Is liquid nitrogen even healthy for you? Here's the downside of the latest Indian food trend

While this chemical adds a lot of drama to our food and drinks, it also poses major health and safety hazards

A drink or dessert that has cold smoke billowing from it looks so cool! It's just the sort of drama foodies across the world have been going crazy about for the past few years, and the trend has picked up in a major way in India as well.

But behind the drama is a volatile chemical called liquid nitrogen, and no, it's not the safest thing in the world. Not only does whipping up that 30-second instant ice cream pose a threat to the health of the chef or bartender, but also to the consumer.

Recently, a 30-year-old man drank a liquid nitrogen-chilled drink at a Delhi bar, and ended up with a big hole in his stomach! While this is the first such accident in India, a girl in Lancaster lost her entire stomach lining back in 2012 thanks to a liquid nitrogen-infused cocktail at her 18th birthday party.

So don't just buy into the drama of this food trend. Consider its negative effects as well, for the sake of your health and safety. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way, so here's everything you need to know about liquid nitrogen.

The coolest chemical in town

Liquid nitrogen is actually nitrogen gas, but in the liquid state at an extremely low temperature. It has been used in the global food industry since the 1800s to freeze food products and preserve them quickly. While it isn't likely to catch fire, it is extremely cold, and can freeze anything in an instant.

Nowadays, liquid nitrogen is used to chill drinks, desserts, ice creams, and glasses. It's used in the food packaging industry because it delays foods from turning rancid. This cryogenic property has led to the use of liquid nitrogen in the packaging of meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, microwavable meals, pasta and bakery products, milk and milk products.

Caution is key

"The use of liquid nitrogen is good until used in limited extent and carefully. A bit of carelessness may create major problems," says Dr. Saurabh Arora, the founder of foodsafetyhelpline.com.

"The beneficial freezing property of liquid nitrogen is also its dangerous effect. The vapor of liquid nitrogen could immediately freeze skin tissues and also cause cold burns. If a person swallows a bit of it, it may cause expansion of liquid nitrogen in the stomach. This results to severe health issues or death," he adds.

While the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has permitted the use of liquid nitrogen since 2011, it has only recently trickled down to restaurants and ice cream parlous in India's leading metropolitan cities. It's a big trend in Delhi, with chefs and mixologists using it in everything to add drama.

The problem is that the same chemical that's used in the manufacturing and food packaging industries is being used to make these dishes. And while we all seek a little delicious drama in life--and our mixologists are willing to give it to us in most bars and restaurants in the city--most people handling the chemical aren't trained, or even cautious.

There's a reason you can see contestants and chefs on MasterChef Australia wearing protective gloves and goggles while using liquid nitrogen. There's a reason why the judges are careful about consuming it. The reason is simple--better safe than sorry.

Enjoying food and the drama that goes with it is important, but when a trend is more dangerous than enjoyable, maybe we should just do without it--or depend on certified, trained chefs and mixologists. Given the fact that not all chefs, ice cream makers and bartenders in India are trained, it's probably best to just give this trend a miss.

Concern over quality of bottled water

When consumers buy bottled water, they assume it to be safe and healthy. Bus stands, railway stations, picnic spots and cricket stadiums are making roaring business in selling water, the cost of which is more than the cost of milk.

The turnover of the bottled water industry is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore. But seldom consumers think about the quality of the bottled water. It appears that there is no end for exploiting the consumers in the name of supplying safe packaged drinking water.

Ever since the packaged or bottled water industry started functioning, there is a series of studies by the government and independent laboratories which have highlighted the dangers of bottled water. Despite making it mandatory for bottled water manufacturers to obtain the ISI mark from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and stringent quality measures prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), consumers continue to be sold with impure and unsafe water.

Some years ago, the Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Centre had published a report on quality of bottled water and found several discrepancies. In 2015, the Bha­bha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) team tested 90 samples of bottled water and found 27% of the samples contained bromates, a salt containing bromide in excess of the limits permitted by the WHO.

The latest study by the Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education (Voice), a New Delhi-based consumer organisation, has found that some brands of packaged drinking water is microbiologically unsafe.

The Voice tested a dozen brands of packaged drinking water including popular brands like the state owned Rail Neer, McDowells, Bisleri, Aquafina etc, for the presence of undesirable substances and microbiological organisms, pesticide residues, toxic/heavy metals, turbidity and colour. The samples were drawn from the open market and tested against the standards pres­cribed by BIS, in a National Acc­reditation Board of Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratory.

Micro organism like E coli, coliform found in the environment can contaminate water. They can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps. The laboratory tests has confirmed that total viable colony count was high in brands like Aquafina, Bailley, Royal Blue and A4X and thereby unsafe.

Aquafina contained yeast and mould. However, in respect of undesirable substances, all brands passed the tests. Drinking water can contain Nitrate to a maximum of 45 mg/litre. Except for Aquafina, Kinley and More, all brands contained nitrate, but within the prescribed limits.

The tests were also conducted to ascertain contents of fluoride, silver, chloride, sulphate and other chemicals. Fortunately, all brands were found to contain fluoride within the permissible limits of 1 mg/litre. Silver was not detected in any of the brands. Chloride is not harmful, unless it exceeds the limit.

The maximum permissible limit for chloride is 200 mg/litre and chloride was within the limits in all brands. Presence of pesticides residues has been a major concern with bottled water. However, the present test found that none of the brands contained pesticide residues in excess of the permitted standards.

Purification systems

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are the amount of minerals, salts or metals dissolved in a given volume of water. It is directly related to the purity of potable water and the quality of water purification systems. Rail Neer was found to contain the highest quantity of TDS and Aquafina the lowest.

Consumers rarely read labels and take things for granted. Bottled water contains the letter pH which stands for potential. A measurement below seven indi­cates presence of acid and above seven indicates alkalinity. The BIS requires it to be between 6.5 and 8.5. All brands complied with these requirements.

The labelling requirements were also met with. Based on the overall test findings, Rail Neer is the top performer followed by McDowells and Bisleri. Even in terms of cost, Rail Neer is the cheapest at Rs 15 a litre against Rs 20 for other brands. However, the above tests have not gone well with Aquafina. They have raised certain issues which are replied by Voice.

Though consumer groups are bringing out test reports of many products, the response from consumers is not encouraging, unlike in the West. Similarly, manufacturers come forward to get their products tested by these consumer groups because a favourable report enhances their sales. Consumer movement in India is in need of a new philosophy.

Ice cream vs frozen dessert war hots up

What's the difference between an ice cream and a frozen dessert? And does it matter?

Yes, if the battle between giants is any indication.

India's largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Hindustan Unilever, had last month filed a case against the country's largest ice-cream maker, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, in the Bombay High Court, successfully obtaining an injunction against an advertisement for Amul ice cream which "disparaged frozen desserts."

Amul's ad had said that people should eat real ice cream made from milk, rather than frozen dessert made from "Vanaspati." The court said the ad was "guilty of disparaging a rival product" – Unilever's Kwality Walls, which is a leader in frozen desserts.

So what's the difference between the two? An ice-cream is made from milk fats while a frozen dessert is made from vegetable oil fats. Vanaspati is a hydrogenated vegetable oil used in cooking, a cheaper substitute for ghee or butter. But it's not used in frozen desserts, say manufacturers.

Every summer, a battle of sorts resumes between ice-cream and frozen dessert makers. Often, consumers are unaware about the difference. "It becomes very difficult to convince people that we make ice-cream, and not frozen dessert.

The approach that we have decided to undertake is to educate the consumers by pointing them to the differentiation which the government of India has made," Chaitanya Rele, Vice President and Head of Marketing at Havmor Ice Cream, told IANS.

Gujarat-based Havmor claims itself to be the second-largest dairy-based ice-cream maker, after Amul. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has categorised ice-creams under "dairy based desserts/confections", further categorised as plain, medium fat and low fat depending on the percentage of total solids, milk fat and milk protein used.

The food regulator defines "frozen dessert/frozen confection" as a product obtained by freezing a pasteurized mix prepared with milk fat and/or edible vegetable oils and fat. The milk fat is used in such dessert for freezing.

According to ice-cream manufacturers, frozen desserts have captured a market share of 40 per cent of the Rs 1,800 crore market with a growth of approximately 10-12 per cent every year.

"We have recently come out with a campaign on print and digital mediums talking only about the goodness of our product – that they are made from rich, creamy milk," said Randhir Kumar, General Manager, Marketing (Dairy Products) of Mother Dairy.

But are both the products same from the health viewpoint?

Sunita Roy Chowdhury, Chief Dietician at BL Kapoor Hospital, said that frozen desserts have more trans-fat as compared to ice-creams. "Trans fatty acids are not good. I believe trans fatty acids are used in frozen desserts because the normal oil does not freeze. I would suggest ice-creams are better than frozen desserts," Chowdhury asserted.

Nitin Arora, Chief Executive Officer of Creambell – which markets a combination of ice creams and frozen desserts – said awareness should be raised on the virtues of vegetable oil compared to those of dairy fat.

"The cooking medium in our houses remains vegetable oil or mustard oil. This is the same ingredient that goes into the making of frozen dessert. The fact remains that nobody uses 'vanaspati' in frozen dessert," Arora told IANS.

He said that most of the single serves are ice creams, while for catering and banqueting packs they use frozen desserts. "If we sell a frozen dessert, it is very clearly labelled. We cannot camouflage a frozen dessert as ice-cream or vice versa," he said. He said that 10 per cent fat that goes into ice-cream is dairy fat, whereas that 10 per cent going into frozen dessert is vegetable oil fat.

Havmor's Rele says it's a question of consumer awareness. "At the end of the day is frozen dessert a bad thing? No, it's not a bad thing, but there are differences. Importantly, a consumer has a right to know," he said.

Dispute between ice cream and frozen dessert makers spices up

FMCG company, Hindustan Unilever, had last month filed a case against the country's largest ice-cream maker, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, in the Bombay High Court, successfully obtaining an injunction against an advertisement for Amul ice cream.

What’s the difference between an ice cream and a frozen dessert? And does it matter?

Yes, if the battle between giants is any indication.

India’s largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Hindustan Unilever, had last month filed a case against the country’s largest ice-cream maker, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, in the Bombay High Court, successfully obtaining an injunction against an advertisement for Amul ice cream which “disparaged frozen desserts”.

Amul’s ad had said that people should eat real ice cream made from milk, rather than frozen dessert made from “vanaspati”. The court said the ad was “guilty of disparaging a rival product” — Unilever’s Kwality Walls, which is a leader in frozen desserts.

So what’s the difference between the two? An ice-cream is made from milk fats while a frozen dessert is made from vegetable oil fats. Vanaspati is a hydrogenated vegetable oil used in cooking, a cheaper substitute for ghee or butter. But it’s not used in frozen desserts, say manufacturers.

Every summer, a battle of sorts resumes between ice-cream and frozen dessert makers. Often, consumers are unaware about the difference.

“It becomes very difficult to convince people that we make ice-cream, and not frozen dessert. The approach that we have decided to undertake is to educate the consumers by pointing them to the differentiation which the government of India has made,” Chaitanya Rele, Vice President and Head of Marketing at Havmor Ice Cream, told IANS.

Gujarat-based Havmor claims itself to be the second-largest dairy-based ice-cream maker, after Amul.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has categorised ice-creams under “dairy based desserts/confections”, further categorised as plain, medium fat and low fat depending on the percentage of total solids, milk fat and milk protein used.

The food regulator defines “frozen dessert/frozen confection” as a product obtained by freezing a pasteurized mix prepared with milk fat and/or edible vegetable oils and fat. The milk fat is used in such dessert for freezing.

According to ice-cream manufacturers, frozen desserts have captured a market share of 40 per cent of the Rs 1,800 crore market with a growth of approximately 10-12 per cent every year.

“We have recently come out with a campaign on print and digital mediums talking only about the goodness of our product — that they are made from rich, creamy milk,” said Randhir Kumar, General Manager, Marketing (Dairy Products) of Mother Dairy.

But are both the products same from the health viewpoint?

Sunita Roy Chowdhury, Chief Dietician at BL Kapoor Hospital, said that frozen desserts have more trans-fat as compared to ice-creams. “Trans fatty acids are not good. I believe trans fatty acids are used in frozen desserts because the normal oil does not freeze. I would suggest ice-creams are better than frozen desserts,” Chowdhury asserted.

Nitin Arora, Chief Executive Officer of Creambell — which markets a combination of ice creams and frozen desserts — said awareness should be raised on the virtues of vegetable oil compared to those of dairy fat.

“The cooking medium in our houses remains vegetable oil or mustard oil. This is the same ingredient that goes into the making of frozen dessert. The fact remains that nobody uses ‘vanaspati’ in frozen dessert,” Arora told IANS.

He said that most of the single serves are ice creams, while for catering and banqueting packs they use frozen desserts. “If we sell a frozen dessert, it is very clearly labelled. We cannot camouflage a frozen dessert as ice-cream or vice versa,” he said.

He said that 10 per cent fat that goes into ice-cream is dairy fat, whereas that 10 per cent going into frozen dessert is vegetable oil fat.

Havmor’s Rele says it’s a question of consumer awareness. “At the end of the day is frozen dessert a bad thing? No, it’s not a bad thing, but there are differences. Importantly, a consumer has a right to know,” he said.

RO water sellers knock HC’s door

Nagpur: The RO Chilled Water Manufacturers Association knocked judiciary's doors challenging Foods and Drugs Administration's (FDA) action of prohibiting them from selling their products without Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification.

A division bench comprising justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Rohit Deo, on Friday, issued notices to the respondents, including Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), asking them to reply before August 1. FDA's Mumbai office along with its designated officers and assistant commissioners (Food) in Nagpur, Akola and Bhandara, and BIS are other respondents in the case.

About 16 petitioners from these three cities moved to Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court through counsel Harnish Gadhia after FDA teams raided their premises in last couple of weeks. Immediately after that, the respondents under FSS Act, 2006, issued orders prohibiting the sale of chilled water, being sold openly by them. TOI, in a series of reports, had exposed on how chilled water sellers allegedly sell products in most unhygienic conditions.

The petitioners earlier made various representations to respondents and also raised the issue at various other forums, but nothing moved in their favour.

According to Gadhia, the centre made some amendments in 'Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011' on November 16 last year and published a notification in the Official Gazette of India on March 1.

In a reply to RTI query, the city-based FDA office informed that it's necessary to obtain the licenses under the Act only for sale of packaged drinking water . The BIS informed that its licenses are granted against an Indian Standard, but since it wasn't formulated for drinking water supplied in jars, those can't be granted.

The petitioners prayed for quashing or staying various prohibition orders issued by FDA officers in three cities. They also insist on asking respondents not force them to obtain a license from BIS to sell the water.

FOOD FORTIFICATION – THE WAY FORWARD

In the recently formulated National Health Policy, the Government acknowledged fortification as a key strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies in India. Food fortification should be a vital element of health programmes. Oil is widely consumed by all population groups in India, thus it can be a potent vehicle for fortification with vitamin A and vitamin D

Primarily caused by dietary deficiencies of vitamins A and D, micronutrient malnutrition is emerging as a silent epidemic. Commonly called “hidden hunger”, it does not create hunger pangs but strikes at the core of growth and development. It is a global phenomenon affecting infants, young children and adults of all ages. More than 2 billion people in the world today are affected by micronutrient malnutrition.

Micronutrient malnutrition contributes greatly to the global burden of diseases and is more severe in developing countries. Although India has made significant strides in healthcare in the last decade, it still has a high prevalence of malnutrition, which impedes the socio-economic development. More than 57 per cent of children suffer from Vitamin A deficiency and the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency is as high as 70 per cent in some areas, hence making it more difficult to tackle, but all the more urgent to address.

Micronutrients are dietary components which are vital to development, disease prevention and the well-being of all. Its deficiencies can have far reaching and devastating consequences. Micronutrient deficiencies not only lead to cognitive impairment and increased incidence and severity of infectious illness, but also have far reaching effects on economies through physical and mental disabilities as well as reduced immunity and work productivity, perpetuating poverty and deprivation among people. It also increases mortality and morbidity rates among vulnerable groups. It is estimated that the short-term economic cost of micronutrient malnutrition in India amounts to 0.8 per cent to 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Although these deficiencies are not physically visible, they are widespread. The Indian Constitution guarantees its citizens the fundamental Right to Life which includes the right to adequate food, shelter and clothing. The very existence of malnutrition and hunger is violation of the Constitution and the Right to Life. Our goal should be to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms.

There are various approaches to dealing with micronutrient malnutrition. According to the World Bank, food fortification is one of the simplest, proven, cost-effective complementary strategies. Food fortification aims at addition of essential micronutrients like vitamins and minerals into daily consumed food items. In the case of vitamin A and D, these fat-soluble vitamins can easily be introduced into Indian vegetarian diets through the means of oil fortification, milk and non-dairy soy milk fortification, providing the masses easier access to essential micronutrients and helping in fighting vitamin A and D deficiency-related diseases.

Along with timely intervention of this strategy it is very important to make policymakers, caregivers and families aware of the need for food fortification. While this alone cannot address micronutrient deficiencies, it is definitely one of the critical strategies to address micronutrient deficiencies. In India, food fortification efforts have been scattered and there needs to be a clear strategy from the Government to promote large-scale fortification of food. New investments are needed to build, improve and sustain fortification programmes across the country to reduce the prevalence of diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies.

As a step in this direction, I am glad to note that in the recently formulated National Health Policy, the Government acknowledged fortification as a key strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies in India. Food fortification should be a vital element of health programmes both at the national and State level and needs to be scaled-up at all levels.

In an effort to address the issue, last year, food regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), released a set of standards for fortification of various food items such as rice, wheat flour, salt, milk and oil. Oil is widely consumed by all population groups in India, thus it can be a potent vehicle for fortification with fat soluble vitamins — vitamin A and D. Also the process involved is simple, cost-effective and affordable. Some States in India, like Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, have already begun fortifying oil for their welfare schemes like mid-day meals. The Gujarat and Rajasthan Governments are early adopters and have taken a huge leap in fortification by selling fortified oil in the entire State to address micronutrient deficiencies. It is high time other States followed suit. Micronutrient interventions are critical to achieve the nutrition targets of Sustainable Development Goals. Our investments towards other interventions will have a greater impact on health outcomes of our country if we are successful in tackling nutritional deficiencies.

1.5 tonnes of tobacco products seized

Coimbatore: Tirupur food safety officials seized 1.5 tonnes of tobacco products hidden at a house near Avinashi on Friday morning.

Based on a tip-off, Tirupur designated food safety officer Thamilselvan and team raided small and large tea shops, petty shops and bakeries in the area and warned them not to sell tobacco products.

Based on yet another tip-off, they also raided a house on P S Sundaram Street and found 1.5 tonnes of tobacco products valued at around Rs 5 lakh. The seized products included packets of hans, gutkha and tobacco leaves. Officials said they would continue to investigate the entry, distribution and sale of tobacco in the district, and crackdown on people involved in the trade.

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