May 22, 2017
BEWARE! YOUR FRUIT COULD HARM YOU
Chandigarh, May 21
With the Health Department tightening the noose around traders to curb the use of calcium carbide for artificial ripening of fruits at the fruit and vegetable market in Sector 26, the traders have replaced it with the Chinese ethylene powder.
The market is full of sachets of the Chinese ethylene powder, lying scattered all over the place after being thrown out of cartons used to transport mangoes.
These sachets expose visitors to emissions of the hazardous chemical.
Experts say exposure to the chemical can cause the same ill-effects as caused by calcium carbide. The packets are also dangerous to cows and other animals at the market that survive on vegetable waste. While the traders claim the use of the Chinese ethylene powder is allowed, officers of the Health Department are waiting for a report of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on it.
The Department of Food Safety has served notices on all 111 fruit traders warning them of stern action, including termination of the licence, in case they are found using the banned calcium carbide for ripening of fruits.
Sukhvinder Singh, designated officer, Food and Safety Department, said samples of ethylene powder collected from mango cartons had been sent to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to check for artificial ripening chemicals beyond the permissible limit.
“This ethylene is in the form of a starchy powder, which slowly releases ethylene gas that causes mangoes and other fruits to ripen. Sources said besides the Chinese sachets, the use of calcium carbide had not stopped completely in the market despite thes crackdown.
While checks are being carried out at the mandi, there is no check in apni mandis where “masala’ is mainly used for ripening of mangoes, bananas and papaya, and sometimes also for cheeku and tomatoes.” They said while the actual process required five to six days for repining of fruits, “with the use of calcium carbide, it takes a few hours to ripen these”.
Papaya gets costlier
Raids conducted by the department has increased the rates of papaya by two times. Papaya was available for Rs 40 a kg on Sunday, the highest this season. A trader said the supply of papaya had decreased by over 50 per cent after the raids, which had led to the increase in its prices.
Over 3 tonnes of fruits destroyed so far
The Department of Food Safety has destroyed over three tonnes of mangoes and papaya ripened by using calcium carbide in five raids conducted in the past one month.
How to identify artificially ripened mangoes
Experts say an artificially ripened mango will have green patches. These patches are clearly distinguishable from the yellow and unlike a naturally ripened mango, it will not have a uniform blend of yellow and green. Artificially ripened mango will also have an unnaturally bright yellow colour when compared to a naturally ripened mango. The artificially ripened mango causes slight burning in the mouth.
‘Have ordered regular checks’
“I have already issued directions to officers of the Department of Food Safety to carry out regular checks to curb the use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits. The use of calcium carbide is dangerous for human beings.”
Dr Rakesh Kashyap, Director, Health Services
Traders want an alternative
“The Administration has stopped the use of calcium carbide without providing the traders any alternative. The Chinese sachets for ripening of fruits are also not available in the city, causing a huge loss to the traders.”
Brij Mohan, VP, Fruit & Vegetable Market Assn
New quality standards for chocolates
India’s food regulator FSSAI has asked the chocolate industry to follow a new set of quality norms from next year to ensure that the best quality product is made available to the customer.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has finalised the new quality standards for chocolates, whose market in India is growing exponentially with more people picking up the habit of gifting chocolates.
The new standards — published in a gazette notification last week — will be applicable to 10 types of chocolates based on amount and types of cocoa and other materials used in these products.
They are milk, milk covering, plain, plain covering, blended, white, filled, composite, praline and couverture chocolates.
The regulator permitted 5% vegetable fats and artificial sweetener isomaltulose, a move that is likely to benefit importers.
Currently, the FSSAI allows use of cocoa butter in chocolates and not vegetable fats, whereas international food standards authority Codex permits 5% vegetable fats. With the Indian chocolate market set to cross the $2 billion mark within a year, the regulator facilitated the entry of importers.
The new regulation will come into effect from January 1, 2018, giving the Indian industry some breathing space to out its internal structure in order to maintain these standards and prepare for competition from the importers.
Currently, only a handful of players dominate the Indian chocolate market. The regulator took more than a year and a half to finalise the standards for chocolates.
Industry watchers said the use of vegetable fats in chocolates has been a bone of contention in imported chocolates as a number of companies had their consignments withheld at the ports because of non-compliance of Indian standards the product.
Kozhikode street vendors put under Food Safety lens
In just one day of the inspection, it closed down nine of the 11 inspected food joints.
In just one day of the inspection, FSSAI closed down nine of the 11 inspected food joints in Kozhikode.
Kozhikode: The city's street food centres have in recent past gained wide popularity for taste and low price.
But with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) acting tough, very soon these outlets will disappear. In just one day of the inspection, it closed down nine of the 11 inspected food joints.
Only two owners have a license for running eateries from FSSAI, and the rest were illegal outlets offering cheap quality and unhygienic food.
"We will make sure that no street food centre functions in the district without a license and not following guidelines in the Food Safety Act," said assistant commissioner O. Sankaran Unni.
"We are re-emphasising the need for rigorous compliance with food safety and hygiene legislation.
“It requires putting appropriate food safety management procedures in place and making sure they are adhered to at all times."
Street foods are very popular, especially among the low-income groups. Most of them are often contaminated with bacteria due to the unhygienic condition in which they are prepared, stored and handled.
"Most of them make food with bare hands and water is taken from contaminated sources. In spite of our warnings, they are still storing the food in open trays attracting germs," he said.
22 children taken ill after consuming sweets in Almora
Almora: As many as 22 children taken ill after they reportedly consumed sweets at a marriage function at Dwarahat in Almora district on Saturday.
The children were taken to a local government hospital, and were discharged shortly after preliminary treatment.
Following the incident, the district administration registered a complaint and sealed the shop from where sweets were procured, while food safety officials collected samples of sweets for lab test.
After a marriage party arrived at Chaura village in Dwarahat, children were served snacks and sweets. Following which they showed symptoms of food poisoning, with many of them complaining of nausea.
Sub-divisional magistrate Gaurav Chatwal told TOI that patients were discharged from the hospital. “The shop has been sealed and a complaint was also filed under section 56 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.”
Abhay Singh, food safety officer, said, “Food samples collected from the shop have been sent for lab test in Rudrapur. The report will come in two weeks to a month. We have taken photographs of the shop as evidence to buttress our case.”
Meanwhile, inspections were carried out in other sweet shops in Dwarahat, and notices were issued to 10 sweetshops. “We have given adequate time to shops to improve their unhygienic conditions,” added Singh.
This is the second incident in less than three days from the same area. On May 18, more than 40 people were taken ill after consuming sweets and snacks. In both cases, sweets and snacks were procured from the same shop in Dwarahat area.
Asked why the administration failed to take action against the sweetshop after the first incident of food poisoning, Chatwal said, “Sweets were sent to three places for marriage functions from the same shop. We received complaints from two places, but there was no complaint from the third place.”
Food licence must for liquor sale, Barmer shop owners flout Act
Under section 63 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, a case can be registered for violations, and the guilty can be jailed for six months and fined ₹5 lakh
Liquor shops in Barmer district do not have food licences, a violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, officials said.
The Act has categorised liquor as a drinkable item, making it mandatory for wine shop owners to get food licence.
“Without getting food licence, shop owners cannot sell liquor,” said Hemraj Soni, chief medical and health officer in Barmer.
No liquor shop owner in the district has applied for food licence. In absence of such a licence, adulterated liquor may be sold. In April last year, 19 people, including three BSF personnel, died in the district after consuming adulterated liquor.
“We have asked excise department officials to direct all liquor vends in the district to get food licence,” Soni said.
Excise inspector Bhanwar Lal said, “Food licence is mandatory for liquor shop owners; we have directed all liquor vends to get it.”
Food safety officer Bhuraram Godara said the Food Safety and Standard Authority, in a circular issued on December 2012, directed liquor shop owners to get food licence. “Despite this direction, liquor shop owners are not serious about it.”
The health department has sought from excise officials a list of liquor vends in the district. “We will soon launch a drive to collect liquor samples. In case of adulteration, strict action will be taken,” Godara said.
Under section 63 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, a case can be registered for violations, and the guilty can be jailed for six months and fined ₹5 lakh.
Godara said, “Liquor shops not applying for food licence, apart from violating safety norms, are causing revenue loss; the government can get ₹2,000 on releasing a licence.”
Namma Chennai : Keeping Food Safety First at Marina. A job well done by the Food Safety Department
A team from the Food Safety department were on a mission this Friday when they set out to Marina Beach. Based on complaints,around 300 hundred food stalls in the 3 km stretch between Anna Square and Lighthouse were raided and inspected.
Ten teams of officials were mobilized for the drive and they did a top notch job of checking the stalls for adulteration, expired products, unauthorized addition of food colours and personal hygiene of food handlers.
SKIM
The sad fact of the matter is that a lot of roadside food vendors are not aware of basic food safety practices and they are just trying as hard as they can to etch out a living for themselves. Drives like this are not only for the purpose of seizing and nabbing and terrorizing the vendors. That is not the intention at all. The intention is to make sure that no rotten, out of date, unsafe food is sold to customers and also to make the vendors aware of the dangers of selling food that is not handled or stored properly.
NIP THE BUD
Officials seized 100kg of decayed fruits, 24kg of rotten fish and 7kg of expired ice-cream and biscuits. In addition, they also took away 40 litres of expired soft drinks and 31 litres of reused oil.
It is a scary prospect, but efforts such as these by R Kathiravan, designated officer, Tamil Nadu food safety and drug administration department and his team make us feel a good that issues like these are slowly being taken care of.
None of the vendors were fined this time as the officials realised that most of them did not even know of food safety practices. Even though a fine of upto Rs.25,000 can be charged under under the Food Safety and Standrads Act, 2006, the officials find it difficult to drag the vendors to courts. Most of them do not own the push carts and it is hard to trace them. The vendors from whom the food was seized were let off this time with a strict warning notice and the information that food safety offices would be issuing spot fines if the same vendor was found defaulting again. They were also advised on how best to avoid contamination of food and were informed that more raids would follow.
It is heartening to see such efforts being taken and we hope that more such efforts with the participation of officials,customers and vendors together can bring about a great change.
The Chennai Corporation has enumerated nearly 1,500 hawkers on Marina beach. For any food related complainants WhatsApp to 94440 42322.
Herbal supplements are not all safe and green
Alternative medicine can cause long-term harm to the liver and kidneys
The founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, reportedly delayed conventional treatment for several months and experimented with alternative medicine, when he was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
The jury is still out on whether it was alternative medicine that killed him.
Green tea extracts, herb teas and garcinia cambogia for weight loss, bilimbi juice for reducing high cholesterol levels, soy foods for relieving menopausal symptoms.
People are generally happy and feel safe taking these herbal supplements rather than modern medicine pills for various health issues
However, the increasing use of dietary supplements, body-building and weight loss supplements and self-administered herbal remedies among people have led clinicians to sound the warning that many of these substances can cause significant harm to the liver and kidneys
Natural as safe ?
“The claim that anything natural is safe is questionable. There are plant compounds like Pyrrolizidine alkaloids which have been proven to be harmful to health. Drug-induced liver toxicity and renal failure due to the indiscriminate use of herbal medications is a growing problem but in many cases, we are unable to pinpoint one herb or ingredient as a causative factor,” says K. Vinayakumar, former Head of Gastroenterology, Government Medical College,
Thiruvananthapuram (GMCT).
Researchers in the U.S who looked at cases of liver damage reported to the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network, a program funded by the National Institutes of Health, has reported that in 2014, 20% of the liver injuries were linked to herbal remedies and dietary supplements.
“Last year, we had 21 inpatients with serious drug-induced liver injuries and in four cases, we could find a clear link to herbal or so-called Ayurvedic preparations. Some of the herbal drugs for joint pains and body-building supplements have also been associated with liver toxicity. We do not know the full ingredients in these supplements. And worse, the patient fails to tell us if he is on some herbal medicine long-term because he might not link it to his condition,” says K. Krishnadas, Head of Medical Gastroenterology, GMCT.
Ayurvedic medicines prepared in the traditional way, with years of standing, does have a margin of safety.
But even the safety of traditional herbs may be compromised if it is prepared the non-traditional way.
Herbal medicines do have adverse effects, which might be inconspicuous or which develops gradually.
Sometimes, it might be some undisclosed ingredient which is used to ‘spike’ the herbal supplement that results in hepato or nephro toxicity.
Green tea extract
Even too much of green tea can interfere with conventional drugs like statins and warfarin. Green tea extract, a main ingredient in the so-called weight loss supplements, has produced symptoms ranging from mild increase of serum aminotransferase levels to fulminant hepatitis requiring liver transplant, according to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (2015 March).I n fact, about 60-70 per cent of dietary supplements being sold across India are fake, unregistered and unapproved, besides being extremely difficult to identify, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) reported in December 2015
Patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes and dyslipidemia (high cholesterol) are the ones who usually opt for self treatment using known or unknown herbal remedies and supplements.
Bakul et al has reported in the Indian Journal of Nephropathy in 2013 about a series of cases from Kerala hospitals wherein people were hospitalised for renal failure, requiring several dialysis sessions, after they treated themselves with the juice of Averrhoa bilimbi (‘irumban puli’), for high cholesterol.
“Cases of unexplained kidney failure has been growing in number, often due to self medication or medicines prescribed by some indigenous practitioners. The main problem is that kidney damage comes to fore only when the injury is fairly well advanced. Patients may recover the renal function but the residual damage to the kidneys remain and puts them at increased risk of chronic kidney diseases later,” says Noble Gracious, Associate Prof. of Nephrology, GMCT
The message to the public is that long-term and indiscriminate use of prescription medicines, over-the-counter drugs and the innumerable supplements available online, without regular follow-up with the doctor, can harm the kidneys and liver.
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