Feb 25, 2018
Is India’s food safety authority above Parliament?
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is working in partnership with the baby food industry, which is in the limelight for violating an Indian law enacted for the safety and health of children in 1992: In whose interest?
Indian Parliament enacted the Infant Milk Substitutes Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003 (IMS Act) as a follow up of the “International Code of Marketing for Breastmilk Substitutes”. Members of Parliament recognised that commercial promotion of baby foods leads to inappropriate feeding practices and is a health hazard for infants and young children, contributing to malnutrition, disease and deaths. This Act bans any kind of promotion of infant milk substitutes, infant foods and feeding bottles (products under its scope) by any means. It also bans sponsorships of doctors and their associations directly or indirectly by the manufactures.
This Act is under threat by the action of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to exempt four types of baby foods from the IMS Act and its regulations. It has redefined them as foods for special medical purposes (FSMPs) in its communications and proposals. FSMPs include infant milk substitutes for premature/low birth weight babies, for babies with allergy to cow’s milk, for babies with lactose intolerance and for those suffering from inborn errors of metabolism.
It is no surprise. This is the result of FSSAI’s project “Diet4Life” in partnership with Infant and Young Child Nutrition Council of India (IYNCI), which is a front organisation of four leading baby food companies, namely, Abbot, Nestle, Danone and Mead Johnson, masquerading as an NGO.
What has gone wrong?
The project Diet4Life intends to import special foods for medical purposes for children suffering from “inborn errors of metabolism” and educate parents and doctors about it. While the project focuses on IEMs the exemption is granted to all FSMPs.
Following facts substantiate this assertion.
Firstly, the FSSAI provides a blanket exemption to these companies that their FSMPs do not come under the preview of IMS Act. Statement on its website substantiates this fact.
“...These foods are neither infant milk substitute nor infant food but are intended to meet special medical needs arising out of rare disorders/medical conditions. These foods are required to be consumed under medical supervision. These foods are covered under special category of foods defined as Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) which are out of scope of the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992.”
Secondly, the FSSAI has already approved labels of such foods with a statement that appears on the labels that these “are neither infant milk substitutes nor infant foods”.
Thirdly, the FSSAI issued a call for comments (now closed) on a notification that proposes to exempt the FSMPs from the IMS Act.
Out of four types of foods included in the FSMP list, in three types, babies should be following norms for breastfeeding. In the case of babies with IEM, according to WHO, there is one disease among a range of diseases, where breastfeeding is absolutely contraindicated and in all others breastmilk is given partially. While importing these special foods one would not see any problem, why FSSAI is interested in exemption from IMS Act. The IMS Act does not interfere to achieve all the objectives set by “Diet4Life” project.
Therefore the question: Is FSSAI above Parliament? Should Indian lawmakers be worried?
The IMS is under threat now. What FSSAI is doing is contrary to the spirit of Parliament. Therefore, lawmakers should be worried.
There are two issues here. One is allowing free hand to baby food companies to market its products in any manner whatsoever, and the other is institutional conflict of interest. For the readers let me explain these one by one.
On the first issue, the baby food industry has already taken advantage of this partnership as evidenced by sponsorship of National Conference of the National Neonatology, in December 2017. Sponsorship of such conferences is banned under the IMS Act. When asked, the organisers said we have the permission from Government of India. This is a tactic that the baby food industry uses commonly. These companies have a huge stake to undermine breastfeeding systematically in health facilities, through their relationship with health workers. In the guise of promoting or informing the doctors of this rare disorder and products for use, the baby food industry gets a free hand for surrogate marketing.
The second issue is that there is an institutional conflict of interest in the FSSAI governance. IYNCI, an NGO of four baby food companies, sits in the steering committee/expanded steering committee for IEMs on of the FSMP. The CAG’s report on Implementation of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 tabled in Parliament, also noted that “FSSAI has, for some food categories, entrusted the task of suggesting revision of standards to representatives of the Food Business Operators (FBO), whose opinions cannot be considered unbiased”.
WHO calls these products as “breastmilk substitutes”, which is equivalent to what “infant milk substitutes” in the IMS Act are.
Why can’t the IMS Act run concurrently with the FSSAI’s project? Several international frameworks and countries do regard FSMPs as breastmilk substitutes. Why can’t India do the same?
In conclusion, this is a flawed proposal of exemption moved by FSSAI, and should be withdrawn. It may reach both Houses of Parliament. Lawmakers should reject it outright to save the IMS Act they had so proudly enacted in the interest of India’s children.
Dr Arun Gupta is a senior paediatrician, working as regional coordinator Asia for International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). IBFAN is a Right Livelihood laureate 1998.
Adulterated chilli racket busted in Vijayawada after officials raid unit
A spurious chilli powder racket was busted at Gollapudi in Vijayawada on Friday by officials of the Bhavanipuram police, task force, and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The raid was conducted on Sudha Enterprises in Bhavanipuram, where officials found huge quantities of substandard chilli powder, made from crushing the stems.
According to reports, Sudha Enterprises was run by one Grandhi Narayana Rao, who procured the inferior quality chilli powder for Rs 30 per kg, allegedly re-packed it, and sold it for Rs 50 to Rs 60 per kg.
The officials reportedly seized 600 kg of chilli powder in the raid, along with 100 kg of salt and black gram.
“Chilli powder usually is made by grinding chilli and mixing it with certain ingredients. Instead, Narayana was found using cheap quality chilli and chilli stems, procured from Guntur, and was sellingthem under various brand names. He had not obtained FSSAI licence to sell the products in the market,” assistant food controller N Purnachandra Rao was quoted as saying.
In December 2016, a crackdown on adulterated chilli powder by the Commissionerate of Food Safety (CFS) found a total of 3.09 tonnes or 3,000 kg of misleading or falsely-labelled product in a span of a few weeks across the state.
Officials said that it was almost impossible to tell the difference unless the product was clinically tested, as they looked exactly the same. This made it even more dangerous, as it is difficult to identify.
At the time, officials said that there were two main chemicals - red oxide and Rhodamine-B. When Rhodamine-B is mixed with water, it creates a red coloured chemical, which can be mixed with a certain powder, to create a product that looks exactly like chilli powder.
Red Oxide was also added in some cases, officials had said at the time.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation set to seal illegal water units
KOLKATA: A joint team of the Kolkata Police Enforcement Branch (EB) and KMC has zeroed in on firms producing packaged drinking water without a valid licence. Some of these units are selling unsafe water in bottles bearing labels of prominent brands.
“We have come to know about the existence of few such units but some of them are located beyond KMC jurisdiction. We need to initiate a joint drive with help from state EB and municipalities concerned. Most of these factories are located either in Sonarpur or Rajarhat,” said a KMC health official.
In past five days, the team has raided several units producing packaged drinking water in and around Kolkata. The team, which has visited 23 units within the KMC jurisdiction, has planned a bigger operation next week when the EB is likely to seal some of the illegal units.
“We won’t do anything in a hurry. But we won’t let anyone escape. The KMC and the police will take action against the offenders,” mayor Sovan Chatterjee said.
Atin Ghosh, mayor-in-council member overseeing the KMC health department, categorically stated that the EB will have to be more active and ensure that the bottling plants were sealed. “Once these unlicenced units are closed down, it will be easier for us to take action against owners of bottling plants who are producing packaged water with a licence but have failed quality test,” said a KMC health department official.
According to the official, the civic body can lodge a lawsuit against errant owners according to a provision of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). If charges are proved, s/he can be imprisoned for six months and need to pay a maximum penalty of Rs 1lakh.
DC (EB) Debasis Sarkar said they are in talks with KMC about the next course of action. “KMC has begun legal proceedings under the Food Safety and Security Act. We are looking into all legal options. We will assist KMC in very possible manner,” said Sarkar.
Factories producing packaged drinking water without licence under scanner
KOLKATA: A joint team of Kolkata Police Enforcement Branch (EB) and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has zeroed in on a section of factories producing packaged drinking water without a valid licence.
The team is gearing up to take action against these with the help of state EB since some of these illegal manufacturing units are located outside the KMC jurisdiction.
In the past five days, a joint team of EB and KMC raided several shops and manufacturing units producing packaged drinking water in and around Kolkata.
During the raids, the joint team visited 23 units producing bottled water within the KMC jurisdiction. The joint team has planned a bigger operation next week when the EB is supposed to seal some of the manufacturing units which are running illegally.
The message was clear from the city mayor Sovan Chatterjee who had taken up the matter with the city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and asked him to take stern measures against producers of spurious packaged drinking water.
“We won’t do anything in hurry. But we won’t let anyone escape. Both the KMC and the police will take action against the offenders,” Chatterjee said.
Atin Ghosh, member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC health categorically stated that the EB would have to be more active and ensure that the packaged water bottling plants were sealed so that the spurious water containers are prevented from flooding city markets.
“Once these unlicensed units are closed down, it will be easier for us to take action against the owners of the bottling plants who are producing packaged water with a licence, but quality of water has failed to pass our laboratory test,” said a KMC health department official.
According to the KMC official, the civic body can lodge a lawsuit against the errant owners according to a provision of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). If charges are proved against the owner of a packaged water producing unit, he/she can be imprisoned for six months and need to pay a maximum penalty of Rs 1 lakh.
According to a KMC health department official at this point of time, the civic body was more concerned with a section of packaged drinking water manufacturing units which are selling water to market with a label of prominent packaged drinking water brands.
“We have come to know about the existence of few such units but some among these are located beyond the KMC jurisdiction. We need to initiate a joint drive with the help from state EB and municipalities concerned. Most of these factories are either located in Sonarpur in the southern fringe or Rajarhat in the northern fringe,” said a senior KMC health department official.
This Holi, avoid being a victim of food adulteration
New Delhi [India], Feb 24 : The 'Festival of Colors' is here. Holi is celebrated with much fervor and fanfare in northern India. No celebration is complete without sweets, and Holi is no exception.
But, while Holi is a time for merriment, we should also be alert about what we eat. During Holi, a wide variety of sweets are nowadays available for satisfying our taste buds.
Delicacies like gujia, thandai, lavang latika, and khoya burfi are synonymous with Holi. Gujia is a cuisine of North India, and is a sweet dumpling made with suji or maida and stuffed with khoya.
Sometimes, kesar (saffron) is added to enhance the yellow color of the sweet. But since kesar is very expensive, kesar gujia will only be available from reliable outlets selling branded products, otherwise there is a high chance of falling prey to adulteration.
While buying branded products, check the batch number, manufacture date, expiry date, food license number, as well as ISI or AGMARK certifications on the packaging. Also, make sure that the packaging has not been tampered with.
Paneer, khoya and milk are generally adulterated with starch which is used to give a thick, rich texture to sweets. To check for the presence of starch mixed with khoya, take a small sample and mix it with water and bring to the boil. Allow it to cool and add two drops of iodine in the solution. If the solution turns blue, then it has been adulterated with starch.
Thandai, a milk based summer drink is synonymous with Holi. An exotic mix of spices, nuts and full fat milk go into the making of this cooling summer drink, which is traditionally mixed with bhang during Holi. The popularity of this drink lies in its recipe, which includes a number of ingredients that can be subject to adulteration, particularly during Holi, when the demand increases.
Importantly, synthetic artificial colors and flavors are also used in such drinks, which may not be allowed under the food safety regulations due to their harmful effects. Therefore, it is advisable to buy the ingredients fresh from a reliable retailer and prepare this traditional drink at home.
Adulteration should be kept in mind by the consumers before they purchase food products, especially sweets during festivals like Holi. In order to reduce the cost of production and give a finer appearance without putting in extra capital, unscrupulous sweet merchants put in unhealthy add-ons to serve their purpose.
These chemicals could be used to enhance color, texture or taste. Always taste or smell the sweets before buying in bulk. Stale products emit a musty smell, and taste slightly sour. Before purchasing sweets, you should also make sure that the shopkeeper is trustworthy.
The larger public is not optimally aware about adulteration and the ways in which items of consumption are laced with harmful additives. In fact, most people are unaware that a law prohibiting adulteration actually exists. The Food Safety and Standards Act (2006) safeguards the consumer against misbranded food, sub-standard food and food containing extraneous matter by keeping provision of penalties.
If a food product is found unsafe, then the food business operator may be levied with a maximum fine of Rs. 10 lakhs along with an imprisonment which may extend even up to a life-term.
It is also important for the consumers to see the hygiene standards of the sweet shop while buying sweets to check if cleanliness is being maintained and whether food handlers are following basic personal hygiene standards.
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