Mar 24, 2017
Chennai shops that flout carbide ban will now lose licence
CHENNAI: After failing in its attempts to stop traders from selling artificially ripened fruits despite repeated searches and seizures, the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration (TNFDA) department has now decided to cancel licences of shops who are involved in this practice.
Speaking to Express after conducting raids on the Koyambedu wholesale market on Thursday, Dr R Kathiravan, designated officer of TNFDA, Chennai district, said the TNFDA would write to the Market Management Committee to cancel the licences of shops selling artificially ripened fruits.
In the raids by a 17-member team, the agency seized 3.7 tonnes of fruits — 2 tonnes of sapotta, 1.5 tonnes mangoes and 200 kg papaya — from 10 shops in the Koyambedu wholesale fruit market, which allegedly used calcium carbide stones to ripen fruits. During the search operation, 75 kg of carbide stones were recovered.
In India, use of calcium carbide is strictly banned as per PoFA (Prevention of Food Adultration) Act (Section 44AA). “However, since the mango season has yet to start, we also found two tonnes of sapotta ripened using the calcium carbide stones,” said Kathiravan.
Calcium carbide is an industrial grade chemical used for arch welding. It consists of heavy metals such as arsenic and lead.
People consuming fruits artificially ripened are prone to neurological disorders, gastritis and even cancer.
Kathiravan said the Food Safety Department had tried to spread awareness among traders about not selling artificially ripened fruits using calcium carbide stones. “But since they have not mended their ways, we have written to the MMC to cancel licences of all 10 shops.”
He also urged people to inform the department (044-23813095, email dofssache@gmail.com) on shops selling artificially ripened fruits.
Water in 8 out of 10 bubble tops unfit for consumption
Coimbatore: Think before you gulp down water from the bubble top can you just purchased. It has been found that a majority of the water packaging units do not adhere to basic hygiene and safety norms. A recent raid by the food safety department found that water in eight out of 10 water packaging units it checked was not fit for consumption. The water contained yeast, mould and even dangerous bacteria like ecoli and coliform. Three of the units have already opened shop again, after getting a stay from the court.
Several residents of the city have begun buying canned water for drinking, after water supply by the corporation reduced to anywhere between once in five days to once in 22 days. The severe droughts that hit the city have also led to ground water levels dropping alarmingly and borewells going dry. With ground water turning salty in many areas and corporation water supply becoming scanty, most households, including those in slums, buy a 20-litre can of water at least once every four days, believing it is safe.
However, a raid on 10 water packaging units spread across the western parts of the district, including Thondamuthur, Vadavalli, Thadagam, Thudiyalur, two months ago found that water from eight of the units were unfit for consumption. "In at least three companies, we found their water containing bacteria like ecoli and coliform," said a senior food safety officer. "In two companies, the chlorine levels in the water was as high as close to 50 gm per litre, against microbiological standards of 0.2 mg per litre," he said. All the other samples were found containing yeast and mould along the can and in the water. One unit was found misbranding the product by not mentioning the batch number.
These water cans, which cost anywhere between Rs 30 and Rs 60 for 20 to 25 litres, are sold under at least 70 different brands. There are 72 packaged water units in the district, according to the Food Safety and Standards Act of India (FSSAI) list. All these units procure water from borewells, add chlorine, purify it, manually fill it into cans and sell them. "The problem comes because there are no mechanised water canning plants for 20 litre and 25 litre cans in these units, unlike for one litre bottles, 500 ml bottles and water packets," said the food safety officer. "So they manually fill these cans, so contamination by hands is high," he said. "They are also advised to store the water for a day and check it for bacteria before supplying it, which they again do not do because of heavy demand and competition."
Corporation water can hardly be considered safer, said a Vadavalli resident. "When I gave a sample of corporation supplied water for testing, it was found to contain pseudomonas bacteria and even fecal traces," said R Jayashree.
Doctors advise all residents to either boil or further purify can water before drinking it, or buy trusted bigger brands even if they are more expensive. "The safer option is to boil or RO filter even canned water before drinking. Especially for children and people with low immunity like the elderly or people who have recently recovered from an illness," said resident medical officer of Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital Dr A Soundaravel. " Bacteria like ecoli and coliform can cause severe dysentry," he said.
Meat politics
UP’s crackdown on “illegal” slaughterhouses should have been accompanied by a plan to modernise and regulate this key sector
To be fair to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in the State could be seen as a fallout of a May 2015 order issued by the National Green Tribunal, which the previous administration in the State had done little to act upon. The NGT had ordered immediate closure of all illegally operating slaughterhouses in the State. The Tribunal had also directed the UP government to ensure that existing ones were properly regulated, and that environmental norms relating to water use and disposal of animal waste were strictly adhered to. One could argue that Yogi Adityanath was simply following court orders — which would be specious, since banning illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses and imposing a total ban on cow slaughter were part of the BJP’s poll manifesto. The ban is clearly a political move, aimed at underscoring the party’s commitment to carrying out its stated agenda. The political nature of the move is also evident from the fact that there is no accompanying move to improve regulation, or a roadmap to transition existing unauthorised slaughterhouses to compliant and regulated ones which meet legal, environmental and hygiene standards.
Illegal slaughterhouses are undoubtedly a huge environmental and public health hazard. Informed estimates put the number at over 7,000 in the country, not counting small backyard operations. There are only 75 government-approved integrated abbatoirs-cum-processing plants, of which nearly half are in UP. One of the reasons for the proliferation of illegal slaughterhouses is that the official machinery has been quite lackadaisical in its approach so far. Most civic administrations have not prioritised the development of modern abbatoirs, despite soaring population and demand for meat. Further, a strong customer preference for freshly slaughtered meat from wet markets, and lack of proper cold chain and storage facilities have also contributed to the illegal slaughterhouse trade, which has thrived despite regulatory efforts. Under the Food Safety (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations 2011, for instance, all slaughter houses were required to be licensed and registered with the FSSAI, a provision observed more in the breach.
There is also the economic cost of banning slaughterhouses. UP is India’s largest meat-producing State, as well as the biggest exporter of meat, and a blanket crackdown will harm livestock farmers, the meat trade and consumers alike. As it is, growing pressure from cow protectionist groups, as well as bans on beef in several parts of the country, have seen India’s meat exports decline for the past couple of years. The cow slaughter ban has also skewed the cattle population in favour of buffaloes, since farmers do not get any subsidy for maintaining unproductive cattle. Instead of worsening the situation further with knee-jerk actions, governments — both at the Centre and in States — need to work on coming up with workable solutions which take into account the interests of all stakeholders.
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