DINAKARAN NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

MILK ADULTERATION: GOVT ALL SET TO LAUNCH SURVEY

To assess the quality of milk and focus on hotspots where adulteration is most deep-rooted, the Government is all set to launch one of the most extensive surveys with the sample size of about 8,000 from across 36 States/UTs covering 717 districts.

At least 13 common adulterants will be tested by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI). These are adulterants like vegetable oil/fat, detergents/caustic soda, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, glucose, urea, starch, maltodextrin, boric acid, ammonium sulphate, nitrates, cellulose along with pesticides and antibiotic residues covering each and every district of the country.

A senior official from the Authority said that however, sampling would be based on the result of the previous survey, the finding of which would be shared with the successful bidders.

In case the results of analysis of milk samples come out to be non standard but unsafe in a particular area in the previous as well as proposed survey, then more extensive analysis would be carried out in that particular areas to find out root cause of unsafe milk.

“Thus, the proposed milk survey is an extension of the previous milk survey in terms of number of samples, types of tests to be conducted and geographical area to be covered. The proposed survey also includes designing and operation of a framework for continuous monitoring of milk quality in the hotspot areas. This would lead to extensive and intensive analysis of milk,” said the official.

Maximum samples will be picked from Uttar Pradesh( 750), Madhya Pradesh (600), Bihar (450) while 350 each samples from Tamil Nadu, Assam, Telangana, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

In fact, a few months back, the FSSAI had conducted a survey in which it was found that in general milk adulteration was low in southern India, more in north India. A survey with a sample size of about 2,500 was conducted in which some states had reported no adulteration at all.

On June 5, the Madras High Court had observed that adulteration in milk was a serious matter and directed the government to file a status report on the action taken on such complaints.

The direction was given by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar while hearing a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the reports of adulteration in milk by various private producers. 

Raw food sold in Kolkata has Lead concentration far above permissible limit

Concentration found in raw food materials is very high compared to threshold value of 2.5mg/kg.

Prolonged exposure of lead, which is a highly toxic element, to humans can cause permanent damage to the kidneys, liver and hematologic systems. 

Kolkata: Raw food items sold in most city markets have Lead concentration far above the permissible limit and can permanently damage key human organs, a survey conducted by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found.

Samples of raw food items like polished rice, red lentil (masoor dal), red spinach, chicken, fish (without scales), biscuits, spice (cumin seeds) and a common medicinal herb (Holy Basil or Tulsi), collected from 12 markets in the city showed a mean Lead (Pb) concentration between 3.78 and 43.35 mg/kg (average 23.56 mg/kg).

"The mean Lead concentration found in the raw food materials is very high compared to the threshold value of 2.5mg/kg specified by Food Safety & Standards Regulation (2011), India," senior scientist of the GSI, Avijit Das, who headed the group conducting the two-year study, said Sunday.

As per the American and European standards, the current reference range for acceptable blood Lead-concentration in a healthy human being, without excessive exposure to environmental sources of Lead, is less than 0.05 mg/L for children whereas it is less than 0.25 mg/L for adults.

Prolonged exposure of lead, which is a highly toxic element, to humans can cause permanent damage to the kidneys, liver and hematologic systems.

Children are more at risk because lead exposure can reverse their brain growth and cause irreversible damage to their overall well being.

The study, conducted by leading scientists of the GSI, also found that about 75 per cent of the Lead contamination in the food items sold in Kolkata markets, were contributed by atmospheric Lead, mainly produced by the combustion of diesel.

Apart from collecting soil and vegetable samples from Dhapa ground, alongside the EM Bypass, for the study of Lead contamination, the scientists had also collected street dust samples from major roads of the northern and southern parts of the city for the study.

"Coal samples were collected from Jharia and Ranigunj to assess the presence of atmospheric lead from the use of coal while Galena (ore of Lead) samples from Alwar (Rajasthan) were brought to calculate the Lead Isotopic Ratio (LIR) of Indian lead," Das said adding, rain water and diesel samples were collected from city markets for the study.

"All these samples were collected to compare their LIR and lead concentration with that of the raw food items sold in Kolkata markets," he added.

To compare the level of contamination in sediments and vegetables found in Dhapa, soil and vegetable samples were collected from a relatively less polluted Ichapur (Control Site) in North 24 Parganas district.

The maximum Lead concentration in rice was 14.39mg/kg found in the samples collected from a market in Kidderpore in the western part of the city, the study said.

"The Lead concentration in red lentil samples collected from markets in Tollygunge in south Kolkata was found to be between 1.82 and 7.44 mg/kg," Das said.

Samples of vegetables sold in different markets also revealed a Lead concentration ranging from a low of 3.28 mg/kg to a very high value of 145.47 mg/kg while fish had a range of 1.33 to 17.80 mg/kg, he said.

Chicken collected from a market at Garden Reach in the city's port area showed a Lead concentration of 9.58 mg/kg.

"The whole cumin seeds samples collected from a market in Tollygunge area had a Lead-concentration value of 31.25 mg/kg. Among the herb (tulsi) samples, the range of lead concentration was from 8.92 to 33.27 mg/kg," Das said.

Vegetable samples from the three different sites in Dhapa showed an average Lead concentration of 16.83 mg/kg with the Bainchtola sample bearing the minimum with 13.24 mg/kg.

"The less contaminated soil and vegetable samples collected from Ichapur had a total Lead concentration value of 137.75 mg/kg for soil sample and 5.17 mg/kg respectively," it revealed.

The average Lead concentration in soil samples collected from the three sites at Dhapa was 475.85 mg/kg with the minimum value of 197.09 mg/kg at Bainchtola and a maximum of 800.39 mg/kg at Arupota.

The Lead concentration in locally made snacks were found to be in the range of 4.82 to 10.71 mg/kg with the maximum found in the sample collected from Gariahat in south Kolkata.

Das said the survey also found that the Lead concentration in street dust of the city was worrisome.

"The mean concentration of Lead found in the 29 sites of the city was 383.2 mg/kg with a range from 23.82 mg/kg to a very high value of 2,697.24 mg/kg at Amherst Street in north Kolkata," he said.

On ways to tackle the Lead contamination, Das said it could be done by minimising the use of diesel and by urging people to use green energy in vehicles.

"We must encourage the mass traffic movements by greener energy sources like LPG/CNG operated vehicles, battery operated electric cars, solar cars, increasing metro rail network," Das said.

The study was published in the peer reviewed International journals of "Environmental Science and Technology (2017) (online publication)" and "Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2016)"

FSSAI will initiate actions against companies and FBOs selling products made of Hemp

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (“FSSAI”) has notified that action will be taken against the Companies and Food Business Operators (“FBO”) who are using FSSAI licence number on the label of the product made from Hemp and selling them as food under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder.

Background:

FSSAI has received reports that products made from Hemp are being sold illegally by various companies with or without FSSAI license number under various brand names through E-Commerce platforms. Hemp is a product for which no standards have been issued under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder. Since there is a lack of important data and information on the variety of plant that is to be used in the manufacturing process, a detailed risk assessment could not be carried out for the same. For this reason, the Scientific Committee at FSSAI has recommended not to consider hemp for standardization at this stage.

FSSAI has therefore ordered State Commissioners to keep a check on the sale of such products as food and to inspect the premises of FBOs and verify whether Hemp is being manufactured, stored or sold by such FBO and initiate appropriate action against the defaulting FBOs using FSSAI licence no. on the label of the product and selling them as food.

Notices are also to be given to E-Commerce businesses wherein these products are available and sold through their portal.