Rat in mid-day meal: Sample fails quality test

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia then said that the government will be filing an FIR against the supplier and blacklisting him as well 

It is official. The mid-day meal served to students in a Delhi government school in Deoli, Sangam Vihar, on February 17 was unfit to eat. As much as 50 per cent of the food sample collected on the day when a dead rat was found in the meal has failed the quality test. Nine students from the school had fallen ill after consuming the meal.

The Delhi government's Department of Food Safety had lifted six food samples from the school on February 17. On Monday, the department sent a letter to the Director of Education, giving details about the test results and urging for necessary action.

"Three of the six samples have failed the quality test and have been found to be unsafe. When categorised under the unsafe category, the samples are considered to be extremely harmful for consumption. The maximum punishment is life imprisonment," a senior official from the Department of Food Safety said. The sample lifted included masoor dal, chana dal, poori, and rice. They have now been sent to the Central Referral Laboratory for final confirmation.

As per the process, once the department finds samples unfit for consumption, a notice is sent to the food supplier. If the supplier reaches out to the court, the samples are sent to the Central Referral Laboratory for final confirmation. If the samples fail the test there as well, the supplier is punished as per the guidelines.

On February 17, nine students of the Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Deoli had to be rushed to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital after a dead rat was found in the mid-day meal served to them. The Directorate of Education (DOE) officials said the mid-day meal was being supplied to the school by a private firm.

‘Railways must take food safety seriously’

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday raised concerns on food hygiene on trains and asked the Indian Railways to redesign coaches so that food served on trains are not stacked next to the lavatories.

“If you look at your catering services function on board, first thing that happens is that the food items are stacked next to the toilets,” FSSAI chief Ashish Bahuguna said at a Round Table Conference on improving the Quality of Catering Services organised by the Indian Railways.

“That puts off everybody. What happens after that is worse. When people carry their own food, there is no place for disposal. So hygiene and sanitation is something that has to be looked at seriously,” he said. The regulator has also drawn up a blueprint to spread food hygiene awareness and train railway catering officials on food safety

He added that re-engineering of coaches has to be done on the longer run as passengers are “hesitant to approach the wash basins” on trains due to poor hygiene conditions. Mr. Bahugana said providing safe drinking water on trains is another major issue and water dispensing machines may be installed on board. The FSSAI chief also said that instead of offering a bouquet of food items, the Railways should focus on providing limited but quality food to passengers.

It has formulated a ‘Safe Food on Track’ programme for training supervisors of catering units at railway stations, food vendors and on board catering units on food safety. This proposal was discussed in a meeting of FSSAI officials with the Indian Railways on Monday, an FSSAI official told The Hindu.

“The FSSAI has proposed that a pool of master trainers be selected out of food safety officers and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) officials. These officials will be trained at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and other places,” the official said.

The FSSAI further suggested a host of steps to create awareness related to food safety at railway stations and on trains. These include printing of food safety tips on food tray covers to onboard passengers, display of food safety tips in railway coaches and the use of food safety display boards at various food establishments at the railway stations.

“Hygiene is a problem and we are tackling those issues. We have five-six people involved with on-board housekeeping in Mail Express trains. Sometimes passengers create unhygienic conditions by keeping their food trays below their seats and later on, the staff is unable to keep the coaches in necessary ways,” Sanjiv Garg, Additional Member (Tourism and Catering), Indian Railways said.

Mandatory Display of Food Safety Boards

Under the existing provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, it is mandatory to display the true copy of the license at a prominent place at all times within the premises where the Food Business Operator carries on the food business. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come out with a revamped Food Safety Display Board (FSDB) covering information viz., 

 (i) FSSAI registration/license number which the customer can verify at FSSAI website 

(ii) basic food hygiene and safety tips to inform the customers and the food handlers about the important food safety and hygiene requirements 

 (iii) food Safety declaration indicating that the restaurant abides by regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 

(iv) consumer feedback system informing the consumer about various options for sending feedback to FSSAI through WhatsApp, SMS or give feedback on FSSAI App. 

These FSDBs have a holistic 360 degree approach wherein a consumer can know about the Safe Food Practices; Food Handlers can know about the Good Manufacturing Practices/ Good Manufacturing Practices to be followed; and the Regulatory Staff can know about the inspection check points, thus covering the gap. FSDBs have till now been prepared for six sectors namely-restaurants, street food, milk retail, meat retail, food retail sector and fruit & vegetable retail. Presently, these Food Safety Display Boards are being displayed voluntarily by 14 major and few minor Food Business Operators across their chain covering around 2000 outlets across India.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today.

9 illegal meat shops sealed in Mahanagar, Aliganj

Lucknow: A day after state government's order to shut all illegal butcher shops and slaughter houses in the city, Lucknow Municipal Corporation swung into action and sealed nine meat shops in Mahanagar and Aliganj. Along with possession of licences issued by LMC, the butcher shops will also be reviewed on the parameters of Pollution Act, ground water conservation guidelines and Food Safety act.

As per LMC's estimate, along with 600 licensed meat shops, there are approximately 200-250 butcher shops that are running illegally. Animal rights activists, however, claimed there are more than 1,500 non-authorised meat shops in the city. Also, according to LMC there is no slaughter house in the city at present, there were four abattoirs till a couple of years back in Aminabad, Motijheel, Chikmandi and Kasaibada but they all were sealed in 2014-15 following the orders of Supreme Court.

This implies that only chicken, goat and sheep are butchered in the meat shops and no big animal is slaughtered in the city. Officials said all big animals are processed at the integrated slaughterhouses in Barabanki and Unnao and meat is brought to the city from there.

Second phase of the drive includes a survey of all eight zones to find out how many illegal shops are operating in the city.

The drive also found support from animal rights groups, which have been running a campaign against slaughterhouses and butcher shops that allegedly treat livestock cruelly before killing them for meat.

LMC's veterinary official Arvind Rao said, "The drive will be carried out till all illegal shops in the city are sealed. We are also planning to re-inspect all the four slaughter houses that have been sealed in past years."

Crackdown on illegal abattoirsacross state

Police and municipal authorities began to crack down on illegal slaughterhousesacross the state with raids on Tuesday on many such units in most of the districts. A couple of abattoirs were sealed. Besides, there was an estensive drive to check the licence of meat shops.

In the state capital, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation swung into action and sealed nine meat shops in Mahanagar and Aliganj. Along with possession of licences issued by LMC, the butcher shops will also be reviewed on the parameters of Pollution Act, ground water conservation guidelines and Food Safety act. As per LMC's estimate, along with 600 licensed meat shops, there are approximately 200-250 butcher shops that are running illegally. Besides, not a single slaughterhouse in the city is authorised to function; the four the state capital had were all issued closure notices by the UPPCB between 2013 and 2015. One, which existed in the cantonment, was completely sealed by the cantonment board. The other three were in Motijheel, Aminabad and Kasaibada.

What! Yellow mangoes are bad?

Perhaps the only good news of summer is that it comes with mangoes. Their decreasing prices, though an upsetting thing for farmers, is an added bonus for consumers. However, not all mangoes available in the market are good. In particular, the yellow ones are apparently the worst as they are ripened artificially using chemicals that include Calcium Carbide.

Balaji, a Food Inspector says, “There are cases being booked on the people who use chemicals for ripening the fruits. There are also stringent rules coming up soon for vendors who indulge in chemical ripening.” “We are planning to spread word and bring in notices to fruit merchants about stringent rules coming up so that it can be like a warning for many vendors,” he says.

Uma Rani, a customer at a fruit market says, “I miss the real taste of these fruits. Because of adulteration in almost every food item, we are losing natural vitamins and even after consuming enough fruits and vegetables people are not being strong enough as to what they were before.”

“I was delighted to see the mangos in the market this early; I brought 2 kg last week and to my surprise they were hard and sour inside; it was exactly the opposite of what it looked,” she adds.

Madhubala, an Ayurvedic Doctor says, “The results of eating such chemical ripened fruits will leave symptoms of food poisoning like vomiting, dehydration and also there are chances of skin allergies too.”

Fruit vendor, Kalpana informs, “Mangos are the unpredictable fruits; they can fall off the tree with one rain or even for strong winds. So, there are plucked before they fall off which doesn’t affect the farmers. And if one has to get the fruits that are naturally ripened then they have to wait for at least two months more.” 

“Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011 clearly states that there must not be any use of gas or chemicals to ripen the fruits. So, we are making sure that these methods are avoided,” avers Balaji. It’s hard for anyone to stay away from the inviting yellowness of mangoes, but stay safe and healthy. There’s no price for good health.

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Officials seize 720kg of chemically ripened mangoes

Food cell officials inspecting artificially-ripened mangoes in Ramanathapuram on Tuesday. 

Fruits worth ₹40,000 destroyed

The District Food Safety Wing of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department has seized 720 kg of chemically ripened mangoes from a godown here on Tuesday.

A team of food safety officials, led by Dr. M. J. C. Bose, District Designated Officer, made a surprise inspection at the godown and found that the mango merchant had used calcium carbide to speed up ripening of mangos.

Dr. Bose said the merchant, who procured the mangos in the pre-ripening stage from Madurai had stocked them in the godown. The officials seized the mangoes, worth about ₹. 40,000 and destroyed them in the compost yard.

Dr. Bose said mangoes ripened with calcium carbide pose serious health hazards and consumers could easily identify chemically ripened mangoes. These mangoes would be abnormal in size and would have black spots on the skin. The skin would look fully ripened but the pulp inside would be white, he said.

Consumption of artificially-ripened fruits would cause ulcer, insomnia and lack of appetite and even cancer, he warned.

Notice served

The merchant had been served with warning notice, he added.

Natural ripening was possible if the mangoes were stored along with bananas and papaya, he added.

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கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைத்த 720 கிலோ மாம்பழம் பறிமுதல் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் நடவடிக்கை

ராமநாதபுரத்தில் உணவுப்பாதுகாப்பு துறை அதிகாரிகள் நடத்திய அதிரடி சோதனையில் 

மாம்பழங்கள்

தற்போது மாம்பழ சீசன் தொடங்கி உள்ளதால் ராமநாதபுரத்தில் மாம்பழங்கள் வரதொடங்கி உள்ளன. மாம்பழங்களை அதிக விலைக்கு விற்பனை செய்து லாபம் சம்பாதிக்கம் நோக்கத்தில் மாங்காயாக இருக்கும் போதே சிலர் அதனை பறித்து கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைத்து விற்பனை செய்து வருகின்றனர். கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைக்கப்பட்ட மாம்பழங்களை சாப்பிடும்போது பல்வேறு உடல் உபாதைகள் ஏற்படுகின்றன.

ராமநாதபுரம் மாவட்டத்தில் பல இடங்களில் கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைத்த மாம்பழங்கள் விற்கப்படுவதாக ராமநாதபுரம் மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை அதிகாரிகளுக்கு தகவல் கிடைத்தது. இதைதொடர்ந்து மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை அதிகாரி டாக்டர் ஜெகதீஸ் சந்திரபோஸ் தலைமையில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர்கள் ஜான்பீட்டர், கருணாநிதி ஆகியோர் ராமநாதபுரம் நகரில் பல்வேறு இடங்களில் அதிரடி சோதனை நடத்தினர்.

மாம்பழங்கள் பறிமுதல்

ராமநாதபுரம் வடக்குத்தெரு பகுதியில் மாம்பழ குடோன் வைத்து மொத்த வியாபாரம் செய்து வரும் கண்ணன் என்பவரின் குடோனில் அதிகாரிகள் சோதனை நடத்தினர். இந்த சோதனையில், அங்கிருந்த மாம்பழங்கள் கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது தெரியவந்தது.

மதுரையில் இருந்து வாங்கிவரப்பட்ட மாங்காய்களை கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைத்து மாவட்டம் முழுவதும் அங்கிருந்து விற்பனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்திருப்பதும் தெரியவந்தது. இதனை தொடர்ந்து குடோனில் இருந்த 720 கிலோ மாம்பழங்களை கைப்பற்றிய அதிகாரிகள் நகராட்சி உரக்கிடங்கில் உரிய முறைப்படி கொட்டி அழித்தனர். இதுதொடர்பாக உணவுபாதுகாப்பு துறை அதிகாரிகள், சம்பந்தப்பட்ட வியாபாரிக்கு எச்சரிக்கை நோட்டீஸ் வழங்கி உள்ளனர்.

வயிற்றுபோக்கு

இதுகுறித்த அதிகாரியான டாக்டர் ஜெகதீஸ் சந்திரபோஸ் கூறியதாவது:–

பொதுவாக மாம்பழங்கள் மாமரங்களில் இயற்கையாக உற்பத்தியாகும் எத்திலின் மூலம் பழுத்து விடும். ஆனால், மாங்காய்களை பறித்து வந்து செயற்கையாக கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைத்து விற்பனை செய்து வருகின்றனர். இந்த முறையால் பழுக்க வைக்கப்படும் மாம்பழங்களை உண்பதால் வயிற்றில் புண், பசியின்மை, வாந்தி, மயக்கம், வயிற்றுபோக்கு, ரத்த அழுத்தம் போன்ற நோய்கள் ஏற்படும். கேன்சர் உருவாகும் வாய்ப்பும் உள்ளது.

இதன்காரணமாக, கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் மாம்பழங்கள் பழுக்க வைக்கப்படுவது தடை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் பழுக்க வைக்கப்படும் மாம்பழங்கள் அதிக மஞ்சள் நிறத்தில் மினுமினுப்பாக இருப்பதோடு, வழக்கத்தை விட சற்று பெரியதாக இருக்கும். மாம்பழ தோள் பகுதியில் கரும்புள்ளிகள் இருக்கும். மாம்பழத்தினை தொட்டு பார்த்தால் வழக்கத்தைவிட சற்று வெப்பமாக இருப்பதை உணர முடியும்.

வியாபாரிகளுக்கு வேண்டுகோள்

இந்த வகை மாம்பழங்கள் பார்ப்பதற்கு பழுத்துள்ளது போன்று இருந்தாலும், அதன் சுவை இனிக்காமல் காய் போன்றே இருக்கும். கார்பைடு கல் மூலம் மாம்பழங்களை பழுக்க வைப்பது குற்றமாகும்.

அதற்கு பதிலாக மாங்காய்களை பப்பாளி, வாழைப்பழம் முதலியவற்றுடன் கலந்து வைத்தால் உடனடியாக இயற்கை முறையில் பழுத்துவிடும். ஏனெனில் வாழைப்பழம், பப்பாளி முதலியவற்றில் இயற்கையாகவே எத்திலின் சுரப்பு அதிகம் உள்ளது. எனவே, மாங்காய்களை பழுக்க வைக்க இதுபோன்ற நடைமுறைகளை வியாபாரிகள் பின்பற்ற வேண்டும். இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.