Apr 6, 2017
Four held
The police have arrested four persons who attempted to intrude Aram Valartha Mariamman temple near Kuniyamuthur allegedly armed with weapons, on Saturday night. The arrested have been identified as Muhammed Rafiq (31), Ibrahim (33) of Edayarpalayam, Muhammed Nizar (27) of Madukkarai market, and Abuthahir (33) of B.K. Pudur.
Seized
Officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India seized 3.5 tonnes of banned tobacco products worth Rs. 5 lakh during a raid conducted on Wednesday.
Kerala: Food safety officials finds cancerous preservatives
High level of carcinogenic sodium benzoate found in six samples of fish.
Experts opined that the preservative is highly dangerous to one's health and can also cause gastroenteritis.
Thiruvananthapuram: When the food safety officials initiated Operation Sagar Rani across the state, out of 405 fish samples, six contained sodium benzoate which is a preservative that can cause cancer.
Four samples were identified in Thiruvananthapuram, one each in Kollam, Kochi and Kozhikode districts.
Food safety officials told DC that all the samples were sent to Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, which revealed the high level of sodium benzoate.
Experts opined that presence of the chemical substance could cause gastroenteritis as well as cancer. At the same time, the ice they seized revealed high dose of formalin.
“Initially, fish and dairy products were not checked. But when there have been several complaints from across the state on the quality of fish, we decided to check random samples. It revealed high dose of sodium benzoate which is actually a preservative to store the fish for a longer duration,” said a top official.
Much to their horror, when they seized the drinking water from tanker lorries, it showed dangerous levels of e.coli bacteria in Ernakulam district. The officials are trying to find out from where they source water there.
Meanwhile, the department has also decided to continue one of their flagship programmes, ‘safe food for healthy life’ in 280 more schools in the coming academic year after its success last year, started as a school health programme at a budget of close to Rs 50 lakh.
The department has selected 50 villages as part of bringing 100 food security villages where nutrition experts would be given lectures and classes.
A high-level meeting comprising food safety commissioner Ms Navjot Khosa and assistant food safety commissioners and district officers were held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday where they decided to enforce stringent measures to combat pesticide and chemicals laced fruits, vegetables, drinking water and milk.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called another high-level meeting on food safety.
Give us space to slaughter chicken, fish: Gautam Budh Nagar food dept
NOIDA: In a fix over the issue of licenses to chicken and fish shops, Gautam Budh Nagar food safety and drug administration (FSDA) has written to the state government to clarify its stance on the slaughtering of chicken/fish and issuance of license to the sellers.
Ever since the Yogi-Adityanath led government came to power, authorities have become active in closing operation of many road-side vendors or meat, chicken and fish shops which were operating without a license, along with the illegal abattoirs as promised by the BJP in its manifesto.
According to the rules of the Food Safety Act, 2006, slaughtering of animal is not allowed in any meat/chicken/fish shop and can only be done in a slaughter house.
There is only one government-approved slaughterhouse cum meat processing unit Surajpur area of Greater Noida apart from the ones in Dasna in neighbouring Ghaziabad district and the Ghazipur mandi where goats and sheep can be slaughtered.
However, there are practical problems in executing the ban on slaughter of chicken or fish in the shops.
"There is a problem of demand and supply when it comes to chicken or fish. If a person buys 50 kilogrammes of slaughtered chicken from a slaughter house and is only able to sell 40 kilogrammes, what will he do with the rest of the chicken? Secondly, there is no slaughter house for chicken or fish in Gautam Budh Nagardespite being significant demand from the residents. We have asked the government to provide us spots where the chicken or fish can be slaughtered," Mahendra Srivastava, designated officer, FSDA department, Gautam Budh Nagar told TOI.
A letter to this regard was sent to the FSDA headquarters in Lucknow on April 1.
Meat,chicken and fish sellers too rue that while the government suddenly wants them to comply with all the rules, it has to provide space for the same.
"If we cannot slaughter chicken in our shop, we have to be provided with a designated space for the same," said a meat shop owner in Sector 22.
Awaiting instructions, the department has issued licenses only to 26 meat sellers in Sector 62.
Sweets vendors using excessive colours: FSSAI
Belagavi: After a massive crackdown on adulterated milk in Belagavi district and border areas, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said that the sweets sold by local vendors are not safe for consumption.
A detailed probe by the Belagavi food authority officials revealed that 'Bombay halwa', a local sweet, contained excessive food colour. According to FSSAI, only 0.5% edible colour can be added for preparing 1kg halwa. "If the colour added is more than the prescribed limit, sweet products can be pose health risks like cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes," officials said.
Officials said they examined sweet samples for a well-known shop in Bhagya Nagar area in Belagavi. "We have warned all sweet shop owners and asked them to use edible colours according to the prescribed limits. During a raid recently, we tested sweets from a shop in Bhagya Nagar. Results revealed that the food colour was more than the required limit. We are waiting for orders from FSSAI commissioner to lodge a case against the shop owner," said Mahadevi Bekkeri, FSSAI district officer.
Officials said they also found excessive colours in 'pharsan', a local snack. "We recently imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on a packaged water manufacturing unit in Belagavi. However, staff crisis is affecting our operations in Belagavi. We struggle to nab culprits involved in food adulteration due to lack of trained officers," Bekkeri added.
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