Oct 22, 2017
FSSAI LAUNCHES DIET4LIFE INITIATIVE TO CREATE ECOSYSTEM FOR IEM PATIENTS
The regulator has identified 15 IEM conditions under the project for which special diets will be imported since these diets are not available in India. These disorders, which impact a small section of consumers, especially babies, occur due to single gene defect leading to abnormalities in the synthesis of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
A senior official from the Authority said that the Diet4Life initiative is a collaborative effort of the FSSAI, , the Health Ministry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Indian Dietetic Association (IDA), the Indian Society for Inborn Errors of Metabolism (ISIEM), the Metabolic Errors and Rare Diseases organisation of India (MERD) and the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) to ensure a holistic service for IEM patients, with the facilities of diagnosis, treatment and management of IEM.
The other stakeholders in the initiative are the National Neonatology Forum (NNF), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Indian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ISPGHAN) and the Infant and Young Child Nutrition Council of India (IYNCI).
In fact, without special diets, children born with IEM would often not survive infancy. It is estimated that IEM affects over 30,000 children in India, but in the absence of adequate screening facilities for this disorder, 30,000 diagnosed cases most likely represent only the tip of the iceberg.
It is hoped that the Union Health Ministry's funded Vellore project to screen such child would help in finding actual numbers as also ensure early intervention aimed to increase quality of his/her life and even prevent death.
Among various tests, the test for the IEM will also be conducted by taking blood sample of the baby within 72 hours of birth. "This will help start treatment early and provide interventional treatment," said a senior official from the Health Ministry.
Antibiotic use in food animals to grow drastically: Study
If regulatory authorities do not step in, 4,796 tons of antibiotics will be fed to animals reared for food by 2030, up 82 per cent, as per the report published in the journal Science. Animals reared for food were fed 2,633 tons of antibiotics in 2013.
However, two basic interventions could change that: A cap on the amount of antibiotics that can be administered to a food animal and a price hike in veterinary antibiotics to dissuade excessive use.
These steps could result in India using 61 per cent less antibiotics in food animals. It could also avert the health disaster expected from the widespread malpractice of using antibiotics as growth promoters.
“The [expected] hike [in antibiotic use] reflects the growing consumption of meat in India, and in particular, meat from animals administered antibiotics as growth promoters,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CCDEP) and co-author of the study.
In rural India, the consumption of mutton, beef, pork and chicken has more than doubled between 2004 and 2011. It has gone up from 0.13 kg per capita per month to 0.27 kg, according to the 61st and 68th rounds of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data. Urban India has seen a spike from 0.22 kg to 0.39 kg in the same period.
Food animals are given small doses of antibiotics mixed with their feed to promote growth and prevent disease. This allows farmers to save on nutrition and hygiene but has serious long term consequences for human health.
Why this antibiotic shouldn’t become the poultry farm favourite
In Punjab, two-thirds of farmers of poultry–the most commonly consumed meat in India–use antibiotics for growth promotion, according to another recent study by Laxminarayan and others, as IndiaSpend reported in August 2017.
Tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones–antibiotics commonly used to treat cholera, malaria, respiratory and urinary tract infections in humans–were found to be the most commonly used antimicrobials.
Of all the medicines used in livestock in India, quinolones are projected to see the biggest increase in use, 243 per cent through to 2030, according to the new study.
“That an antibiotic commonly used in humans is projected to see the biggest increase in animal use is of great concern,” said Laxminarayan. “The use in animals of ciprofloxacin, a valuable oral broad-spectrum antibiotic, should be stopped at the earliest. Such use (of ciprofloxacin) has been discontinued in the US.”
“Levels of multidrug-resistance were close to 90% in biological samples obtained from animals on those farms,” he said. “The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria would mean that many more people could die from common infectious diseases.”
Indian food authorities are slow to respond to the threat
Antibiotics are freely and cheaply available in India. This is the biggest reason for the reckless use of antimicrobials as growth promoters in poultry farms.
How can this be changed?
“Agencies with the regulatory authority—such as the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India—should move quickly in this direction to avoid further degradation of antibiotic effectiveness,” said Laxminarayan.
In June 2017, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) brought out a draft notification prescribing residual limits for antibiotics, veterinary drugs and pharmacologically active substances in meat, poultry, eggs and milk. This came six years after the authority prescribed antibiotic residual limits for fish and fishery products and honey.
“Antimicrobial resistance is an evolving area, we have been studying the implications of the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in food animals in India and are willing to address this concern,” Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, told IndiaSpend. He estimated that it would take another 90 to 120 days for the regulation to be introduced.
Antibiotics used to cut costs on sanitation, diet
By specifying the limits of permissible antibiotic residue in food animals, the FSSAI regulation, when it is framed, will indirectly make it unlawful to use the drugs beyond a certain limit.
The new study proposes clearly capping the use of antibiotics in food animals to a specified limit and increasing the prices of veterinary antibiotics to dissuade use.
In the 18 farms that Laxminarayan’s team visited during the first study, it was found that large flocks, more than 50,000 birds, were kept in confined areas lacking proper sanitation.
Organic nurturing results in higher costs, price
To understand why poultry farmers use antibiotics as cheap and easily accessible growth boosters, consider the case of an agro enterprise that has adopted organic practices.
At Kansal & Kansal Agro Farms in Haryana, chicken feed is sourced only from pesticide-free farms and then mixed with herbs. The chickens are kept in a partially temperature controlled environment. The farm also invests in research to improve farming practices.
How to cut antibiotic misuse by more than half
High-income countries with highly productive livestock sectors—such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands—use antibiotics sparingly. The limit is less than 50 milligrams of antibiotics per population corrective unit (mg/PCU), a measurement unit developed by the European Medicines Agency to monitor antibiotic use and sales across Europe.
The new study suggests capping the use of antibiotics in farm animals at 50 mg/PCU globally. If India were to adopt this limit, antibiotic use in food animals in the country would decline by 15%, or 736 tons through to 2030.
Limiting meat intake may not help
Limiting meat intake to the equivalent of one fast-food burger, roughly 40 grams per person per day globally—or 14.6 kg per person per annum—is the third intervention proposed by the new study.
Globally, limited meat intake could help reduce the global consumption of antibiotics for food animals by 66%. However, this intervention is not needed in India, where the per capita consumption of meat is below 5 kg per capita per annum.
For comparison, the per capita annual consumption of meat in China is 50 kg, well above the recommended 14.6 kg.
(Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.)
Every milk sample analysed in Telangana perfect? Doubtful FSSAI orders re-survey
FSSAI has conducted a National Milk Quality Survey in 2016-17, covering 110 cities in 32 states and union territories. More than 1,700 samples were analysed qualitatively for 14 adulterants, Fat and SolidNot-Fat (SNF) content.
"We do not believe the results from the states, including Telangana, that have shown 100% compliance. That's why we haven't declared the results yet. Some states have shown 0% compliance while others showed 100% compliance with FSSAI standards. We can't conclude the survey based on these results. We are going for re-sampling and a snapshot survey. The resampling is already being dotime, we are looking for a third party survey as the state labs are not equipped to check the presence of pesticides and antibiotics in the milk," Dr Monica Puniya said.
In the initial survey, Telangana officials had lifted 52 samples, including 42 from Hyderabad and 11 from Warangal. They insist that the samples were of prescribed standards.
"All 52 samples are within the FSSAI standards for all 13 parameters. In one or two samples, there was a minor variation in SNF. We haven't found bacteria in any of the samples. We have submitted a report to Delhi. FSSAI has informed us orally that a rapid resurvey has been ordered in certain states," Telangana deputy food controller, J Laxmaiah, said.
"However, in routine sampling, we are getting certain sub-standard samples with SNF in districts. But we haven't found any case of synthetic milk," he added.
samples will be taken for a qualitative study to find traces of 13 adulterants, along with pesticides and antibiotic residues. "Henceforth, the milk quality survey will be on a regular basis like other commodities. We have received complaints from certain states that during festive seasons, milk adulteration is rampant. This ne. We will analyse and conclude in one or two months," Dr Monica Puniya, assistant director of FSSAI, told TOI. Neutralisers and urea are some of the common adulterants found in milk samples, Puniya added.
Apart from a resurvey in Telangana, FSSAI is also doing another round of nationwide study. This time, 8,000 samples will be taken for a qualitative study to find traces of 13 adulterants, along with pesticides and antibiotic residues.
"Henceforth, the milk quality survey will be on a regular basis like other commodities. We have received complaints from certain states that during festive seasons, milk adulteration is rampant. This time, we are looking for a third party survey as the state labs are not equipped to check the presence of pesticides and antibiotics in the milk," Dr Monica Puniya said.
In the initial survey, Telangana officials had lifted 52 samples, including 42 from Hyderabad and 11 from Warangal. They insist that the samples were of prescribed standards.
"All 52 samples are within the FSSAI standards for all 13 parameters. In one or two samples, there was a minor variation in SNF. We haven't found bacteria in any of the samples. We have submitted a report to Delhi. FSSAI has informed us orally that a rapid resurvey has been ordered in certain states," Telangana deputy food controller, J Laxmaiah, said.
"However, in routine sampling, we are getting certain sub-standard samples with SNF in districts. But we haven't found any case of synthetic milk," he added.
Spurious jaggery makers in Karnataka's Bhadravati shock officials
A huge pile of tyres was found at a jaggery making unit at Aralihalli of Bhadravati taluk by FSSAI officials recently
SHIVAMOGGA: Bhadravati taluk was once considered to produce the best jaggery in the state, but its reputation is in tatters these days with the influx of spurious products.When this was brought to the notice of the district administration, it conducted a few raids on Aalemanes (traditional jaggery manufacturing units). Imagine their surprise when they found out that in many places, jaggery was being made without its main ingredient — sugarcane juice.
This situation is the result of the closure of MPM Sugar Mills in Bhadravati when almost all sugarcane growers turned to making jaggery on their land. Some got together to set up their own Aalemanes while some did it individually.Along with Mahalingapura of Bagalkot district and Pandavapura of Mandya, Bhadravati is the largest producer of jaggery in the state.
Earlier there were more than 150 Aalemanes in the taluk, but now the number has dwindled to 92. As the quality of jaggery is good, the price too is high. So, to encash on this, new jaggery makers started producing spurious products.This came to light when authorities of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and police raided some of the aalemanes in Aralihalli and Thiplapura of the taluk on the direction of the Additional Deputy Commissioner.
“We were shocked to see that inferior quality jaggery was being made using chemicals and fertilizer. We will bring this issue to the notice of the DC and necessary steps will be taken,” said Shankarappa, district officer of FSSAI.The members of Aalemane Owners Association have urged the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to stop the manufacture of inferior quality jaggery.Zilla Panchayat member and Jaggery unit owners society president Manishekhar said, “Today we have convened a meeting of all our members. We have reprimanded those who were engaged in making spurius jaggery. The society will not support such people.”
How inferior jaggery is made
The jaggery makers would bring residues of jaggery made in Mahalingapura and Pandavapura and very low quality sugar that was rejected by factories and mix them with water, fertilizer and other chemicals to make jaggery.While traditional jaggery makers use residues of sugarcane as fuel for boiling the cane juice, new jaggery makers use tyres, plastic and other such wastes as fuel. Several loads of tyres and plastics at the aalemanes caught the attention of people, said an aalemane owner.Many villagers and residents started complaining about the smoke emanating from such aalemanes to police, which also blew the lid on the manufacture of sub-standard jaggery.After the raid, the FSSAI and police recovered huge stock of tyres, chemicals and fertilizer.
HC directs pvt milk firms to test products every 3 months
The judge was hearing an application filed by the Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, Dodla Dairy Ltd and Vijay Dairy and Farm Products Pvt Ltd.
The Madras High Court today ordered three private milk manufacturers to get their products tested in a certified lab every three months and submit the report before it, pending disposal of their suits claiming damages from a Tamil Nadu minister over his allegations about their quality.
Justice C V Karthikeyan said his July 10 interim order restraining Dairy Development Minister K T Rajendra Balaji from making allegations on quality of the products of the manufacturers without any proof would continue till the disposal of the suits.
The judge was hearing an application filed by the Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, Dodla Dairy Ltd and Vijay Dairy and Farm Products Pvt Ltd.
In the application, they had sought an interim order directing the minister not to make general allegations.
The judge directed the companies to test samples of their products in certified labs every three months and submit the lab reports in the court till the suits were adjudicated.
In their suits, the companies had each claimed Rs one crore damages from the minister over his allegations that they had indulged in adulteration of their products.
On July 26, Balaji had moved the court, seeking dismissal of the suits saying it "is a blackmail action (by the companies)".
He had said even the Supreme Court had directed the central and state governments to take steps to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, effectively.
Balaji had claimed he had material to prove that the firms had indulged in milk adulteration.
Besides seeking the damages, the firms had submitted that the minister's remarks were meant to create a "sense of fear and panic" among consumers and a sense of "disgust and revulsion" on milk and milk products manufactured by private dairies as a whole and their product in particular.
Board begins quality tests for Nepal tea
The testing is being done to check whether the teas conform to the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India norms, sources said.
Demand for import variety surges
Amid reports of rising imports of teas from Nepal, the Tea Board of India has unveiled an exercise to test the teas.
Samples of these teas are being tested at the regulator’s Quality Control Laboratory in Siliguri in North Bengal, itself a major tea-trading centre. The testing is being done to check whether the teas conform to the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India norms, sources said.
This facility was created mainly to cater to the needs of the Darjeeling teaindustry, almost 80% of which is exported. The laboratory has facilities for testing for the presence of pesticide residue, of heavy metals and to analyse microflora and other toxins. The presence of these elements not only compromises the quality of tea, but also impacts consumer acceptance of the beverage in domestic and global markets.
Cheaper option
For the past few years, rising imports of Nepal teas have been a source of concern to the Darjeeling tea industry.
Import of teas from Nepal to India stood at 11.4 million kg in 2015, rising to 12.2 million kg in 2016. Between January to July of 2017, about 4.3 million kg was imported according to official statistics. India imports these teas under the India Nepal Free-Trade agreement and the teas are substantially cheaper than the Darjeeling brew.
There are now fears that the recent Gorkha Janmukti agitation, which led to a prolonged shutdown of the Darjeeling tea industry, has paved the way for increased imports of tea from Nepal, which is similar to Darjeeling teas.
This development comes at a time when the Darjeeling tea industry is limping back to normalcy after the 104-day strike.
A meeting of the Area Scientific Committee of the Tea Research Association took place in Kurseong, where planters and scientists got together to hammer out a strategy to overcome the crisis situation, discussing the practices to be adopted for plucking.
“The need to ready the gardens for the first flush plucking beginning in March, and the possibility of salvaging some leaves for now was discussed,” according to official sources.
Participants discussed issues such as clearing and weeding the gardens and managing the overgrown tea bushes and pests.
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