DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

FSSAI training food businesses to improve food safety standards

All food businesses need to have at least one person as food safety supervisor who has to be trained and certified as per FSSAI's curriculum

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken up a nationwide training programme to increase the capacity of food businesses towards improving standards of food safety, FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal has said.

He said particularly, small food businesses are not even aware what steps should be taken towards raising food safety standards.

"...So, we have taken up a massive programme for training and capacity building in food businesses.Once that happens, the standards of food safety will improve. It (training) has already begun across the country," Agrawal told PTI on the sidelines of an event.

All food businesses are needed to have at least one person as food safety supervisor who has to be trained and certified as per FSSAI's curriculum, he said.

The training programme has begun across the country several months ago and the plan is to reach out to five to six lakh food businesses in about two years, Agarwal said.

"I think we do not want to bother small businesses to begin with. We will focus our attention on medium and large businesses. We will have to reach out to several lakh food businesses, five-six lakh food businesses to begin with. We will do it in a period of one-and-half to two years," he said.

A training course has been developed for each kind of business and there are a total of 19 such courses, he said.

"There are 19 courses. Each kind of business, there is one course. These courses are very short courses. One-day, two days, three-day courses," he said.

The enforcement of food safety standards is done largely through the state food safety commissioners and the FSSAI is trying to work with all states to improve the standards of food safety, the FSSAI CEO said.

"Different states are in different stages of evolution. In some states, it is very good. In some states, there is a gap. We are trying to work with all the states so that we can improve the quality of compliance by the food businesses," he said.

The FSSAI and the state authorities work under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, he added.

'FSSAI working with industry to address food fortification challenges'

MANGALURU: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is working with the industry to understand the challenges being faced in promoting fortification of wheat flour, rice and double fortification of salt, its chief executive officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi.

"We have recevied fairly good amount of success in getting the free-market availability of fortified oil and milk but in case of wheat flour, rice and double fortification of salts, the progress has been slow," said Agarwal addressing an ASSOCHAM conference on Nutrition and Food Security.

"We are working on it, we are working with the food industry to nudge them, persuade them to understand what are the challenges they are facing," added Agarwal.

The FSSAI is also trying to figure out regulatory concerns the industry might have as they go in for fortification. "Obviously when we go-in for fortification as per standards, we have to be monitoring an evaluation of whether we are getting the results, so for doing all of it we have established Food Fortification Resource Centre with the support of Tata Trust at FSSAI and we have a dedicated team working to promote large-scale fortification of these five staples in the country," Agarwal added.

Despite government policy for fortification, the progress has been somewhat limited, except a few areas where excellence has been achieved largely based on initiatives of individual officers who have felt and recognised the need for fortified staples to reach out the benefit of fortification to the poorest of the poor, he conceeded. "But by and large there had been a lukewarm response to it," he noted.

"In last one year we have made significant progress in terms of standards, giving some structure to the space, but going around the country, we still feel that whole idea of socialisation of the importance of food fortification amongst key stakeholders in the states is still not complete," he said.

"Merely issuing orders and notifications from Government of India will not suffice, state governments in many cases require hand-holding support in order to first be sensitised about why going for fortification and enable them to procure in various programs, fortified staples," added Agarwal.

When it comes to achieving food fortification of five staples across India, there is a long way to go as there are many challenges to make it happen. " I have seen many reports from the states whereby state officials remained confused as to whether or not this is required to be done, clarity in terms of how it is to be done is not there in most states," he added.

"In many f these programs, particularly where you are depending on local initiatives at the state government level are not easy to implement and they take their own time," he added.

Come under purview of Food Safety Act, traders told

TRICHY: Insisting on mandatory registration and licence for business under food safetyand standards authority of India (FSSAI), the district administration has reminded traders to come under the purview of the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.

Collector K Rajamani on Wednesday asserted that all traders involved in food business should compulsorily obtain either registration or licence from the food safety department in the district as soon as possible.

Despite coming into force in 2011 across the country, the Food Safety and Standards Act is seen as a burden by people in the food business in Tamil Nadu. Though the state government enforced the Act in 2012, the process got speeded up after the formation of the food safety department headed by a designated officer (DO) for all districts to get all the traders registered and licensed under the Act in 2015-16.

Going by the data of the food safety and drug administration department in Trichy, a total of 17,600 food business establishments including road side eateries should be covered under the Act across the district. However, the department saw lukewarm response from the traders with only 5,000 of them turning up for registrations and a meagre 1,000 businessmen applying for licence as of now.

Those with an annual turnover of below Rs 12 lakh should get their business registered while those with a turnover of above Rs 12 lakh must get the licence under the Act.

They can apply online at www.fssai.gov.in for both registration and licence by paying Rs 100 and Rs 3,000 in the district treasury following which they should submit the relevant documents to the DO, food safety and drug administration department near Jamal Mohammed College in Trichy. The registration and the licence will be given in 60 days, said the collector.

It may be recalled that the traders association have been expressing their opposition to come under the purview of the Food Safety Act citing several disadvantages to their business.

"Food Safety and Standards Act is said to ensure quality of food given to the people. They have laid down several guidelines to run the food business. However, none of the clauses of the Act will work out in a country like India. Particularly in Tamil Nadu, traders will have to pay penalty or undergo imprisonment for minor violations. Hence, we are vehemently opposing the Act here," general secretary of Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peramaippur, Ve Govindarajulu said.

Cigarette shops barred from selling chips, soft drinks, other non-tobacco products

Health ministry has barred tobacco shops from selling any non-tobacco products, such as toffee, chips and soft drinks, as they may attract the attention of children

The health ministry’s move is aimed at preventing exposure of children to tobacco products. 

New Delhi: The union ministry of health and family welfare has said that shops licensed to sell tobacco products will not be allowed to sell any non-tobacco products that may attract the attention of children.

The move is aimed at preventing exposure of children to tobacco products.

“It is felt that the regulation of tobacco products can be made more effective. It will be appropriate to develop a mechanism to provide permission or authorization through Municipal Authority to the retail shops who are selling tobacco products,” stated Arun Kumar Jha, economic adviser in the ministry of health and family welfare, in a letter dated 21st September 2017.

“Further, it would also be appropriate to make a condition or provision in the authorization that the shops authorized for selling tobacco products, cannot sell any non-tobacco products such as toffees, candies, chips, biscuits, soft drinks, etc., which are essentially meant for non-user, especially children,” Jha said in the letter.

The health ministry also emphasized on various rules and regulations in place to prevent tobacco exposure. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), specifically prohibits smoking in all public places, prohibition of direct and indirect advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of cigarettes and other tobacco products, prohibition of sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors and within 100 yards of any educational institution and display of health warning, including pictorial warning on ill effects of tobacco use on the packages of all tobacco products.

“The central government has enacted the Cigarettes and other Tobacco products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulations of Trade and Commerce Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA), to discourage the use of tobacco, with emphasis on protection of children and young people from being addicted to the use of tobacco, with a view to achieve improvement of public health in general,” stated Jha.

The central government has also enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which makes giving, or causing to be given, any child any tobacco products punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend up to seven years. Further, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, ensures availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and inter alia prohibits using of tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food products.