Nov 28, 2017
Fast food chains should avoid antibiotics in chicken
Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Jagdish Prasad has called for small and big fast food chains in India to stop using antibiotics in chicken and other food products.
Prasad also called for strong guidelines for the fast food chains in India so that the burning issue of health hazards by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can be tackled.
"All big and small companies should take the initiative against using antibiotics. There is a need for deadline for small and big fast food chains. In US, there is a restriction to big companies such as McDonalds against using antibiotics," said Prasad, while interacting with reporters.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication previously used to treat them. The term includes the more specific "antibiotic resistance", which applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.
As part of the government's initiative to tackle AMR, the Health Ministry on November 20 has called for suggestions and observations from all the stakeholders for the amendment to Food Safety and Standards Regulation, 2011.
This notification contains maximum permissible limits of various antibiotics in meat and meat products including chicken.
According to Food Safety Security Authority of India, maximum permissible limits of 37 antibiotics and 67 other veterinary drugs are prescribed for chicken.
Lifestyle diseases up due to pollution,unhealthy food choices:
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Lifestyle or non-communicable diseases are on the rise in India due to pollution and unhealthy food choices, experts said today.
Delhi is much more polluted today than it was in the 1990s, Sunita Narain of the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) said at a panel discussion.
The panel discussion was organised at an event to release a report on Body Burden: Lifestyle Diseases".
The panel of doctors, including renowned cardiologist Naresh Trehan, outlined the repercussions of polluting environment and rise in non-communicable or lifestyle diseases in the country.
Trehan laid emphasis on more contribution from the civil society to force the governments to take steps to bring down pollution levels.
"Civil society never really woke up. Nobody raise voice collectively to make the governments take steps to prevent air pollution," he said referring to the recent smog in Delhi.
He also suggested for simple, short-term solutions that can be adopted by people to help fight pollution.
Pawan Agarwal, chief executive officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), detailed initiatives and measures taken by the body to make food healthier for the people.
"Businesses are now recognising that they have to produce healthy food," he said, referring to the campaign and initiatives of the FSSAI.
"We are now eating less healthier food than we were eating 15 years ago," he said and added that the authority was working on a standard book on heavy metal content of food that will be released soon.
Dr Sanjeev Bagai highlighted the toxins present in air that also pollute soil and water and enter our food chain.
The urban poor are the "worst affected" due to diabetes because of lack of healthy food, said Dr Ambrish Mithal, head of Endocrinology and Diabetes division at Medanta Hospital.
He said that changing eating behaviour is the biggest challenge as far as controlling diabetes is concerned and it should begin from the childhood.
Trehan suggested for regular yoga, along with healthy food and light weight exercise, to develop muscle mass in the body to stay fit in the long run.
Fruit juices, cereals, cereal-based foods, bakery products will soon have fortification standards
NEW DELHI: Fruit juices, cereals, cereal-based foods and bakery products will soon have standards for fortification. Safe foods will have a logo of declaration set by national food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), CII National Committee on Nutrition chairperson Vinita Bali told ET.
The committee, which includes large packaged food companies like Kraft Heinz, Britannia, ITC, Kellogg, Cargill and GSK Consumer, is working with FSSAI to set the standards, Bali, formerly managing director at biscuits maker Britannia, said. “We are looking to strengthen regulatory monitoring to ensure quality and safety of fortified foods and promote a national logo for easy recognition of safe foods,” she said. Bali added that standards are being set for consumer staples including salt, oil and milk.
“We intend to create an enabling environment by issuing fortification standards for multiple foods.” The logo for easy recognition of ‘safe’ foods could be yellow, similar to the existing red and green logos to identify vegetarian and non-vegetarian packaged foods.
“We are focusing on fortifying staples like wheat flour, milk, rice and oil. This will be followed by packaged food,” said FSSAI chief executive Pawan Kumar Agarwal. FSSAI also plans to work with packaged foods companies on advertising campaigns to increase consumer awareness about fortification, he added “Big players have come on board despite fortification not being mandatory in India. This is unique as most countries had to make it compulsory,” he said. Companies come forward when there is a competitive advantage in doing something. In such a case, there will be competitive disadvantage in not working towards fortification, he added.
FSSAI has been driving large-scale fortification of consumer staple foods such as wheat flour, rice, milk, oil and salt to combat widespread malnutrition in the country.
Packaged foods makers across the world are working to supplement foods with healthier ingredients, not only under directives from governments but also to compete in categories with multiple players. Over the last one year, Nestle, PepsiCo and Cargill have announced global initiatives to package their foods such as noodles, seasoning, salty snacks and edible oils with nutrients such as iron, grain and vitamins.
Common Myths About Food Poisoning and How to Avoid It
In some cultures, eating out is a common practice for various reasons. This may be because it’s more
convenient and economical. In other cultures, cooking at home is the mainstay. Whichever one you’re
used to, one important aspect should not be overlooked, and that’s cleanliness.
Food safety is important whether you eat out or prepare meals at home. Food poisoning is often viewed as a less important health issue, but the truth is that it can be fatal. Here are some misconceptions we often have about food poisoning:
Food poisoning is caused by a myriad of bacteria and viruses. They can take anywhere from 6 hours to five days to cause a reaction. Therefore, your discomfort isn’t necessarily the product of what you last ate. For example, Noroviruses take about 12- 48 hours to cause a reaction, whereas E. coli can take anywhere from one to eight days to cause symptoms.
The truth is, even trained chefs make mistakes and undercook meat. In order to ensure that all the bacteria and viruses are completely killed, meat has to be cooked at a temperature above 70⁰C and the entire chunk of meat has to reach this temperature. Often times the outer sections may be hot enough but the heat doesn’t reach the deeper parts. The only way to avoid this is by using a meat thermometer.
In reality, not all food poisoning causes diarrhea and vomiting. It sometimes manifests itself as a fever first, followed by headaches and joint pain, eye irritation and painful urination before any abdominal issues crop up. These symptoms are different from one individual to another, so don’t rule food poisoning out even though diarrhea and nausea aren’t present.
The cleanliness of your home cooked food depends very much on your handling of the raw ingredients and how they’ve been stored and cooked. It’s definitely not true that you can only catch a bug from eating out. In fact, choosing hygienic and well-regulated eateries won’t get you stomach flu anytime soon.
This well-known misconception can be dangerous, as vegetarians and vegans can get food poisoning too. In fact, about a quarter of all food poisoning cases are caused by fruits and vegetables, especially when they’re eaten raw like in a salad.
Since food poisoning seems to spread rather easily, here are some things you would want to practice in order to avoid it and minimize the chances of catching the illness.
- When cooking at home, avoid cross-contamination by having two sets of knives and chopping boards, one for the meats and one for fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Wash your hand thoroughly with soap and water when preparing any ingredients.
- Avoid eating food from cans that are bloated or dented as this is a sign that there’s gas being released by the abundance of organisms within.
- Don’t leave meats sitting outside the refrigerator too long as this encourages the growth of microorganisms. Additionally, repeated freezing and defrosting is a bad idea as this accelerates microbial growth. You should take out only the portion of frozen meat you want and defrost it
- only once.
- Raw foods like uncooked meats should not be allowed to touch ready to eat foods and they should be kept separate.
- When eating out, choose hygienic places with a good cleanliness rating from the local authorities.
- Make sure you reheat leftovers in the fridge thoroughly, especially in a microwave before consuming them. Pay attention to signs of decay and awful smells.
- Drink pasteurized milk that has been heated to kill germs before being sold.
- Use a temperature to ensure that meats are cooked through. They should be between 68⁰C to 74⁰C to ensure all germs are killed.
- Eggs should always be cooked through, but if you’re using raw eggs in a recipe, make sure they come from a regulated source and have not gone past their expiry date.
It’s always good to be careful and take the necessary precautions to avoid being down and out from food poisoning. These steps will help protect your family and loved ones too. Remember that good food safety is partly your own responsibility and effort.
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