Oct 27, 2017
30 சதவீதம் பேர் மட்டுமே பதிவு பெற்றுள்ளனர்: உணவு வணிகர்களிடம் கலெக்டர் ஆதங்கம்
சேலம்: ''சேலம் மாவட்டத்தில், 30 சதவீத உணவு வணிகர்கள் மட்டுமே, பதிவு மற்றும் உரிம சான்றிதழ் பெற்றுள்ளனர்,'' என, கலெக்டர் ரோகிணி பேசினார்.
சேலம் மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறை அலுவலகத்தில், நேற்று உணவு வணிகர்களுக்கான உரிமம் பெறுவதற்கான சிறப்பு முகாம் நடந்தது. இதை துவக்கி வைத்து, கலெக்டர் ரோகிணி பேசியதாவது: நாட்டில் பாதுகாப்பில்லாத உணவுகளால், ஆண்டுக்கு, 30 கோடி பேர் பாதிக்கப்படுகின்றனர். அதில், அதிகம் பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளாவது குழந்தைகள். எதிர்ப்பு சக்தி குறைவாக இருப்பதுடன், வெளியில் விற்கப்படும் பொருட்களை அதிகம் பயன்படுத்துவதும் அவர்கள் தான். எனவே பாதுகாப்பான உணவு வழங்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்காகத் தான், உணவு கட்டுப்பாட்டு பிரிவு செயல்பட்டு வருகிறது. உணவு வணிகம் செய்பவர்களுக்கு, பதிவு மற்றும் உரிமம் பெறுவதற்கான கால அவகாசம், 2016, ஆகஸ்ட் மாதத்துடன் முடிவடைந்துவிட்டது. சேலம் மாவட்டத்திலுள்ள, 20 ஆயிரம் உணவு வணிகர்களில், 6,000 பேர் மட்டுமே உரிமம் மற்றும் பதிவு சான்றிதழ்கள் பெற்றுள்ளனர். மற்றவர்களுக்கும் தெரியப்படுத்தி, பதிவு மற்றும் உரிம சான்றிதழ் பெற்றுக்கொள்ள அறிவுறுத்த வேண்டும். டெங்கு தடுப்பு பணிகளிலும், உணவு வணிகர்கள் ஈடுபட வேண்டும். இவ்வாறு அவர் பேசினார். உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர் மாரியப்பன் மற்றும் பலர் பங்கேற்றனர்.
FDA teaches 300 Maharashtra temples how to pack prasad better
The workshops were attended by more than 100 temple trustees, personnel, and staff
A senior official said 53 temple trusts and vendors who prepare various kinds of prasad will attend next sessions.
Prasad packages sent to devotees abroad by city’s sSiddhivinayak temple and over 300 other temples in the state will no longer be rejected because of improper labelling and packaging.
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Maharashtra recently trained temple workers on cooking and labelling standards that confirm to international standards. FDA officials said that earlier, since the packaging, labelling and information on the packages’ content did not meet international guidelines, the consignments would be held up at custom offices abroad, failing to reach devotees.
“The workshops were attended by more than 100 temple trustees, personnel, and staff. We had named the initiative ‘Blissful Hygienic Offering to God’ (BHOG) and it was originally launched by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Siddhivinayak Temple,” said Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner.
Sanjeev Patil, executive officer of Siddhivinayak Temple trust, said, “Our temple was the only one in Asia with FSSAI registration. However, we realized that earlier, there were no norms in place for quality of ingredients, disclosing the contents of prasad on packaging and international food standards about packaging and labelling. Hence, with FSSAI, FDA Maharashtra and other food science organisations we prepared a training module for the temples on how to make and package better.”
A senior official said 53 temple trusts and vendors who prepare various kinds of prasad will attend next sessions. “We largely covered guidelines on handling, cooking and packaging of prasad. International standards also demand disclosure of the process and ingredients on the packaging,” another FDA official added.
One of the temple personnel said that they were following the standard procedure for making prasad. “This session was helpful as we didn’t know some scientific procedure. But we maintain hygiene in making and packaging the prasad,” said the personnel.
FDA officials across Maharashtra have been asked to follow the example of the BHOG initiative.A senior official said, “More training sessions will be planned depending upon the number of temple trusts that come forward in future. Moreover, in October and November, we have planned similar training for restaurant and hotel staff in Mumbai,” said a senior FDA official.
Study reveals some unpalatable truths behind your glass of milk
MUMBAI, OCT 26:
Picture-perfect images of happy cows on green pastures belie the cruelty inflicted on the animal in an increasingly space-deprived dairy industry, alleges the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), calling for stricter norms on the dairy industry in the interest of public health and family welfare.
In its report “CATTLE-OGUE”, an investigation of 451 milk producing centres across 10 milk producing states, FIAPO says that cows raised in these dairies were closely confined, leaving them unable to nurse their calves, for instance; they were treated like milk-producing machines, genetically manipulated and pumped with antibiotics and hormones in order to produce more milk.
And it’s not just the animal that suffers in such cases, but also people who end up drinking the milk from these sick and depressed animals, says FIAPO director Arpan Sharma. In fact, he adds, members of the medical fraternity have pointed out how milk from distressed animals could increase the chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other ailments.
At the Central and state levels, the Government needs to bring in laws to regulate, especially, the urban dairies, Sharma told BusinessLine. The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) regulates milk processing, but when milk is sourced from badly-run dairies the raw material or input ingredient is affected, he points out. In cities, most of the milk, sweets, paneer, etc, is got from milk sourced from badly run dairies on the periphery of the city, he says.
“The Centre, too, needs to amend the Registration of Cattle Premises Rules, 1978, to introduce conditions for the holding of cattle in commercial dairies,” he says, adding that they have approached different authorities on this.
Bringing in better and regulated conditions will also help small farmers in the business by weeding out fly-by-night, unscrupulous operators who masquerade as dairy farmers, he added.
Not so white
The FIAPO report found in the dairies it investigated that urban dairy animals get little access to soft ground in 78 per cent of the dairies. “They spend their lives in cramped, poorly ventilated and dark enclosures in more than one quarter of the dairies, where injuries from slipping in their own excreta are a common occurrence, 64.1 per cent dairies had ill, injured and distressed cattle. Poor veterinary care and illegal use of drugs and hormones such as oxytocin to increase the milk let-down are prevalent. Thus, an evident delinking of humane treatment of cattle as sentient beings is being noticed as a result of the rising demand for milk and milk products,” the report said.
Further, the report points out, “cattle are separated from calves (male calves die within the first week in 25 per cent of dairies), receive little to no veterinary care and are injected with drugs procured illegally to induce sudden milk let-down in almost 50 per cent of the dairies. Unproductive cattle are sold to economically weaker farmers for their personal use or the slaughterhouses by 62.9 per cent dairies – both at low prices to earn meagre sums of money from the final disposition.”
The investigation also reveals the system of the khalbaccha, an effigy made by stuffing a dead calf with hay. “Because of strong maternal bonds, the mother often stops lactating if the calf has died. Hence a khalbaccha is routinely used to mimic the presence of a calf and continue milking,” it said, calling for an urgent and strict implementation of existing laws of animal welfare and urban governance.
Info-box:
# The investigation was undertaken in: NCT Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, UP, MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
# Letters seeking action have been sent to State and Central authorities and the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI).
# FIAPO has 80 members and 200 supporter organisations
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