introduce air-conditioned pantry cars in all important zones on the pattern of Rajdhani Express to ensure better food quality. Railways is keen to abolish gas cylinder cooking system permanently from pantry cars, sources said.

Meanwhile, quality of meals being served to passengers under e-catering services has also drawn flaks from passengers. Most of the complaints are about stale food supply being supplied to passengers under e-catering services, sources said.

The Maggi ban: How India's favourite two-minute noodles lost 80% market share

New Delhi: It was Sanjay Singh, a food inspector at the Uttar Pradesh government's Food Safety and Drug Administration, who spotted the label that claimed "no added MSG (monosodium glutamate)" on the bright-yellow packets of Maggi noodles in March 2014 during one of his routine raids on retail outlets.

A PhD in organic chemistry, Singh picked up a sample and sent it to the state laboratory at Gorakhpur for testing. The result that came a few weeks later was positive-that particular sample of Maggi noodles had MSG. Samples of Maggi noodles were then sent to the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata in June 2014.

The results that came after almost one year in April 2015 read: "MSG: Present and Lead: 17.2ppm (parts per million)". The amount of lead found was over 1,000 times more than what Nestle India Ltd had claimed. 

The Uttar Pradesh food safety commissioner sent a formal notice to Nestle seeking clarification on presence of MSG and lead in Maggi samples. The company did mail its response along with its internal monitoring documents on 5 May 2015, but did not take any proactive step to counter any possible aftershock. On 7 May, there was a small news item on the episode in one of the Hindi newspapers in Uttar Pradesh.

Still, Nestle did not react. It never thought the news could lead to an estimated half a billion-dollar loss for the company (including erosion of brand value) that would shake the Swiss multinational and that the subject would be debated at length in television studios.

Nestle failed to gauge the depth of the crisis even after national newspapers started writing about it. It did not issue any statement till 21 May. And in its first official statement, it said there was "no order to recall Maggi noodles being sold" and the popular instant noodle was "safe to eat".

Interestingly, Nestle could have settled the issue according to the law under the regulations with the Uttar Pradesh food safety department by paying a penalty of Rs3 lakh as the Maggi sample contained MSG even though the pack said it didn't, making it a punishable offence. However, Yudhvir Singh Malik, chief executive officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) at that time, stepped in on 25 May.

On 5 June 2015, the day FSSAI asked Nestle to recall Maggi noodles, the company's global chief executive Paul Bulcke met the regulators, and addressed the media in New Delhi. Bulcke said: "This is a matter of clarification and we need to sit down together and clear the air. We will look into the safety concerns. We do not add MSG in Maggi noodles. We apply the same quality standards everywhere. Everything we do is keeping consumers in mind. We will do everything it takes, and are fully engaged with the authorities."

But by then, things had spun out of control. Bulcke was left with little choice but to recall the popular noodles from the market. The company got Luca Fichera, then executive vice-president (supply chain) at Nestle India, to lead the recall process.

Between 5 June and 1 September 2015, Fichera's team collected 38,000 tonnes of Maggi noodles from retail stores, and destroyed them by first crushing the noodles and then mixing them with fuel and burning in incinerators at 11 cement plants across the country.

"The entire recall process is huge and complex," Fichera told Mint before he moved to become the director (supply chain) for Nestle Philippines.

Pesticides, Toxic Heavy Metals Found in Organic Rice

Grahak Sathi, a National Consumer Magazine in Hindi, published by the Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, has released the findings of its in-house comparative product-testing laboratory on seven brands of organic rice. The findings revealed that six out of seven brands had pesticide residues and all seven brands contained toxic heavy metals. The very rationale of buying an organic product is to ensure it is pesticide-free.

The brands carried a variety of logos and certifications from national and international agencies. This is confusing for consumers. Why should a product meant for the domestic market carry so many international logos?

The three heavy metals tested for in the products were lead, copper and arsenic. “We tested the products for 16 pesticides. The four pesticides detected belonged to the organophosphate group,” says the report.

Six of the seven brands of organic rice contained pesticide residues. Fabindia Organics did not have pesticide residues. Two brands, Organic on Call and Sanjeevani Organics, had Chlorpyrifos levels above the prescribed limit. Two of the four non-organic rice brands had pesticide residues.

Over a long duration even microscopic quantities of pesticides can be harmful. The pesticides detected by the tests are not in the US list of pesticides permitted in organic products.

All the organic rice brands showed presence of all three heavy metals, though they were within the prescribed limits. None of the non-organic rice brands had arsenic. Copper levels were higher than in organic rice brands, though within limits. Lead levels were within limits and slightly lower than that in the organic rice brands.

Organic rice brands are much costlier than ordinary brands. Comparing the extremes, you would be paying more than five times the price for the costliest organic rice brand –Fabindia Organics – than you would for the cheapest non-organic rice brand – Hypercity. 

Most organic rice brands claimed to be free of pesticides. Morarka Organic’s Down to Earth, which contained both pesticide residues and toxic heavy metals, claimed to be: “…free from chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, toxic substances, synthetic hormones…” Two organic rice brands – Vikalp Organic Product and Organic on Call – did not have any organic certification.

Manufacturers’ Response

As a policy, the laboratory conveys the test results to manufacturers. It received the following responses:

Sanjeevani Organics said that organic certification was done for the practices and processes, and not for the products. But consumers are concerned not with processes and practices but with the end product. Certification for processes must reflect in quality of final product.

24 Mantra Organic said that the pesticide detected by the tests, Chlorfenvinphos, was not used even in conventional paddy cultivation and not available in their project area. 

Organic Tattva said that as per the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) guidelines there is no requirement for testing for heavy metals for organic products. While this is true, CERC says “we have tested for them as consumers should be concerned about their presence in foods. Heavy metals accumulate in the human body over a period of time and cause harm.”

CERC has urged that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) should set specific mandatory standards for organic foods. “In response to our appeal over a year ago, we received a letter from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) saying that BIS has constituted a committee to formulate standards for organic foods. However, no concrete action has been taken as yet,” says CERC. 

It also argues that National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) certification should be made mandatory. NPOP, which currently certifies organic process standards, should also certify the final product. Also, India needs to follow labelling norms as per global best practices. Regular monitoring of organic food quality, including that sold online, is necessary and advertising claims made by organic product manufacturers should be closely monitored.

Grahak Sathi’s conclusion is that “organic brands of rice are not safer than non-organic ones. There is no concrete evidence that organic food has higher nutritional value than regular food. Also, organic rice brands are much more expensive. Our advice is not to buy organic rice. People want to make healthier choices and the Government must support them in this matter. It should ensure that consumers do not get exploited in the name of organic foods. It is vital that the regulatory authorities set standards and closely monitor the quality of organic food products.”