40% food samples tested, most fail to meet quality standards

600-kg ‘adulterated’ Vanaspati seized

Chandigarh: A food safety team on Thursday intercepted a vehicle at the Dhilwan toll plaza, carrying 40 tin containers of 15 kg each of edible oil/fat claimed to be Vanaspati, not bearing any label. The Amritsar-bound vehicle was ferrying the suspected material from Ludhiana. The stock was seized after taking samples of the same. TNS

Will ensure compliance: Pannu

The move by the Food Department against the food business operators engaged in the unscrupulous business of adulterated and spurious food stuffs would continue in order to ensure that the citizens get pure and healthy food, said KS Pannu, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Punjab.

Food safety officials had raided a milk manufacturing unit at Devigarh in Patiala earlier this month. 

Patiala, August 30

About one-third of the food samples collected by the Health Department and the police across Punjab in the past fortnight have failed to meet the prescribed standards. However, none has been declared “unfit for human consumption”, even as expired products were being sold.

As per documents available with The Tribune, the food testing laboratory in Kharar received 904 samples of milk products, including ghee, milk and paneer, till August 22. Of the 364 samples whose test reports were prepared today, 322 were found substandard (containing poor-quality ingredients) or not conforming to food safety standards.

Three samples were found adulterated with water or fat. The sampling has confirmed that four samples were “misbranded”; which means that inferior products were passed off as those of a particular brand available in the market by using branded labels.

A senior officer associated with food and milk testing in the state said Punjab was one of the biggest producers and consumers of milk products, but the state needed a special laboratory to test “outside mixed fat in the form of urea, detergent, refined oil or other substances harmful to health. “At present, these tests are done in Haryana, Karnataka and Gujarat,” the officer said.

Mission Tandarust Punjab Director Kahan Singh Pannu told The Tribune that the test reports of samples collected from manufacturers where detergents and refined oil were seized were awaited. “As of now, the reports state that the products (whose samples were tested) sold across the state are of inferior quality and do not meet the standards prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),” he said.

Pannu said the sampling reports would be sent soon to Additional Deputy Commissioners, who would ensure that the erring parties were fined heavily. “We have powers to impose a fine of Rs 10 lakh per sample,” he said.

40 tins of spurious vanaspati seized

Health officials with the seized material in Kapurthala. 
Jalandhar, August 30
As many as 40 tins of spurious vanaspati weighing 600 kg were seized by teams of the Kapurthala Health Department during a drive on Thursday.
Heath officials, including Assistant Commissioner, Food, Dr Harjot Pal Singh and Food Safety Officer Satnam Singh, initiated the drive in the morning from Dhilwan Toll Plaza.
A Mahindra Bolero Maxi Truck from Ludhiana, en route to Amritsar, was stopped for checking. A total of 40 tins of vanaspati were seized from the truck.
The tins were not bearing any label on them. A label is required to mention information such as the name or nature of the product contained, name and complete address of the manufacturer or packer, date of manufacturing or packing, best before or use by the date, lot/code/batch identification, net quantity and nutritional information.
All these details are mandatory to be mentioned on the label of any sealed food item as per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
All 40 tins were seized after taking its two samples. Thereafter, the health officials took these into custody and further action will be taken after getting the report from the State Food Laboratory, Kharar.
The legal action will be initiated in the court of law against the offenders as per the report of analysis of the State Food Lab, Kharar, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Rules and Regulations, 2011.
Samples of milk products taken
Jalandhar: A team of the Health Department, on Thursday conducted sampling of milk and milk products in various areas of the city.
The team comprising District Health Officer Dr Balwinder Singh, Food Safety Officer Rashu Mahajan and others, started a crackdown against adulteration at 6 am and took six samples of milk and milk products, after laying a trap at Pathankot Chowk.
The team later collected a sample of ‘khoya’ at the Golden Avenue locality. An official said in this month, the food safety wing had collected 122 samples, including 91 milk and milk products, and the samples had been sent to the State Food Testing Laboratory, Kharar.
He said under the ‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’ such drives would continue in the coming days as well.

Swadeshi Jagran Manch opposes food fortification

The FSSAI has approved the fortification of staples like rice and wheat. 

‘Some nutrients sourced from animals’

The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing mandatory fortification of foods on the ground that some micronutrients are sourced from animals and are against the cultural beliefs and practices of vegetarians and may lead to “law and order issues.”

The group has also claimed that the import of technology and raw material for fortifying foods with micronutrients could have an adverse impact on the national economy.

The letter suggests that the food industry not have a role in decision-making because of their vested interests in fortification. It names Tata Trusts, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Health Initiative, Food Fortification Initiative and Nutrition International, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) as those companies or agencies that may have or are known to have vested interests in fortification.

It also says that universal fortification could prove to be harmful for some and should be given to only those people who have some kind of deficiency.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified Food Fortification Regulations 2018, which provide for minimum and maximum range of fortification of staples like wheat, maida, rice, salt, vegetable oil and milk.

MORE RAIDS, VENDORS FOUND SELLING SOYA AS PANEER

1050 LITRE MILK GOES DOWN THE DRAIN

4 BOKED FOR IMPEDING SAMPLING PROCESS

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CBI grills gutkha manufacturer

Team from New Delhi carries out interrogation at undisclosed location

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday commenced interrogation of suspects in the sensational gutkha scam. A special team comprising officials from the CBI’s Anti-Corruption (III) Unit, New Delhi, examined the manufacturer of the MDM brand of gutkha and others at an undisclosed location in the city, sources in the agency said.

“The CBI has done enough ground work before calling the suspects for interrogation. Questionnaires are being given to those summoned for questioning. If need be, the agency can summon the suspects to New Delhi as was done in other cases in the past,” a senior police officer said.

Besides statements of suspects and witnesses, the agency is relying on the books of accounts and other documents seized from the office and residential premises of the gutkha manufacturer and his employees, which point to payment of bribes to top officials.

The sale of gutkha is banned in Tamil Nadu. The owner of the MDM brand of gutkha had, however, given a statement allegedly admitting to sales of the contraband between November 2014 and June 2016 to the tune of ₹384.38 crore.

After registering a case in May this year, following an order of the Madras High Court, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court when challenged, the CBI wrote to the Income Tax Department, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption and other agencies seeking documents relating to the case.

Though the usual practice of the central agency is to adopt the First Information Report of the State, in this case the CBI chose to register a fresh case against “unknown officials” of the Central Excise Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, Food Safety Department, public servants and private persons under Section 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) of the IPC and also invoked provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The gutkha scam, exposed by The Hindu in June 2017, pertains to the alleged involvement of State Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar and DGP-rank officers T.K. Rajendran and S. George, among others, in taking bribes to the tune of ₹39.91 crore for facilitating the storage, transportation and sale of the banned commodity in the city. Though DVAC registered a case in September 2017, it could not file the chargesheet within the stipulated six months. The case was later transferred to the CBI by the Madras High Court while disposing of a petition filed by DMK MLA J. Anbazhagan.

Regulations pertaining to labelling of packaged food soon: FSSAI

A workshop was organised here to sensitise the local media about the importance of food fortification.

Food regulator FSSAI today said the regulations pertaining to labelling of packaged food products are being framed and will be issued soon.

"As far as labelling is concerned, one is packaged food's labelling whose regulations are being framed. Now main issue that is cropping up in this is which food will be called healthy and which food will be called not so healthy," Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Agarwal said.

"Industry views, scientific/medical community views on this are being reconciled after which labelling regulations will be issued soon," he told reporters here while replying to a question.

A workshop was organised here to sensitise the local media about the importance of food fortification.

"As far as restaurant food is concerned, where fixed menu is there or what we called Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), menu labelling can be done, but where chef prepares food, menu labelling is almost impossible," he said.

"However, gradually menu labelling has been implemented in some countries, including recently in the United States," the CEO said.

Taking into account their experience, there is a proposal in India for restaurants having chain of more than 20 outlets for having menu labelling in QSRs with fixed menu.

"Regulations in this regard are being framed and will be issued soon," Agarwal said.

He said the Women and Child Development Ministry and the HRD Ministry have already committed to provide fortified staples in mid-day meal scheme, in Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programmes, double fortified salt has been mandated three years ago.

When asked about some controversies surrounding food fortification, Agarwal said, "In fact, globally fortification is the main and easiest way of addressing micro nutrient deficiencies practiced over hundreds of years, it is not new if our nutrition problem gets solved by adding fortificant and if for this we have to import, what is the harm.""I think these are some kind of confusions that are being created in the minds of people. Fortunately, those who are creating such confusion are miniscule in number," he said.

‘Ban hazardous milk products from north India’

The Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Employees Welfare Association on Wednesday demanded the state government to stop the sale of milk and dairy products of companies from other states.

Chennai: 

Citing the dangers posed by the products of companies from other states, especially northern India, the representatives of the milk dealers association submitted a petition to the State government demanding to ban their sale in Tamil Nadu. “The dairy products contain high amount of hydrogen peroxide, urea and formalin will pose severe threat to the health of the consumers,” Ponnusamy, president, Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Employees Welfare Association, told DT Next. 

Officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had recently raided a few milk plants in Punjab, where they found loads of adulterated milk and dairy products. he said that a majority of the dairy units in north India sell only adulterated dairy products.

“In 2012, a PIL was filed against adulterated milk and the Central government, after inspection, agreed that more than 75 per cent of the milk and dairy products were adulterated in 15 north Indian states. Among them, dairy products in six states were found to be 100 per cent adulterated,” claimed Ponnusamy. 

Though the Central government knew that only adulterated dairy products was manufactured in these states, it failed to initiate any serious action. “The state government should conduct frequent inspections in markets and also in milk societies to prevent the sale of adulterated dairy products”, insisted the president of the association.

He further said that though the state government had formed a team with the chief secretary as its head to check the adulteration of dairy products, the panel, so far, has not inspected any of these dairy farms, alleged Ponnusamy. “Rather than officials, an expert team should be formed to check adulteration,” he suggested. 

It may be recalled that some months ago, State Dairy Development Minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji also charged that two private milk companies were selling adulterated milk in the state.

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Spurious paneer made way into popular eateries via ghost dairies

MTR gets notice after ‘bug in pickle’ complaint

The New Indian Express on July 28 had reported that a Bengaluru consumer had found a bug in an MTR pickle product.

BENGALURU: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sent an improvement notice to MTR Foods following inspection of their factory premises. An improvement notice is sent when the food safety regulator finds non-compliance of the Food Safety Act’s provisions.

The New Indian Express on July 28 had reported that a Bengaluru consumer had found a bug in an MTR pickle product.

A letter sent to complainant Raj Sakhumalla on Monday by the Regulatory Compliance Division of FSSAI, New Delhi, read, “Officials from Regional Office, Chennai, have inspected both the units Indira Foods Pvt Ltd and MTR Foods Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, for verification compliance as per Schedule 4 of FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations. After inspecting of the said premises both the firms were served with improvement notice to comply with the provisions of FSS Act, 2006.”

Sakhumalla said, “According to FSSAI, serving an improvement notice to a Food Business Operator is big. However, I still do not understand how any of this is going to help a consumer like me or prevent MTR from repeating the same mistake. As you already are aware, MTR has done the same mistakes several times in the past and got away with it.”

Food samples snatched from health officials

Amritsar, August 28

High drama was witnessed at Jandiala Guru on Tuesday when a person snatched four food samples from officials of the Health Department. These samples were collected from a local bakery shop.

The accused, who is yet to be identified, said to be a relative of the bakery owner, Pawan Kumar.

Health officials have filed a complaint with the police in this regard. Later in the evening, they also sealed the bakery.

District Health Officer Dr Lakhbir Singh Baghowalia said, “When officials collected the sample, bakery employees created ruckus and held two of our employees hostage. We got them rescued with the help of the police. The way the samples were snatched, I feel these were of substandard quality. The owner and his relative were trying to create hurdles when officials were collecting the sample.”

The Police Commissioner has also asked the officials to take fresh samples from the bakery and take action against the culprits.

The health officials also found non-permitted colouring agents, which were used in sweets at the bakery.

They said the manufacturing unit of the bakery was running from a residential building. “The bakery owner could not produce the licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act,” said the health officer.

Meanwhile, the samples of milk, curd and cheese collected from two dairies — Gill Dairy at Gaunsabad and Pannu Dairy at Mahal — earlier last week have failed the lab test.

The health officials said milk, curd and cheese seized from the two shops would be destroyed.

“We have now received the reports of perishable items. The reports of desi ghee and milk powder samples are yet to be received,” he added.

The Health Department had seized milk powder from the shops, which suggested that it was used for making sweets.

Khyber’s ‘dahi’ packs seized for false dating

FSD orders recall of its milk products

Srinagar: The Food Safety Department on Tuesday directed its officials to recall from the market the milk products manufactured by ‘Khyber Milk’ after they found the company falsely labelling the date of manufacture on its ‘Pro-Active Dahi’.

The department has seized nearly 100 packs of ‘Pro-Active Dahi’ from the company’s manufacturing unit in Lethpora Pulwama.

Assistant Commissioner Food Safety in Pulwama, Suranjit Singh, told Kashmir Reader that the ‘Pro-Active Dahi’ manufactured by Khyber Milk at its factory in Lethpora Pulwama was found to be in “complete violation” of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA). The manufacturing date printed on the pack was four days ahead of its actual date of manufacturing, he said.

“The actual date of manufacture of the Dahi is August 27 but the company has printed September 1 as the date of manufacturing, which is a complete violation of the Act. There is provision of heavy fine up to Rs 3 lakh,” Singh said.

Singh said that food inspectors also collected samples of milk for detailed analysis.

“The company authorities can face arrest if any of the milk products are tested as unsafe in the food laboratory,” the assistant commissioner said.

In 2006, the company was indicted after traces of detergent were found in its packed milk, which was declared unsafe by the food analyst.

The samples tested by Referral Food Laboratory, Kolkata, had confirmed the presence of detergent in the milk and also showed the milk fat as being lower than the prescribed levels. According to the report, the sample also contravened the Food Safety and Standards (packaging and labelling) Regulations.

A court had held the company guilty and convicted its In-Charge Operations, Mohammad Shafi Ganie. The company was convicted under Sections 51, 52 and 59 of the Food Safety Standards (FSS) Act 2006.

A local court later imposed a heavy penalty on the company which was later set aside by Supreme Court in 2017 following an appeal by the the company.

FDA’s checks for formalin an eyewash, claim PILs

Panaji: Stating that inspections being carried out by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to check for formalin in fish are a mere eyewash, a petitioner, in his affidavit submitted to the high court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday, attached a video taken by the media showing truck drivers handing over fish samples to the authorities (FDA) instead of random checks of samples which are supposed to be obtained by the authorities.

Petitioner Vithal Naik highlighted the issue of the authorities not adhering to the Food and Safety Standards Act, 2006, and to the government circular issued on August 2 while collecting samples for inspections.

Advocate Nikhil Pai, representing Naik, said the circular enabled import of fish through only two border check posts to inspect the presence of formalin and referred to press reports indicating that checks were not being carried out properly. 

A third PIL, filed by Valmiki Naik on Tuesday, was tagged along with the other two PILs filed by Vithal and Shivraj Kamat Tarcar earlier.

Valmiki, in his petition, has prayed for an inquiry into the events of July 12 where the FDA said in the morning there was presence of formalin in fish beyond permissible limits, but issued a statement in the evening stating that it was within permissible levels.

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Bottle manufacturers asked to print address, contact info

How Safe Is Our Food?

People throng a street food market in Bengaluru 

At a Glance

• Recent raids have found numerous instances of food adulteration and contamination across India.
• From formalin in fish to sulphuric acid in paneer, the findings have shocked the country and jolted authorities into action.
• Read on to know how to keep yourself and your family safe from the dangers posed by toxic food.

India has been battling food adulteration for a long time, but now it seems like things have reached a tipping point. A recent series of raids across Punjab has unearthed unprecedented amounts of spurious milk and dairy products in Patiala, Amritsar and Mohali, and has led to a major shortage of paneer (cottage cheese) in the city. The revelation that their beloved paneer might have ingredients like detergent and urea came as a huge shock. Punjab’s misery is shared by fish-loving Goa and Kerala, where the discovery of formalin (a preservative made with formaldehyde) in preserved fish has spooked buyers and generated massive controversy over the past couple of months.

With incidents like these adulteration is now firmly under the scanner of authorities, primarily the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

India’s war on food contamination

The discovery of formalin in fish started a chain reaction that led to a series of raids across the country. Large consignments of carbide-ripened mangoes were seized from markets across Karnataka. Adulterated ghee manufacturing units were discovered in Madurai where vanaspati diluted with cooking oil and ghee flavour were packaged as genuine ghee. Expired raw material was found to be used in Kashmir for making Eid sweets. Rumours of carcass meat of dogs and cats being sold with packaged meat proved true in Kolkata. Even the popular snack pani puri came under attack after surprise checks in Gujarat’s Vadodara and Ahmedabad cities found that the puri, water and chutney did not meet food standard guidelines.

In the wake of these devastating discoveries, authorities and lawmakers sprang into action. Across the country, state administrations have authorised raids on food vendors. Officials are being instructed to conduct stringent checks and impose fines on vendors selling low-quality or adulterated items.

A parliamentary panel, criticising the FSSAI over weak enforcement of food safety laws, has, among other directives, recommended that the food regulator be restructured, technically skilled people with domain expertise be hired on a full-time basis, and food safety departments be set up in every state.

For its part, the FSSAI, under pressure from the Supreme Court, proposed several amendmentsto the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, including potential life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10 lakh on those found indulging in food adulteration. The regulator also launched an ‘Eat Right’ movement to encourage citizens to make better choices around the food they buy and consume.

However the problem of contaminated food won’t go away overnight. So how can you do your bit to keep yourself and your family safe from adulteration?

While ordinary consumers may not have the means to conduct complex purity tests on food items, there are some basic precautions that we can all take to determine what’s safe and what isn't.

1. Check for FSSAI validation

You always look for a Hallmark on your jewellery, then why not a validation of your food? The next time you shop for food, look for an FSSAI license number, a detailed list of ingredients and their percentages, and the expiration date on the package.

Use your discretion when buying non-certified, loose food items from local stores. These may be cheaper, but can lead to hefty medical bills in the long run.

2. Don’t fall for manufacturers' 'health food' claims

Don’t fall in the marketing trap of the ‘healthier option’ or something that ‘tastes like sugar but is not sugar’. Ingredients used to create healthier options have been found to do more harm than the natural product. Look up the claims made by the manufacturers before buying.

3. Check the purity of your food

The FSSAI’s guide outlines ways to test the purity of every day food items from oils to grains, spices, fruits and vegetables and beverages right in your kitchen. Simply access the Detect Adulteration With Rapid Test (DART) Book that covers more than 50 tests that can be performed easily in any household.

Food contamination is not a new issue: it’s been around for as long as one can remember. However, even as criminals get smarter, consumers can stay one step ahead simply by being more aware of what they are putting on their plates.

Now, used cooking oil from eateries to be used for biofuel

Jaipur: The Biofuel Authority of Rajasthan has decided to find a solution about the used cooking oil in the restaurants of the city that can be really harmful for public health.

The department has decided to register a few firms that will collect used cooking oil from various food outlets, hotels and restaurants of the city and sell it to the biofuel manufacturers. This decision is taken after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) notified that if the Total Polar Compound (TPC) in the cooking oil is more than 25%, it is not suitable for use.

However, used cooking oil is never discarded. Either it finds its way to the small eateries/ restaurants or road side vendors. Or it is disposed of choking drains and sewerage system. As per the data made available by the department, out of the 23 million MT cooking oil consumed in India, three million MT of this can be used for the production of biofuel.

The deputy CEO of Biofuel Authority of Rajasthan, Maninder Singh while talking to TOI explained that the department within a week is planning to call for registration of the interested firms for the collection of used cooking oils. “We want big food outlets in the city to be connected. The restaurants can sell the used cooking oil from their outlet to the firm registered for collection which will further sell it to the biofuel companies working in the city. Through this medium, the used cooking oil will not reach to the small restaurants and street vendors,” said Maninder.

The authorities will even ask the food outlets to file the amount of used cooking oil being generated so that the oil won’t be sold in the black market. Biofuel is a green fuel that can be used as a diesel for engines. With the population rising, an alternative has to be found for petrol and diesel. Used cooking oil can be used for bio-diesel which will be environmental friendly.

GOVT TO CHECK SWEETS QUALITY DURING FESTIVE SEASONS

In order to keep tabs on quality of sweets during festive seasons, the Delhi Government has decided to encourage more number of sweets sellers for registration and will also issue more licences ahead of the festive season.

“As the festive season is coming, a number of sweets shops will come up and the chances of selling of substandard sweets will also go up. To keep a check, we will be issuing more licences,” said an official from the Delhi Food and Safety Department’s Licensing unit.

The Food Department will also run a special campaign under which teams will be formed to raid and collect samples from shops across the city. To create awareness among people, the Department will publish advertisements regarding food safety.

“The demand for sweets products go up tremendously during this time of the year as the festivals are approaching. To meet the demands, sweetmeat shops will be mushrooming in the city,” he said.

In the past three years, the Department has also done various raids to check the food qualities. “In the past three years, 884 samples were collected from different parts of the city, of which 148 samples failed to match the standards. Actions were taken against those found guilty under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006,” the official said.

The registration and licensing of the street food vendors is also being done, he said.

“We are encouraging more street food vendors for licensing. The Department also checks sample of these foods from time to time,” he added.

City getting conscious of milk testing amid adulteration blues

120 kg of spurious paneer seized by Food Department

Officials of the Food Department during a raid at a food joint in Phagwara on Sunday. 

Phagwara, August 26 

To check the spurious paneer and other milk products, a team of Food Department headed by Assistant Commissioner Dr Harjotpal Singh and District Food Safety Officer Dr Satnam Singh, on a tip off, raided a residence-cum-business place of a food business operator at Ambedkar Park, Palahi Road here. 

It has been found to be dealing in milk products, mainly paneer. The search was carried out in the presence of the police officials at 4.30 am on Sunday.

Satnam Singh later told newsmen that about 120 kg of low quality paneer was found in the premises. The said paneer was supplied to Phagwara from Gurdaspur. 

The entire stock of 120 kg of paneer was seized after taking 2 samples of the same paneer. The samples would be sent to State Food Laboratory, Kharar for further analysis. 

According to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, paneer should contain 50 per cent of dry matter and 60 per cent of moisture. The DFO said normal paneer was available in market at a price about Rs 260. In contrast, paneer brought from other districts was said to be sold at a price of Rs 140-150. This kind of paneer was usually prepared from skimmed milk powder and starch. The fat content of such paneer is much less. 

Singh said all the sweet shop owners have been directed to prepare and sale healthy, safe and quality sweets items, so that the festivals are celebrated in their true spirit. They have also been directed to keep sweets and milk products at proper temperature, as in the present day temperature conditions, they tend to deteriorate quickly because of microbial growth. 

This move by the Food Department against the food business operators engaged in the unscrupulous business of adulterated and spurious food stuffs will be continued in the future also to ensure that the citizens get pure and healthy food.

OPEN HOUSE: CHECK ON SPURIOUS FOOD ITEMS - Frequent raids are required against food adulteration

Residents say adulteration peaks during festive season; feel those who play with lives should not be spared

Residents say anyone who is found is adulterating food should be penalised heavily along with stringent punishment photo

Food adulteration is common nowadays. From fruits to any food which we purchase from shops, all of us are consuming adulterated food. Shopkeepers and vendors are playing with our health. The Food Department can divide the areas to check the dairy products and sweets shops. A heavy fine and punishment should be given to culprits. Customers can also move to consumer courts to teach them a lesson.

Sharanpreet kaur

Give exemplary punishment

Many sweet shops during the festive seasons start adulterating to increase the quantity of the sweets. Recently, the Khanna police have arrested two persons and seized two quintals of khoya. The recovered khoya has been handed over to the officials of Food Supply Department for further action. Under the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India, an exemplary punishment must be given to a person who involves in this heinous act. Government must take proper steps for protecting the interest of the consumer who purchase dairy products. 

Manpriya Kaur

Take strict actionagainst culprits

The anti-adulteration task forces should be created in every municipal limit. They should conduct checks and raids various locations where the festive season sweets are prepared. Surprise checks should be conducted by as well. Strict actions should be taken against the ones responsible or found guilty of such offence.

Ekroop Kaur

Conduct frequent raids

Festival time is a time of celebration and it is incomplete without the sweets. But many sweet shop owners spoil our happiness and play by adulterating food. There is a great need to curb this menace. Regular raids and alert vigilance should be made by the Health Department during the festive season. It calls for coordination and co-operation of all stakeholders. A heavy fine should be imposed on the factories or shops where adulteration takes place. Consumers shall also be aware of their rights under Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Harkirat Singh

Strict action is required to curb this practice 

Today, food adulteration is one of the serious topics as it deteriorates our health. It not only affects immunity system of a human being, but also be one of the reasons for death. Many shopkeepers use pesticides, chemicals and fertilisers which pose threat to one's life. Strict measures should be taken against such kind of people who play with the lives of other just for the sake of money.

Deepnayan Kaur

Health Dept should carry out surprise checking 

The food adulteration has become a major cause of concern in our country. Each and every day there is news of food adulteration. There are also reports of vegetables and fruits being ripped artificially with the use of harmful chemicals. 

To meet with the demand, traders and shopkeepers choose this short-cut to earn profit. Adulteration is common to find in items such as vegetables, food grains, i ice creams, ghee, chili powder and milk. The Ministry of Health Welfare Department is responsible for the inspection of food items. The Food Adulteration Act 1954, clearly mentions the guidelines to provide pure and wholesome food to consumers. The act was last amended in 1986 to make punishments more stringent against the people who are responsible for the food adulteration. Government should take strict actions for those who prepare spurious items. The Health Department should check conduct random raids and meetings to end this menace.

Abhilasha Singh

Moral values are sinking

How can anyone make spurious milk, paneer and other eatables and then sell it in a market? It is a responsibility of a government to catch such culprits. The so called inspectors are not there to catch thieves but they are there to make money. When the system is immersed in corruption, expecting pure food items is a dream only. We all are responsible for the malice, our acceptability of corruption is very high and our moral values are sinking.

Major Gurdeep S Samra( Retd)

Collect samples infestive season

Several adulterated milk products are being sold in markets at a large quantity, especially during festive season. This affects the health of consumers. This must be checked well in time before and during the festive season. The state food/health department is responsible to ensure that food sold is safe and is not adulterated. The department's inspectors must get serious towards their duty and collect a large number of samples from the shops selling milk and milk products, get them analyzed for quality from the state food analysis laboratory and ensure that the defaulters are identified. The staff must also collect samples direct from the diaries. The department must ensure that no defaulter escapes the punishment. During the festive season, the programme of collection of samples need be undertaken as a campaign. The public should also play a positive role here. Now, quick milk testing kits are available in the market. People can test the quality of milk on their own level. The department must fix one separate telephone number for use by public for reporting the matter.

Dr G Dev

Children, elderlyare vulnerable

The food adulteration has become rampant in India. Fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products are contaminated. By consuming adulterated food, we all may have to face serious health problems. Adulteration of milk is done without any qualms by removing fat. Selling diluted buffalo milk as cow milk is a common practice in rural areas. Health practitioners are urging the government to do more to raise awareness about adulterated food among the Indian public as children and elderly people are the most vulnerable to these toxins in food.

Richa Garg

Strengthen food safety structures

Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Adulterated food can cause severe biological, chemical, physical harm and nutritional problems. There is a need to monitor programmes to maintain food products. This is the only way to secure food supply and address the growing concern over food adulteration. Always buy food products which have a FSSAI-validated label, that means that they have a FSSAI license number, ingredient list and expiry date. Consumption of adulterated and spurious food items is a serious health hazard and this menace of food adulteration can be curbed only by strengthening of food safety structures in the country and more effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Tanpreet Kaur

Media can play a vital role

Today, food adulteration has become one of the biggest concerns to cope with. As festive season is approaching, the adulteration will increase as people will be buying sweets. A handsome reward can be given to the person who will help the police to get arrested such culprits. Apart from this, the media can play a vital role in the checking of such adulterated products with the help of vigilant reporting.

Tanvi Singh

MC, officials concerned need to keep an eye

In the festive season, people are in spirit of joy and celebration, but the inhumane attitude of food suppliers spoils the charm of festivals. Municipal Corporation and officials concerned should keep eyes on the sweet shops and factories. An officer should be appointed for every major area for inspections. Street foods vendors should be given cards on which inspection data is marked every week. The e-challaning for defaulters should come into force. Efforts should be made to develop facilities for the testing of sweets samples locally instead of sending them elsewhere. The present laws on food adulteration need to be implemented in the letter and the spirit to deter the anti - social elements from following unethical ways of doing business. 

Dr Jasdeep Kaur

Buy FSSAI labelledfood items

Food adulteration is not only cheating, but it is a health hazard because of which people are getting sick. We need effective awareness campaigns regarding consumer rights, training to test food items for adulteration. All of us need to buy food products with FSSAI label always. Methods of adulteration food detection, penalties should be imposed. Food inspectors should collect time-to-time food samples for test. Hopefully authorities concerned will come forward to take care of these issues as soon as possible.

Jasdeep Kaur

Form councils in cities against food adulteration

Adulteration has become a trend in recent times. To make profits, businessmen and traders use toxic substances and make the consumers a scapegoat. But now, the time has changed. There is a need to bring the culprits out of their den. There is a great need to form a council in every city to check adulteration. Stay safe , eat safe and Happy festive season!

Abhishek Gupta

Spread awareness through campaigns

Adulteration of food with toxic substances is increasingly spreading across the world. Such actions pose serious health issues. There is a need to monitor all food products for safety. More effective awareness campaigns regarding this matter should be organised to increase awareness among consumers. A consumer should also need to make smart choices to avoid these unfair trade practices. After all, quality of a product is more important than its quantity. 

Tanvi Gulati

Organic farming shouldbe encouraged

Adulteration in eatable items to public is a heinous crime. Such people do not know that the spurious foods cause gastrointestinal disturbances, vomting and diarrhoea, which further aggravates the health issues. During the recent raids in the state, across 60 per cent of milk and milk products samples were found unfit for human consumption. Importance of FSSAI labels should be highlighted. There is a need to impose huge penalties and punishment on offenders. Moreover, authorities concerned should ensure the strict compliance of the Food Safety and Standard Act. Government should install purity check machines at diaries and sweet shop. Sufficient staff should be provided to the Health Department to curb the menace. Domestic farming, organic vegetables and fruits and pasteurised milk packets should be encouraged to use to save human lives. 

Kuldip Singh Kreer

Lack of defined norms is prime reason 

The food adulteration certainly has become one of the biggest proliferating industries. It peaks during the festive season creating extra stress on the already comatose health system in the country. Every year, governments raid various eateries and companies which are aggressively involved in the food adulteration. People who adulterate food by mixing pesticides, fertilisers, carbide, colouring agents causes deaths and eventually deteriorating the health index of the country every year. The lack of defined norms is prime reason that does not allow the legal authorities to tighten noose on the food manufacturers. Experts also say that consumer education and awareness is need of the hour. People should not get tempted to buy cheaper food as these food items are likely then to be adulterated food. 

Ravi Chander Garg

Award death penaltiesto culprits

Food adulteration is the cheapest way to earn a huge amount of profits by keeping the lives of humans on stake. The festive season is coming, and almost every day we read stories on food adulteration. To become rich by choosing a shortcut way, some persons are encouraging adulteration. As far as solution to this problem is concerned, then we can tackle this problem by creating awareness in society. We should try to purchase FSSAI marked products. Food adulteration should be considered as a criminal offence and government should award death penalty to those who are playing with the precious lives. We must try to find out substitute of milk products with same nutritional values. Government should keep a close eye on interstate supplies. They should properly check the products which are coming from other states so that culprits can be found at the earliest. 

Ritu priya

Penalise the guilty

All businessmen want to earn profits during the festive season. Similarly, business of selling sweets earns profit during festivals. For a layman, it is difficult to identify if sweets are adulterated or not. To curb adulteration, there must be only one government agency which should have a control to supply raw material to owners of sweet shops. Despite this, if sweets are found adulterated then the owner of a sweet shop should be held responsible. If anyone is found guilty to sell adulterated sweets, then he/she should be fined heavily.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

FSSAI should check adulteration

Food adulteration is a major cause of concern nowadays. Food adulteration takes place in the form of colouring, chemicals, additives that are added to in eatable items. This can enhance taste but surely can damage our internal organs, thus leading to serious nutrient deficiencies such as vitamin D or protein. To check food adulteration in milk and sweets, FSSAI should adopt a nifty guide to quickly test the food quality. FSSAI should detect adulteration with rapid test and conduct raids. Consumer should also be vigilant about food adulteration and be a smart buyer.

Bismanpreet Kaur

Act againstcorrupt officials

Festivals are a time of joy. But some money minded people, do not hesitate to play with the lives of innocent citizens. The seizure of spurious khoya in Khanna is an eye opener for all of us. It is just the beginning of festival season. But such greedy people have started manipulating the situation from now. It has also come to light that 60 per cent of milk food samples seized in Punjab raids have failed quality test, (The Tribune Report on August 20). Many Food Safety Officers and the other officials are hand in glove with the culprits. It is high time that our government should start tackling this problem and that too with concrete results. The whole system needs to be streamlined, especially action against the high officials who are corrupt. 

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi

FSDA officials’ salaries stopped for laxity

Agra: District magistrate Ravi Kumar NG has ordered to put salaries of FSDA (Food Safety and Drug Administration) officials on hold over the issue of negligence in discharging duty. The DM has also sought a response from the concerned officials on delay in taking action after collecting food samples from commercial outlets.

Earlier, BJP leaders had accused FSDA staff of extorting money from local businessmen. Etmadpur MLA Rampratap Singh had met the DM after a sweet shop owner suffered a heart attack during an FSDA raid at his premises. Based on the MLA’s complaint, the DM had ordered an investigation into the incident. During the probe, it was found that the FSDA team didn’t follow the set procedure while collecting samples from the sweet shop.

According to sources, FSDA officials have come unprepared in several meetings called by the DM. They lack the required details to be tabled during the meeting. Further, some officials have been found to be not reporting about the raids conducted, samples sent for testing and action taken against adulterators.

DM Ravi Kumar NG said, “For laxity in work and violation of standard operating procedures, salaries of FSDA officials have been stopped. A report of last one year has been sought from them. On the basis of the report further action will be taken.”

The DM has also passed strict orders to FSDA to maintain transparency in food investigation process. The entire exercise of sample collection from eateries will now have to be recorded.

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‘Substandard food items being procured for anganwadi centres’

RTI Movement appeals to Governor administration for intervention

The mission directorate of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has been allegedly procuring substandard biscuits from a Kathua-based company which is reportedly facing criminal cases under Food Safety Act in Ganderbal and Kathua. 

Besides being of substandard quality, the product has been procured on exorbitant prices. 

Details available with Greater Kashmir reveal that the biscuit carrying the brand name “Rattan” has been declared substandard in 2017 under Food Safety & Security Act vide prosecuting authority (designated officer under the act) order no. DO/FSSA/GBL/789-2017 Dated 2.5.2017. 

On 14.02.2017, the assistant commissioner Food Safety Ganderbal vide order no. DO/FSSA/GBL-17-2017 issued notice to Rattan Oil Mills, the makers of Rattan biscuits. 

The company was informed that sample of their product on analysis was found substandard and misbranded. 

“A biscuit company facing prosecution under J&K Food Safety Act and having been declared misbranded and substandard has been allotted order by the ICDS to supply biscuits is a questionable issue,” said Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, chairman RTI Movement. 

“These biscuits will be supplied to almost 30,000 Anganwadi centres across the state in the coming weeks and health of around 10 lakh kids will be compromised,” Bhat said, adding that they appealed to the Governor administration to immediately look into the matter and order investigation into it. 

Sources in the ICDS alleged that the firm and its products were not registered with the Registrar of Trade Mark of India which, according to them, is a mandatory norm fixed by the Central Vigilance Commission. 

“Moreover the biscuits are being purchased for Rs 74/Kg while as registered/branded biscuits can be easily purchased at a lower price,” sources said.

Sources also alleged the Channa for the Anganwadi centres has been procured at exorbitant prices. “The wholesale rate for high quality Channa is Rs 32/Kg whereas ICDS is allegedly purchasing inferior Channa at the rate of Rs 57/kg,” they said. 

“If freight component is added to Channa procured from Delhi, the per kg cost won’t exceed Rs 36 in Srinagar,” they said. 

Sources alleged that other food items of inferior quality were being supplied to Anganwadi centres across the state.

“We demand that contractor system for supply of nutritional items should be discouraged as per the Supreme Court guidelines. Instead local auqaf committees or women Self Help Groups (SHGs) under SRLM be encouraged to come forward for supplying nutritional items. The centralized purchases made by ICDS directorate is only breeding corruption,” Raja Muzaffar added.

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Sweets, milk samples taken

Food safety teams continue raids, seize milk prodcts

Labels on fortified food products to carry details of micro-nutrients

NEW DELHI: All fortified food products in the market will now have to carry "+F" logo on their label and comply with the standards set by the food safety authority, as per the new regulations notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The regulations will come into effect from January, 2019.

In a move to enable consumers to identify fortified food easily as well as ensure quality of such products, the food regulator has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018. Apart from the mandatory logo, the gazette notification issued last week, provides for minimum and maximum range for fortification of products like vegetable oil, milk and other products. The standards also include adjusted dosage of the micro-nutrients so that they provide 30% to 50% of the daily requirements.

“Any manufacturer who fortifies any food shall ensure that the level of micro-nutrient in such fortified food does not fall below the minimum level specified in Schedule- I,” the notification said.

Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, and vitamins A and D to staple foods such as rice, wheat, oil, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.

The regulations are aimed at placing food fortification on the national agenda to reduce the high burden of micro-nutrient deficiency in India. Besides, stringent regulations and standards are also essential to ensure fortified food available in the market are quality products.

FSSAI has asked manufacturers and packers of fortified food to give undertaking twice a year on quality assurance and submit evidence of steps taken in this regard to the food authority.

The regulation also mandates all fortified food to be packaged in a manner that takes into consideration the nature of the fortificant added and its effect on the shelf-life of such food.

According to the National Family Health Survey, around 50% of women and children in India suffer from anaemia. While food fortification helps combat malnutrition, the government is trying to introduce such products through government schemes to counter problems stunting, overweight and anaemia – major causes of maternal and child deaths.

“The regulation will also create an enabling environment and encourage food businesses to adopt food fortification,” the regulator said.

Last year, FSSAI had released benchmarks to fortify the nutritional quality of food items used in social sector programmes such as ICDS, PDS and mid-day meals.

Punjab food safety teams sieze spurious milk ahead of Rakshabandhan

LUDHIANA: Continuing with the anti-adulteration drive, Food Safety and Dairy Development Teams jointly conducted raids at midnight in various parts of the State ahead of Rakshabandhan.

In the raid at around 11.30 pm on August 21st at Deep Dairy in Village Khokh of Nabha Tehsil in Patiala, 8 quintals spurious milk, 12 quintal paneer and 130 kg cream were discovered. The foul-smelling milk was destroyed on the spot. The paneer and cream were seized. Samples of milk, paneer and cream were taken.

Similarly, a raid was conducted along with police at about 12.15 am in village Sangatpur Bhonki. 90 kg paneer, 1400 kg milk, 18 empty bags of 25 kg of Skimmed Milk Powder(SMP), 2 full bags of SMP were found. A sample of paneer, milk and SMP were taken. The entire sampling and seizure activity was accomplished around 4:15 a.m.

At Ropar, a joint night raid by food safety and dairy development team along with police started at about 10.30p.m. The raid at Kang Dairy in Boor Majra revealed spurious items to the tune of about 12 quintal paneer, 200-litre milk, cream 125 kg, curd 535 kg, butter 10 kg. Samples were collected and entire stock in a cold room of the dairy and the dairy premises were sealed. The hygiene conditions of the dairy were very poor and the dairy owners did not possess any licence for the sale of the articles to the public.

During early morning inspection of vehicles involved in the supply of milk and milk products, the Jalandhar Food Team intercepted an i20 car No. PB06 5669 delivering paneer at Happy Sweet Shop Adampur. The Car was carrying paneer in rear storage and on the back seat. During the inspection of the material, the car driver eloped from the spot in the car. Efforts were made to follow the car but in vain due to the high speed of the car. An enquiry is afoot about the owner of the car and appropriate action would be taken against the offender.

In Tarntaran a vehicle carrying about 300kgs of spurious Khoya Burfi, Milk Cake, Ladoo, Patisa was intercepted at Jandiala Road, Tarntaran and action were taken as per the Act.

A Chilling Centre at Jandu Singha was also inspected. The Milk was being collected without straining. The Food Business Operator( FBO) was directed to strain the milk and then put it in the tanker.

Under 'tandrust Punjab mission' in District Faridkot store of a khoya barfi supplier at Jaito was inspected. Wherein about 1.5 Quintal of spurious barfi and dhoda sweets were found. The FBO informed that the khoya burfi was brought from Fazilka and dhoda burfi from village Daria in Chandigarh. He was to sell the barfi at Rs. 150 per kg to small shops. Samples of khoya and dhoda burfi were taken and sent for analysis. The stock was seized.

Checking and sampling at Bikaneri Sweet Shop at Garhshankar revealed approximately 100 kg of suspected adulterated khoya. A sample of the same was taken and rest of the khoya was seized. The sample has been sent to lab for analysis.

In Ferozepur under the supervision of ADC (G) samples of khòya, paneer and milk were taken and about 40 kg of synthetic khòya was destroyed.

Sweetshops remain under scanner ahead of Rakhi

Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) food safety officers conducted extensive checking at sweet shops for the second consecutive day to ensure that inferior quality and adulterated sweets are not sold in the market ahead of the Rakshabandhan festival.

Teams of food safety officers checked establishments in Akota, Karelibaug, Jetalpur, Alkapuri, Nizampura, Tarsali and Ajwa Road areas of the city. Nearly nine shops were checked by the teams and 12 weet samples of different varieties were collected from the shops.

The samples will be tested at the food public health laboratory of the civic body. If the samples fail the tests, the civic body will file cases against the shops.

On Tuesday, six shops were checked by the officials and nine samples of sweets were sent to the public health laboratory for testing.

Officials said that the checking also focussed on ensuring that the shops maintained hygienic conditions.

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Fake milk products were sold cheap

Soon, packet labels to tell if food is healthy or not: FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal

The biggest challenge before the food regulator today is to "fight the battle of perception. With mass and social media getting aggressive, the general sense today is that what we eat is far more unsafe than it was a few years ago. The reality may not be so," says Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in an interview with Anjul Tomar and Ashish K Tiwari. FSSAI is working to make sure that the food available in the market is safe for consumption by creating awareness, training businesses and enforcement. It has a big task at its hand as it handles around 10,000-12,000 complaints every month and regulates over 28 lakh small, medium and big food businesses in the country.

What are the key measures instituted by FSSAI towards food safety in the last few years?

We have put in place standards for almost all foods. A food must meet a set of criteria if it is suitable for human consumption. While most of the food standards have been notified, the remaining ones will be notified in the near future. Recently, we released standards on antibiotic and veterinary drug residues as there is a huge concern about its presence in poultry and meat. Honey standards have been notified and will take effect from January next year. Organic food standards have come into force from 1 July. Now, our enforcement officials will take samples of the foods and test them for residues. The businesses will be prosecuted in case the samples are found to have adulterants or residues beyond permissible limits. We are also getting 6,000 milk samples from organised as well as unorganised markets across 1,100 cities and towns tested, and will release the report by year-end. There is a perception that milk has antibiotics and pesticide residues. Over 250 food laboratories have been notified by FSSAI for testing food. There are over 3,000 food safety field offices under the state governments to carry out inspections and compliance. Recently, we have got an additional close to 500 positions under FSSAI to help us in better enforcement. Next, we are going to build capacities of food businesses so that they can ensure safety by themselves. We have started Food Safety, Training and Certification (FoSTaC) system. Under this, all food businesses need to have at least one person trained and certified as per our standards. Around 40,000 people, out of a total of 3.5 lakh, have been trained so far under this programme. The focus is largely on restaurants, hotel segment, manufacturing and processing units.

How effective have these measures been in ensuring safe food?

The results of these measures are difficult to quantify but these are steps in the right direction. As a regulator, we need to put in place a system. We can't pick up every sample as the entire food ecosystem is very large. Many of these things will take years to get embedded.

What more needs to be done to make food available in the market in packaged form as well as loose completely safe for consumption?

First and foremost, greater public awareness around food safety is needed. Second, training is required to build capacities around food safety in food businesses. Third is to have more effective enforcement. Since we have a large number of businesses to regulate and have small staff, we expect businesses to ensure food safety by themselves. But we do verify that they are meeting that trust or not through inspections, sampling and testing.

There is a significant shift towards healthy eating even in the packaged snacking category. What initiatives are being taken by FSSAI to promote this trend?

We recently came out with eat right movement on July 10 to nudge food businesses to reformulate their products so that they are healthy. Many companies have come forward and pledged to reformulate.

Labelling is another area of concern across packaged foods. What's been done on this front?

We are in the process of developing regulations for front-of-pack labelling to identify food as healthy and not so healthy. The draft is currently with the government for approval. The proposed packaging labels for food will depict if the food is healthy or not in terms of salt, sugar and saturated fat content. The industry has raised some concerns. The entire issue is about thresholds. The industry wants higher threshold levels, while the medical practitioners who deal with public health, World Health Organisation (WHO), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) define some other thresholds. We are trying to understand the concerns raised by industry and may make minor changes, if required, in the proposed regulation. Traffic light labelling can be used to indicate the status of the contents. Globally, there are many examples. We have not reached a conclusion on this yet.

There is also a major debate on Genetically Modified (GM) foods. How is FSSAI addressing this issue?

We are coming out with regulations on GM foods to regulate this segment. In India, our Food, Safety and Standards Act provides for the role of FSSAI to regulate GM foods. The regulation doesn't mean that we are allowing or disallowing it. Once we have regulations in place, we will be able to take a case-by-case approach. The concerns about GM foods vary across the countries. European Union (EU) has taken a certain view. In North America, a lot of their food is GM food, while Japan imports a lot of GM food.

What's been done on the advent of organic foods and the challenges related to authenticity associated with it? There are loopholes still being exploited by players in the market.

We have created organic food standards based on the existing certification system of National Programme for Organic Production and (NPOP) and Participatory Guaranteed Scheme (PGS). Any food that meets one of these standards gets FSSAI approval. The new standards have become effective from July 1. Organic foods will henceforth carry Jaivik Bharat logo. So with the new standards coming into force, the products can be tested for authenticity and if the products are found to have any pesticide residue above the threshold limits, the manufacturers will be liable to be prosecuted. Earlier standards were not under the law. The punishment for not complying with the food standards varies from six months' imprisonment to life term and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Overall food adulteration is on a rise despite strict norms put down by FSSAI. Why is this happening?

This is a perception issue. We are making more efforts towards better enforcement and compliance so that people have greater confidence in the food available in the marketplace. However, if more people get caught it doesn't necessarily mean that things have gone worse from bad. As far as penal provisions are concerned, the current laws provide for strict punishment for offenders.

While compliance from branded food players is very high, that's not the case with unbranded players that form a significant part of the food market. Is there a way to make them equally compliant, responsible and accountable for products manufactured by such players?

We are moving towards making regulations and their enforcement more effective through large-scale surveillance and monitoring activities. As far as the law is concerned, it does not make any distinction between branded or non-branded players. The whole effort on building capacity in the food business is around making businesses more responsible from the food safety angle. So that unintentional incidents of food safety while manufacturing, transportation or storage could be avoided.

The food delivery business is also changing drastically in the digital age. How is FSSAI prepared to deal with this change?

We have been proactive on this front. We have come out with regulations for e-commerce platforms a few months ago and are now working towards its more effective implementation. We have had a series of meeting with the players. The e-commerce players, which include Swiggy, Zomato, Food Panda, Uber Eats, Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket, are working towards making their platforms fully compliant with FSSAI norms.

The social media platforms are full of posts accusing food and beverage companies of use of ingredients by food companies that are harmful to health. It's very difficult to ascertain the authenticity of such information on various digital platforms. Is FSSAI doing anything on this front to curtail the unnecessary commotion in the general population?

Social media has a lot of fake news, which is a challenge for everyone including us. We monitor social media and take note of any information that requires attention. We do take it up with the companies as well as the local enforcement officials in case any action is warranted. There are these 15-20 posts which are going around and keep repeating. We seek a report from the company involved and advise it to take action if needed. But if the post is generic in nature, it becomes even far more challenging. We have a consumer complaint grievance cell. Ideally, these complaints should come there and we can take proper action. We get around 10,000-12,000 complaints every month. About 70-80% of them are consumer complaints or queries, the rest are licensing related queries from businesses.