May 6, 2017
Not just Maggi: Here's the shameful truth about food safety inspection in India
New Delhi: Even as Nestlé India continues to firefight its gravest crisis ever in its nearly three-decade old history of selling Maggi noodles in the country, the most vital question now doing the rounds, including the social media, is how could a multinational company (MNC) carry out business for so long... selling a product with potential health hazards to millions of consumers?
The presence of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) and lead above permissible limits in Maggi samples cannot be an overnight phenomenon. Besides, there could be many more products by other MNCs as well that could potentially harm the health of Indians.
Who has allowed these MNCs to sell “sub-standard” product all these years? Can the government be absolved of its responsibility and accountability for allowing domestic and foreign food manufacturing companies to have a free run?
“Both, the Centre and state governments usually avoid taking stringent action against MNCs or big Indian manufacturers, despite being aware of violations. However, this time Delhi government has been prompt in taking action on Maggi issue,” a retired senior official from Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Civil Supplies told Firstpost on condition of anonymity.
Ashim Sanyal, COO of the voluntary action group Consumer Voice said, “Who knows what people have been consuming for the last 20 years? There’s laxity on part of both the state governments and the central regulatory body FSSAI. Both never bothered to exercise their powers to have a regular check on food products, whether Maggi or any other ready-to-eat items all these years.”
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was established as an independent statutory authority under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various ministries and government departments. The agency has been created for laying down standards for food articles and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
The 2006 Act aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards.
“If it’s so, why did FSSAI take so much time to act despite the fact that Maggi controversy broke some time back?” questioned Sanyal.
Grey areas
Consumer policy experts and activists have identified several grey areas that help food operators to supply sub-standard products to consumers and yet remain ‘untouched’. It’s ultimately the consumer, who gets the wrong end of the stick.
- Central regulator doesn’t conduct regular inspections and testing of products, to ensure that only the right quality product is sold in the market.
- There is laxity on part of state governments’ food safety departments as well.
- There is lack of proper coordination between the Centre and states, as the latter don’t report to the Centre in this regard.
- Barring a few laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL), several testing laboratories in states fail to conform to standards. The equipment used by these labs is often not upgraded and not properly calibrated. It leads to variation in results.
- Despite having immense power, the food safety commissioners and officers in states don’t exercise it on a regular basis to keep a check on all ready-to-eat products on shelves.
- Often the field inspectors fail to get permission from higher authorities to conduct a raid and check products.
- Lack of proper training facilities of inspection staff, and modernization.
- Unlike abroad, the implementation of law and regulations is weak in India. So, is the penalty.
- Both the regulator at the Centre and food safety departments in the states suffer from staff crunch. The state units lack funds.
- Corruption is another area of concern.
- A Five-year action plan chalked out jointly by the Centre and states in 2009-10 is yet to be implemented.
Bejon Kumar Misra, an international consumer policy expert, said, “First, the industries exercise a strong influence on policy makers and it’s easy for them to get through. Second, instead of sitting jointly and finding a solution, there’s a blame-game between the Centre and states. Even when any plan has been made, it finally fails to get implemented on ground. Nobody wants to bell the cat.”
Unlike India, legal procedures and penalty system are so stringent abroad that no one dares to violate them. The system of recalling sub-standard products in India is voluntary and not mandatory like in other countries.
Sanyal added, “The Supreme Court had pointed out the issue of penalty in the case of contaminated milk. No legal action is taken and one gets away by paying a small penalty. There’s a need to evolve laws according to changing times. We hardly get to hear sub-standard products being recalled by a company.”
“Some years back, a Jamshedpur court had prosecuted Nestlé, after MSG was found in Maggi noodles. But, what happened after that nobody knows. This is the sorry state-of-affairs of our system and no one is afraid of law. But, it’s for the first time since the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 came into existence, the government has registered a case against Maggi noodles with the National Consumer Grievance Redressal Commission, claiming compensation for the consumers,” Misra pointed out.
Food safety officers seek clarifications on ITC's Yippee noodles
After Nestle's Maggi, there seem to be question in store for ITC's Yippee noodles.
According to a report in The Times of India, the Uttarakhand food safety office has sought clarifications from the company about the claims it has made on the label of this popular brand. The company has been asked to respond in 15 days about the nutritional claims it makes on the packet. The notice was issued on Friday, according to the report.
The food safety officials had tested samples of Yippee Magic Masala and Classic Masala from a store in Kaliyar in Haridwar, the report says.
The food safety office has asked the company to provide the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-approved lab reports about the shelf-life of the both the versions. The aim is to check whether the claim that it is best before nine months from the date of manufacture is correct or not.
ITC, in a clarification sent to Firstpost, had this to say: "The picking up of food samples and seeking of information by Food Safety Officers is a routine occurrence and part of the duties of the Food Safety Officer under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and is not an out of ordinary event requiring any cause for concern to the public. ITC’s Yippee! Noodles are in full compliance with food safety laws, and are backed with ITC’s world-class internal laboratories as well as at FSSAI-approved, NABL-accredited external laboratories confirmation.
"The information sought by the Food Safety Officer pertains to statutory declarations required by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, that appear on the label, and ITC is fully cooperating with the Food Safety Officer in providing the information required by him. It is pertinent to mention that ITC has obtained adequate scientific analysis substantiating all information before making such declarations on the pack."
Interestingly, the move by the food safety officers comes days after the company removed the 'no added MSG' disclaimer from the packs. The move followed recent directions by the FSSAI, said a PTI report.
Announcing its decision, the company had said earlier in a statement that under the Food Safety Standards Act, if a manufacturer adds MSG (monosodium glutamate) in its product, then only the quantum of MSG has to be declared.
Moreover, the FSSAI, in connection with noodles of "another brand" (read Nestle's Maggi), had held that such statement of having no MSG was "inappropriate", ITC said.
"Therefore, ITC is voluntarily taking steps to remove the phrase 'no added MSG' from its labels in its new batches of packaging and consumers should ignore this on the current packaging. ITC would like to once again assure consumers that MSG is not added to Sunfeast YiPPee! Noodles," ITC said.
Unfortunately for ITC, the food safety authorities' action comes at a time when the company is pushing the Yippee brand to make the most of the Maggi debacle.
According to a report in the Business Standard on on 13 June, the company is distributing leaflets among retailers, explaining how it has conducted stringent tests on its products.
"In all these tests, our food products have consistently been found to comply with all regulatory standards," the report cited the leaflet as saying. The retailers are being told to show it to Maggi's loyal customers in a bid to woo them to Yippee.
However, the FSSAI move is in line with the expectations of many an analyst who had predicted the Maggi incident to have a cascading impact on other brands too.
Reliance Securities, for one, had said in a report on Nestle it sees the ignominy extending to all brands in the category in general and not just dent one particular brand as FSSAI pushes to strictly implement the new norms on food safety across all packaged food products.
"This would force all the companies in the segment, like Dabur (in Honey), ITC (Sunfeast, Yipee, Kitchens of India), Britannia, Parle, Pepsico and HUL (Knorr, Kissan, Magnum), to declare in detail the ingredients used in their packaged products," the brokerage had said.
Interestingly, much before the FSSAI crackdown on Nestle began and gave rise to a debate on food safety issues in India, Consumer Education & Research Society (CERS) had found that many popular instant noodles brands are deceiving consumers on nutrition claims they make on the labels.
According to a report in Moneylife published in 2012, in-house laboratory tests conducted by CERS found that 15 brands made fake health claims and have nutritional levels way below their claims.
The brands included Maggi, Top Ramen, Knorr, Ching’s Secret, Sunfeast Yippee!, Foodles, Tasty Treat and Wai Wai X-press.
“Some of the common findings for most of the samples tested included high level of sodium salts, significantly low fibre content, high amount of fats and several other shocking factors. The brands that claimed ‘Healthy’, ‘wholesome’, ‘enriched with proteins and iron’ and ‘full of fibre’, were refuted by the test findings as going way above the safe limit of several harmful elements,” the report quoted CERS as saying in a release.
Clearly, it is high time the FSSAI started testing all the brands in this category.
FSSAI proposes blueprint for 'food smart cities'
Regulator FSSAI has proposed widening the ambit of smart cities by incorporating food management system into it to ensure safe and nutritious food consumed by citizens.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Urban Development Ministry on May 2 organised a workshop on 'Food Smart Cities' to discuss its framework and methodology for rollout.
Senior representatives from Smart Cities including Ludhiana, Ajmer, Jaipur, Gurgaon and Bhubaneswar participated in the meeting.
FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said that food has been largely ignored in city planning, despite it being the central piece around which life revolves.
"There is now a golden opportunity to integrate food systems management into the smart city guidelines," he said in a statement.
The Food Smart Cities would have end-to-end solutions for food systems in urban areas.
Stating that rapid urbanisation has raised concerns about food quality, FSSAI said: "One of the ways to address this is to integrate sustainable food safety and nutrition systems within the smart city design and create Food Smart Cities".
FSSAI has proposed a four-pillar approach that cities could undertake at the local level to ensure safety and hygiene across the supply chain.
"The workshop concluded with a decision that a framework for food smart cities would be further refined and circulated to cities around the country, aspiring to be Food Smart Cities," FSSAI said.
HC issues notice to FSSAI, govt over lack of food testing labs
INDORE: Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday issued notices to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the state government and others on a petition seeking more number of laboratories to test food samples in the state.
The petition states that there is only one functional food testing laboratory in Madhya Pradesh at Bhopal and the rest two at Indore and Ujjain are non-functional. It was also highlighted in a newspaper report published in the past days, which was annexed with the petition.
The matter was heard by the division bench of Justice PK Jaiswal and Justice Virendra Singh, who directed the respondents to file their replies within six weeks. The petition has been filed by former corporator Mahesh Garg through advocate Vinay Zelawat.
The respondents to the petition are FSSAI, principal secretary of public health and family welfare department, commissioner of food safety and control, district collector and deputy director of food and drug administration department.
The petition said that as per the current system, all the food samples collected in the state are sent to the state capital for testing. The entire process takes around 15 to 20 days. Since all food items whose samples are collected cannot be seized completely, the contaminated batch might get circulated in the market by the time the reports arrive, the petition has alleged.
Food Safety Officials Seize Tobacco And Expired Products
The Imphal West District Police under the supervision of the Imphal West superintendent of police N Herojit along with the Food Safety & Standards Enforcement Wing, Manipur today seized tobacco products worth around Rs 10 lakhs and expired eatable items.
The tobacco product were seized from three different shops located at Prajatantra Gali, Thangal Bazar, Imphal and the three shops were owned by Ganesh Kumar(25) s/o Hiralal Shah of Bihar presently staying at Tillipati, Anil Kumar Gupta (25) s/o Kapil Manishah of Bihar presently staying at RIMS Road and Guddy Shah (22) s/o Kedar Shah of Bihar presently staying at Tillipati.
The expired eatable items (mostly consumed by kids) were seized from a godown located at Kakhulong Khul, Paona Bazar, Imphal owned by Mukesh Kumar Sah (47) s/o Jokhi Lal Sah of Bihar presently staying at Masjid Road, Paona Bazar.
Speaking to media persons, Imphal West additional SP (law and order) Priyadarshini Laishram said that the state government has already banned selling of tobacco products from the year 2013.
So the team has conducted the raid and was able to seized a huge amount of tobacco items from three different shops, he added.
They has been intensifying such drive mostly tobacco products in view of high prevalence of cancer in the state as uses of tobacco products leads to cancer, said Priyadarshini.
She said that necessary action and case will be taken up against the three shop owners after obtaining the sampling nicotine report of the seized product from the laboratory by the Food Safety department.
She added that keeping of expired product is also an illegal action so they have seized the eatable items from godown and found that most of the seized items are items mostly consumed by the kids.
Priyadarshini said, “It is most likely that the owner kept the items with an ulterior motive such as to convert into a brand new by changing covers or tag.”
So proper action will be taken up against the owner of the godown after finishing the procedure of testing the items by the Food Safety department, she continued.
Hyderabad High Court shoots down TSRTC move to promote Bisleri
HYDERABAD: Suspending for now the decision of the TSRTC officials to allow only Bisleri water bottles at all its bus stations in Telangana, the Hyderabad High Court on Thursday allowed all the stall owners in the bus stations to sell all branded water bottles that are approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The bench of acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Shameem Akther pronounced this interim order in an appeal filed by Jahed Bhasha of Hyderabad and scores of licensed shop owners who were aggrieved with the diktat of the authorities who are coercing them to sell only Bisleri brand water. RTC has been maintaining that it brought in the new method to reach out to the public who have been raising several complaints about the stall owners regarding the quality and price of the water. A single judge earlier found nothing wrong in this and allowed the RTC management to go ahead with its tie-up with Bisleri. Aggrieved by this, the shop keepers preferred an appeal over the single judge order.
C Ramachandra Raju, counsel for the licensed shop owners, during his arguments charged the higher authorities of TSRTC with entering into a nexus with Bisleri for enriching themselves through discreet methods. It will be a discriminatory approach if only a particular brand is allowed and other brands are denied entry, he said and added that this will deprive the passengers too to pick up their choice of water bottles. Moreover, this will allow the officials to increase the price of the water bottles and will eventually lead to a monopoly which should never be permitted, he said.
The bench found prima facie force in the argument of the licensees. The restraint order will be in force till a final judgment is pronounced in the case or till the life of the current licence period, the bench said.
New method to detect artificial ripening of fruits
Artificial ripening of fruits using calcium carbide commonly called as 'powder' or 'masala' has been banned under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and Food Safety and Standards Act. Consumption of fruits ripened artificially using calcium carbide may cause serious health hazards.
The team, led by Prathap Kumar Shetty, developed a sensor solution (bio-functionalized gold nanoparticle). When the solution is mixed with water with which the fruits have been washed, the solution changes colour, if the fruits had been ripened using calcuim carbide. This can be used to prove whether the fruits were ripened using calcium carbide. The team has filed a patent for their invention at regional patent office, Chennai. The other members of the team were PhD student Ankita J Lakade and postdoctoral scientist K Sundar.
"The sensor solution can be used by anyone without any technical expertise. The procedure is very simple and cost effective. Wash the test fruit with 10ml of water and take 1ml of the wash and mix with equal volume of sensor solution in a glass test tube and mix. The change in colour of solution from red to purple indicates that calcium carbide is used for ripening the fruit. No change in colour of the solution indicates that calcium carbide was not used for ripening the fruit," said Shetty.
He said reputed laboratories have begun validating the sensor solution. "The sensor solution will be released soon after validation. It is a timely invention as there have been a lot of concerns among the consumers on the artificial ripening of fruits such as mangoes. The authorities could not enforce the regulation due to lack of simple analytical methods to ascertain artificial ripening of fruits," said Shetty. He added that he was motivated to evolve a simple technique to detect artificial ripening of fruits when he served as member of a scientific panel on analysis at Food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI). He is currently a member of a panel on contaminants in food chain at FSSAI.
The cost of an analysis is less than 20 paise, Shetty said. "The cost will be much lower if the sensor solution is synthesized in commercial scale," he added.
Explaining the concept of the sensor solution, Shetty said calcium carbide contains high levels of arsenic. "Fruits ripened using calcium carbide always have higher amounts of arsenic than the naturally-ripened fruits. We developed a cheap sensor solution, which exhibits visible changes in colour when it comes in contact with arsenic hydride. The solution is red in colour and it charges to purple when arsenic hydride comes in contact with it," he said.
The same team had earlier developed a new technique to detect early stages of spoilage of milk under practical condition so that milk can be used before it is spoiled completely.
SAI to set up Mobile Food Testing Laboratory units across country
FSSAI to set up Mobile Food Testing Laboratory units across country
New Delhi, May 5 (KNN) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India wants to set up Mobile Food Testing Laboratory (MFTL) units throughout the country.
These MFTLs will be fully functional, equipped with all basic facilities and the required quick testing instruments and rapid diagnostic kits for detection of adulteration in various food samples particularly, Milk and Milk products, Edible Fats and oils, Water, Spices etc.
At least one Laboratory will be set up in each State/UT on turnkey basis.
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was enacted in 2006 in order to consolidate all the laws relating to food and to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and for regulating their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, for ensuring availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption in the Country.
The Authority has rolled out a Central Sector Scheme for “Strengthening of the Food Testing System in the country including provision for Mobile Food Testing Labs” with the approval of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The scheme envisages establishment of Mobile Food Testing Laboratory (MFTL) units throughout the country, at least one in each State/UT.
In this context, FSSAI has invited bids for “Setting up of Mobile Food Testing Laboratory by the FSSAI”.
The main aim of launching the mobile food testing lab is to check adulteration in milk and related products, ghee, spices, etc. Besides, experts will also make people aware about how to differentiate original food items from adulterants.
Raid Conducted in Grain Market by Department of Food Safety
Chandigarh, May 5, 2017: Artificial ripening of fruits like mango, papaya with calcium carbide is common practice adopted by various Food Business Operators during summer season. The use of Calcium Carbide is prohibited for ripening of fruits under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011. The ripened fruits with the above said chemical cause serious health problems.
Looking into the seriousness of the matter the officials of Department of Food Safety, U.T.of Chandigarh under the supervision of Dr. Tapasya Raghav, IAS, SDM, Chandigarh Administration conducted a massive raid in the area of Grain Market, Sector 26, Chandigarh today. Many warehouses and shops where the fruits like mango and papaya were stored were inspected and it was found that the Food Business Operators were using Calcium Carbide for its ripening. Approx. 2.5 tons of papaya was seized and
destroyed in the dumping ground of Chandigarh through the vehicles of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh.
The traders dealing in sale, storage and distribution of fruits are advised not to use any type of hazardous chemical for the ripening of fruits. If anybody is found violating the provisions of Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 and the Rules & Regulations, 2011 framed there under, action will be initiated against such violators.
Govt bans gutka, pan masala in State
PANJIM: The State Government on Thursday issued an order prohibiting manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of food products containing tobacco or nicotine like gutkha and pan masala in the State for one year.
The ban also applies to processed, flavoured, scented, chewing tobacco, whether packaged or unpackaged or sold as one or separate products.
Commissioner of Food Safety, B R Singh, said that in the interest of public health, the government prohibits manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutkha and pan masala, by whatever name it is called, which contains tobacco or nicotine as an ingredient. “The ban has been imposed for a period of one year,” he said.
The decision appears to have been taken in view of the Supreme Court order wherein it observed that to circumvent the ban of sale of gutkha, manufacturers were selling pan masala (without tobacco) with flavoured chewing tobacco in separate sachets.
The notification has been issued under Food Safety and Standards Act (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011 and Act 2006.
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