Mar 31, 2017
Surprise raid by Commissioner Food Safety, huge contraband products recovered
Port Blair, Mar 30: The enforcement officials of Food Safety under the direct supervision of Commissioner Food Safety conducted surprise raids at various places in South Andaman District and recovered huge quantities of contraband tobacco products from shopkeepers as well as general public.
On 05.03.2017, one Shri. Sanjay Kumar was caught with 2.5 kg of tobacco products. On 14.03.2017, one Shri. M. Mukund Rao R/o Hut Bay had been caught with 9 packets of zarda.
In another incident on 15.03.2017, PS, Hut Bay seized 40 packets (each ½ kg) from Shri. Aftab Alam R/o Ongi Tikrey. On an information passed through CCS, Port Blair a parcel was recovered from Head Post Office, Port Blair belonging to Shri.B.S.Rao with 150 gms and 200 gms of tobacco products. Again on 18.03.2017, Shri. Alauddin Sekh and Shri. Manurul Gazi R/o Junglighat caught red handed with 40 kg of tobacco leafs at VSI Airport on arrival from Kolkata. Further, on 20/03/2017 as per an information received on the arrival of tobacco products, food safety officials and police personnel, CCS, Port Blair approached the courier agency M/s Andaman Express, Goalghar. The packages were inspected and confirmed the arrival of 3 packages of clothes basically saris including 608 pouches of zarda as the items were not claimed by anyone. On the same day the FSO, Hut Bay had caught a fisherwomen Smt. Narasamma for selling prepared panand seized 22 prepared from her possession and also from Shri. Raja Kumar in possession of 40 Nos. prepared pan. Similarly, on 29/03/2017 PS, Chatham handed over 21 tins and 200 pouches of zarda from one Shri.B.Suryanarayana, R/o Dairyfarm.
In all the above seizures, the department is taking appropriate action under Food Safety & Standards Act’2006. During the month of March’2017 17 accused were imposed penalty for selling contraband tobacco products and a sum of Rs. 2,27,000/- was recovered as fine.
Further, the general public as well as business communities are requested not to involve in the trade of contraband tobacco products and if any information is available with them may be communicated to Mobile No. 9434280018 of Commissioner Food Safety or telephone No. 03192-231024(Food Safety Section) or 1070 (Toll Free).
Meat shop owners find guidelines too tough to follow
Meat shop owners staged a protest outside the district magistrate’s office on Thursday and said that the new guidelines are difficult for them to follow owing to cash constraints.
Meat shop owners in Ghaziabad, who are currently on a strike, approached district administration officials on Thursday and sought their help in relaxing the conditions set by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Two days ago, the district officials had set up a single window where meat shop owners are to apply for licences to continue operations.
It is estimated that nearly 500 shops in Ghaziabad have been affected by the crackdown of the Uttar Pradesh government on illegal slaughterhouses. The local shops, which operated until now without licences from Ghaziabad municipal corporation, had remained shut for the last three days.
“We have to apply online and follow a number of guidelines which we fail to understand as we are uneducated. We have been operating for decades and don’t know any other trade or business. We have been asked to apply for licences and also to follow guidelines. But we are finding it hard and our earnings have been affected,” said Bablu Qureshi, a meat shop operator in Raj Nagar.
“We have also lent our support to the cause of small shop owners whose businesses have been affected. Only the bigger licensed slaughterhouses will benefit as they can easily meet the conditions. The poor shop owners will not be able to do so and may will have to permanently shut businesses,” said Hari Dutt Jatav, a former councillor.
Under the many conditions for operations listed under Schedule IV of the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business), Regulations of 2011, the shop owners will not be able to slaughter animals at shops and will have to maintain hygiene apart from making arrangements for procuring meat from licensed slaughterhouses.
“We are on the verge of losing our decades-old businesses. We always supported the government’s efforts to nail illegal slaughtering. For the past three years, our licences were not renewed but we were allowed to operate. Now, we come to know that the guidelines have to be adhered to. These are too difficult for us to comply with. If there is no relaxation, we will resort to a hunger strike,” said Jameel Qureshi, another shop owner.
District magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani had already said that shop owners will have to follow the guidelines laid down and apply for licences at the single window system opened at the municipal corporation and nagar palikas.
Meat sellers in Noida, Ghaziabad seek permission to run shops
NOIDA: A group of meat traders on Thursday protested outside the city magistrate's office in Sector 19 demanding a review of the decision to close meat shops in the district.
Backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the traders said that the recent crackdown has affected the livelihood of hundreds of people involved in the business. Last week, the food safety and drug administration (FSDA) department had said that all meat shops in the district were running illegally as shop owners had not obtained licences.
The traders protested for nearly one hour and demanded that the administration set up a government owned slaughterhouse and grant permission to traders to sell meat. "Since the new government came to power, the Noida police shut down many shops. Some meat traders shut down shops on their own fearing threat and intimidation. Our livelihood is at stake. This has created a serious issue. Most of us have been rendered jobless," said Mateen Quraishi, a meat shopkeeper.
The protesters said that due to the atmosphere of fear, chicken and fish shops have also vanished. The shops located in villages like Chowda, Nithari, Barolla, Sadarpur, etc are also facing the same problem. The traders submitted a memorandum to the officials of Noida Authority and the district magistrate via the city magistrate.
Ramanuj Singh, city magistrate, Noida said that some meat shop owners had met him over the issue. "There is no licenced slaughterhouse in Noida. We will talk to the senior officials of Noida authority and administration and issue licences to sell fish, chicken, etc," he said
In Ghaziabad, the district administration officials said that nearly 50 persons have applied for licences over the past few days following the crackdown .
"They have deposited the requisite fees with the district administration against challans after applying online on the website of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The documents required from the applicants in original will have to be submitted within 15 days of having filled in the application forms online. The documents will be examined by the Food Safety Officer of the district who will decide on the selection of licences on the basis of eligibility conditions fulfilled. After obtaining a no-objection certificate from the administration, the applicants have to apply to other departments including the local municipal bodies," district magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani told TOI.
According to the food safety department, licence holders will have to adhere to a detailed set of guidelines that are contained in Schedule IV of FSSAI. "For practical purposes, we are also preparing a list of the guidelines in layman's language in Hindi," chief food inspector, Dr Ajay Jaiswal, told TOI.
For clean and safe street food
Food Safety and Standard Authority of India and Coca-Cola India (CCI), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to train 50,000 street food vendors under FSSAI’s project ‘Clean Street Food’ across India over next three years.
In order to ensure safe and nutritious food for all, FSSAI has now embarked on a journey with large global and Indian corporates about social impact investment around areas related to safe and nutritious food.
The partnership will further strengthen FSSAI’s vision to ensure health, hygiene and safety standard of street food for all; along with ensuring social and economic upliftment of street vendor community by helping them in improving quality of offerings.
The MoU, signed by Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI and Venkatesh Kini, president, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, seeks to contribute extensively to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s skill India initiative as well as vision of a healthy India.
As part of this initiative, Coca-Cola India, will closely work with FSSAI in upgrading the eating out experience for the Indian populace at large. While Coca-Cola will be responsible for the program execution through its network of trainers and available infrastructure, FSSAI will ensure the relevance of the training content and shall oversee the overall delivery.
While addressing the press conference, CEO, FSSAI said, “I am delighted to see that corporates are taking up the responsibility to ensure safe and nutritious food across the country under FSSAI’s “Safe and Nutritious Food – A shared responsibility”.
Under the partnership, the program will be rolled out in phased manner with the first leg to be initiated by mid-April in Ludhiana, Punjab. Over the next three years, it plans to expand to 14 other locations through bottling plant network of Coca-Cola India covering 9 states (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Delhi NCR).
A push on food safety and hygiene was provided during Eighth National Street Food Festival, 2016 where vendors representing 24 states across India were trained.
FDA, Goa in association with Nestle adopted the project, where about 700 street food vendors were trained during its first phase. Similarly, Sadik Masih Medical Social Servant Society (SMMSSS) is one of the NGOs to take up the project in east Delhi in association with European Commission and Action Aid India.
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