Sep 1, 2017
Poultry waste spreading drug-resistant bacteria: Study
Misuse of antibiotics in poultry farms is leading to multi-drug resistant bacteria which is spreading into the environment through unsafe disposal of poultry litter
The study found that antibiotics were being used in poultry farms and that the litter was used as manure in neighbouring agricultural lands.
New Delhi: Misuse of antibiotics in poultry farms is leading to multi-drug resistant bacteria which is spreading into the environment through unsafe disposal of poultry litter and waste in agricultural fields, with the potential to infect human beings, a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) warns.
Urging the government to control the “rampant antibiotic misuse”, the thinktank urged the environment ministry and central and state pollution control boards to bring in laws and standards ensure monitoring and surveillance.
In 2014, another CSE study had said that there is a possibility that one in every two chicken consumed in India has a strong presence of antibiotics, which could be leading to growing antibiotic-resistance in humans.
For the present study, CSE collected samples of litter and soil from in and around 12 randomly selected poultry farms in four key poultry-producing states in north India—Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. The farms were spread out across 12 different clusters in nine districts.
“A total of 217 isolates of three types of bacteria – E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus lentus —were extracted and tested for resistance against 16 antibiotics. Ten of these antibiotics have been declared Critically Important (CI) for humans by the World Health Organization (WHO),” the study said.
The study found that antibiotics were being used in these poultry farms and that the litter was used as manure in neighbouring agricultural lands. The poultry sector is estimated to be worth Rs1 trillion in India, which is among the top five eggs and chicken producers in the world.
“Antibiotic misuse is common in the poultry sector. What makes the situation worse is the fact that the sector is also plagued with poor waste management. Therefore we first wanted to understand the extent of antibiotic resistance in the poultry environment, and then establish if the resistance bacteria is moving out of the poultry farms into the environment through waste disposal,” said Chandra Bhushan, CSE’s deputy director general while releasing the study on Thursday.
The study said if bacteria are resistant to antibiotics of at least three classes, they are considered multi-drug resistant, adding 100% of the E. coli, 92% of Klebsiella pneumoniae and 78% of Staphylococcus lentus isolated from the poultry environment were multi-drug resistant,
About 40% of E. coli and 30% of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were resistant to at least 10 out of 13 antibiotics against which these bacteria were tested for resistance, said the study.
“Both E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae had very high resistance to antibiotics of critical importance to humans such as penicillins, fluoroquinolones, third and fourth generation cephalosporins and carbapenems, which is a last resort antibiotic used in hospitals,” the study added.
Bhushan warned, “In humans, E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae cause infections which are becoming difficult to treat due to high resistance.”
“Disturbingly, we found very high resistance in E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from the poultry environment. In some of the isolates, all antibiotics that we tested were ineffective. If these bacteria infect a human, then hardly any medicine will work as cure,” he added.
The study also found strong similarity in the resistance pattern of E. coli from the litter and from agricultural soil in the surrounding areas where the litter was used as manure.
“This similarity was statistically established by the study,” it added.
“This indicates that the multi-drug resistant E. coli being created in the poultry farms is entering the environment through litter. From the agricultural fields, these bacteria can go anywhere – into groundwater and food – and can infect agricultural workers and animals, thereby becoming a public health threat,” said Amit Khurana, senior programme manager of CSE’s food safety and toxins team.
In April 2017, India’s health minister J.P. Nadda announced the finalization of India’s comprehensive and multi-sectoral National Action Plan (NAP) to combat Antimicrobial Resistance. The government had pledged to adopt a “holistic and collaborative approach towards prevention and containment of AMR in India”.
Bhushan said the NAP must be properly supported and funded by the Union government.
“We must eliminate the use of antibiotics as growth promoter in the poultry industry. Antibiotics should be used as a last resort to control the disease. This is the only way we can reduce the creation and spread of antibiotics resistance,” Bhushan said.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation to make food vendor's registration compulsory
With this aim in mind, the KMC will invite representatives of city's food hawkers' union to a workshop on food safety and standard to be held in the city on September 13. The workshop will train a vendor the essentials of doing away with adulteration in food. For example, the workshop will focus on the exact means of cooking Biryani without mixing unapproved colours to make the food attractive to the buyers.
Similarly, sweet sellers will be advised not to use chemicals to bring colours to the food item. In addition to the workshop which is being organized by the union health and family welfare ministry, the KMC will organize several training sessions for the food vendors across the city from September 15 to October 1. "We will teach them how to prepare and sell food items following the FSSAI guidelines.
After successful completion of the training session, a food vendor can apply for registration. In that case, our food safety officers will pay surprise visits to the stalls and submit their reports on the state of health and hygiene of food that an applicant is serving to the customers. If the report goes in favour of a particular food vendor, he will be eligible for our registration scheme," Atin Ghosh, the member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC health department said on Wednesday.
According to a KMC health department official, the civic body took such a plan after conducting anti-adulteration drives across the city. After examination of food samples such as Biryani, noodles, snacks or sweets in the KMC laboratories it was found that some of these food items were unfit for human consumption. "Side by side with the training sessions, we will conduct anti-adulteration drives during the puja days.
The drive will be conducted not only in the pavement food stalls but some major hotels and restaurants will also come under the drive," the civic official said.
Compulsory registration scheme mooted for Kolkata food vendors
KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation plans to bring city's food vendors under a compulsory registration scheme. The idea behind such a plan is to ensure hygiene of the food being sold in the open as prescribed by Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The KMC in association with FSSAI will train city's food vendors or hawkers on how to prepare food following basic health standard and sell the same following the hygiene norms.
With this aim in mind, the KMC will invite representatives of city's food hawkers' union to a workshop on food safety and standard to be held in the city on September 13. The workshop will train a vendor the essentials of doing away with adulteration in food. For example, the workshop will focus on the exact means of cooking Biryani without mixing unapproved colours to make the food attractive to the buyers. Similarly, sweet sellers will be advised not to use chemicals to bring colours to the food item. In addition to the workshop which is being organized by the union health and family welfare ministry, the KMC will organize several training sessions for the food vendors across the city from September 15 to October 1.
"We will teach them how to prepare and sell food items following the FSSAI guidelines. After successful completion of the training session, a food vendor can apply for registration. In that case, our food safety officers will pay surprise visits to the stalls and submit their reports on the state of health and hygiene of food that an applicant is serving to the customers. If the report goes in favour of a particular food vendor, he will be eligible for our registration scheme," Atin Ghosh, the member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC health department said on Wednesday.
According to a KMC health department official, the civic body took such a plan after conducting anti-adulteration drives across the city. After examination of food samples such as Biryani, noodles, snacks or sweets in the KMC laboratories it was found that some of these food items were unfit for human consumption. "Side by side with the training sessions, we will conduct anti-adulteration drives during the puja days. The drive will be conducted not only in the pavement food stalls but some major hotels and restaurants will also come under the drive," the civic official said.
Quick facts:
Number of city's food vendors: 1 lakh
The civic initiative for city's food vendors: Bringing them under a compulsory registration scheme
The aim: To make them responsible in serving quality food as prescribed by FSSAI.
The process: They will have to take part in several workshops to be organized by FSSAI and the KMC health department.
The KMC food safety officials will then pay surprise visits to the stalls before recommending for registration.
Food safety inspections at hotels
The health wing of the city Corporation inspected Buhari hotel at Attakulangara and Ariya Nivas at Aristo Junction on Thursday. Notice was issued to Buhari hotel to take steps to improve the hygiene there urgently. At Ariya Nivas, the health wing seized at least 200 kg of plastic carry bags used for packing food. The inspections were led by Corporation health officer Sasikumar, health supervisors Ushakaran and Rameshkumar, and health inspector N.V. Anilkumar. Inspections at hotels will continue in the days to come, a statement from the Corporation said.
Improvement notices served to city restaurants
Thiruvananthapuram: Use of monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as 'ajinomoto', is rampant in restaurants serving Chinese food in the city.
As part of a raid conducted by the food safety department, improvement notices were served and fines imposed on restaurants which did not display notices stating that they are using MSG in food items. The raid was conducted in view of the Bakrid-Onam festival season.
As MSG is not banned by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the department cannot restrict its usage. However, in an order issued two years ago, the food safety department had made it mandatory for restaurants using MSG to display it so that pregnant women and children will be on alert. But none of the restaurants displayed the statement. Many restaurants in the city have displayed that they are not using this taste enhancing food additive, creating a positive feel among consumers.
The food safety officials informed that they have found rampant use of MSG, but the eateries violated norms by not informing the consumers.
"If you take packaged products, it will clearly state that MSG is included. That is applicable to restaurants too. Studies have proved that consumption of MSG is not good for children below one year of age and pregnant women," the officials said.
Apart from use of MSG, the common food safety violation noticed in eateries in the city was improper use of freezers.
"The freezers were not used properly. As per norms, freezer must be used at -18 degree celsius and fridge at 4 degree celsius. The temperature was not maintained.
Also cooked, half-cooked, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items were kept together in plastic wraps. This would lead to contamination," an official said.
The food safety officials also found that most of the employees of restaurants lacked medical fitness certificates.
The department has formed three squads for the district. Of this, the squad formed for the city has conducted inspections in 139 eateries and slapped improvement notices on 51 institutions. A fine of Rs 2.15 lakh was slapped on various eateries.
Soon, food biz will require staff certified in safety, hygiene practices
Panaji: Training those involved in the food business in way of good sanitary and hygiene practices is a prerequisite to food safety and this is exactly what Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) recently launched the Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) programme is looking to achieve.
In Goa, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is getting ready to commence implementation of the programme starting in the month of October.
"The programme entails training persons in food safety and nutrition through private participation. Empanelled auditors will conduct training programmes of varied durations," said FDA director Salim Veljee, adding that as directed by the FSSAI, for the first two years, the FoSTac certification will be voluntary.
"(Eventually) it will be mandatory for food establishments to recruit a person holding FoSTac certification under the FoSTac regime, and the person will have to ensure food safety and hygiene at his/her place of employment," said Veljee, adding, some 3000-odd food premises in Goa will be brought under the ambit of the programme.
Veljee said that with the implementation of this programme FDA would not need to carry out training and awareness campaigns in food safety from to time, adding that the involvement of private auditors will ease their job, leaving FDA staff to carry out their other functions that they would have had to otherwise defer due to time constraints.
"We cannot keep a 24X7 vigil. It is simply not possible," said Veljee, adding that their limited staff strength did not permit them to check each and every eatery on a regular basis. The FDA is already in talks with various stakeholders in the state to enable the programme to commence in October.
Training partners will broadly include trade, professional and scientific associations, licensed food businesses, recognized academic and vocational institutions, those approved by various sectors of skill councils and other government schemes, and other training agencies, who have had at least three years of experience at the national or international level in training in food safety and nutrition.
For FDA, the FoSTac is a big step that would change the working of food establishments. There will be different levels of programmes covering various segments and duration of training programmes would vary depending on the targeted segment.
Veljee said a person running a 'gaada' selling vada pao will not able to devote eight hours of day to attend a training programme. For him and other such people, a training programme of shorter duration has been drawn.
FSSAI asks States to inspect units manufacturing, processing edible oil over compliance of max 5% trans fatty acids norm
FSSAI asks States to inspect units manufacturing, processing edible oil over compliance of max 5% trans fatty acids norm
New Delhi, Aug 31 (KNN) Food quality watchdog Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked the states to inspect the units manufacturing and processing edible oil, particularly those with large capacity, to verify compliance to the notification revising maximum limit of trans fatty acids.
Through a notification dated August 4, 2015 FSSAI had revised maximum limit of trans fatty acids to be not more than 5 per cent in Interesterified Vegetable Fat/ Oil, Margarine and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils.
The timeline for compliance of the notification was extended up to February 27, 2017 through notification dated August 10, 2016.
Now, FSSAI on completion of deadline has asked Commissioners of Food Safety of all States/ UTs to take up special drive to inspect the units in this regard.
It has asked the Commissioners to furnish details on action taken report regarding compliance of notification; data on trans-fatty acids in interestified vegetable fat/ oil, margarine and hydrogenated vegetable oils; and report from FBOs on the technological changes, in any, carried out to bring down trans fatty acids within 5 per cent limit.
The reports have to be sent to FSSAI by September 30, 2017
Market checking team realizes Rs 5000 as fine
RAJOURI, Aug 31: In view of upcoming festive days of Eid-ul-Azha, a special squad comprising of AD FCS&CA Javaid Iqbal, Assistant Commissioner Food Safety and Standards, Assistant Controller Legal Metrology and officials of revenue, municipality, animal husbandry department and police today conducted extensive market checking and booked the defaulters under relevant sections of Food Safety Act.
In order to contain profiteering, blackmarketting and hoarding besides ensuring the quality of food items, fruits and vegetables the joint team held market checking in the main town including Gujjar Mandi, Malik Market and other adjoining markets. A huge quantity of adulterated food items, rotten fruits and vegetables, and expired packs of juices and milk were destroyed by the team and Rupees five thousand was realised from the defaulters.
The team also inspected various chicken and meat establishments in the town and instructed the concerned to strictly adhere to the laid down.
Online registration for FBOs
Imphal, August 31 2017: Designated Officer/Chief Medical Officer, Tamenglong district, in a statement informed all the Food Business Operators (FBOs) in the district that Online Licensing/Registration may be available on the website www.foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in.
It asked the FBOs to comply with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Rules and Regulations, 2011
How to choose the right health supplement
Experts shares some important facts before you choose a health suppliment.
Fitness today is a far more integral part of daily life than ever before. We all want toned bodies, firm muscles, right weight and an appealing appearance.
For that we do extensive workouts. Working out burns up calories and we need supplements to make up for the energy loss and to avoid exhaustion. A good supplement ensures that you get adequate and measurable essential nutrients. Sportspersons and athletes, especially, need supplements for stamina and post-workout recovery.
There are a number of supplements in the market. But you need to read the label carefully. Here's what, according to Manpreet Kaur, nutritionist at Proquest Nutrition, one should look out for and what you should guard against, while picking up nutritional supplements.
Look out for:
Nutritional supplements help athletes meet their increased protein requirement. Intensive training endurance athletes, athletes trying to gain muscle mass and strength athletes all need high-protein supplements in the initial stages of training. Even though the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends that it is best for athletes to get their protein requirements from their diet, it is not always possible, so supplements are a practical and convenient way to meet the demand. Supplements with whey and casein protein, because of their "high protein digestibility, corrected amino acid score and ability to increase muscle protein mass, meet athletes' post-workout needs.
Creatine, in the supplement, aids muscle performance Protein supplements usually contain creatine. Creatine is said to improve strength, increase lean muscle mass, and help the muscles recover quickly after exercise. The European Food Safety Authority reports that, for high intensity workout, athletes who consume 3g of creatine everyday achieve "an increase in physical performance during short-term, high intensity and repeated exercise bouts".
Branched chain amino acids promote muscle protein synthesis. Studies have shown that branched chain amino acids (BCAA) in nutritional supplements improve recovery and exercise performance during intense workout. BCAAs are three amino acids -- leucine, isoleucine and valine -- with similar structures that beneficially influence the muscles. They help to promote muscle protein synthesis and minimise muscle protein breakdown without putting any substantial calorie load.
# Warning:
Health risks: Consuming too much protein in nutritional supplements over a period of time can increase the risk of developing osteoporosis, cause kidney stones and worsen existing kidney problems. Other side-effects includes: dehydration, constipation, increased bowel movements, nausea, cramps, bloating, reduced appetite, fatigue and interaction with medication.
Not always nutritionally balanced: Protein shakes are often marketed as meal replacements. However, not all of these are nutritionally balanced; excess intake of protein could also lead to nutritional imbalance and harm your digestive system.
May contain harmful substances: Many of us take supplements not just to make up for what's lacking in our diet, but also to give ourselves an extra health boost. But, some supplements may contain harmful ingredients which can be detrimental to health. Steroids, stimulants and hormones, sometimes included in some supplements, can result in kidney failure, seizure or heart problems.
Read the label carefully. Pick a reputed brand - one that's safe and provides optimum nutrients for maximum performance!
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