Mar 10, 2018
Poultry farming needs safety regulations: HC
A bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Anuja Prabhudesai was hearing a PIL that highlighted excessive use of pesticides by farmers and 20 farmer deaths in Vidharbha. The PIL, argued by advocate Shehzad Naqvi, sought orders for a policy to be framed to prevent growth or ripening of fruits with chemicals and to prohibit poultry farmers from using growth harmones or antibiotics.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) joint commissioner and other senior officers appeared in court on Friday.
The high court said the state must spread more awareness among farmers by sending pamphlets and other material to gram panchayats on proper use of pesticides and growth of poultry.
After dismissing a communication presented by the state as ‘typically bureaucratic’’, the court sought more information on how inspections can be carried out to find if excessive probiotic feed was being used to fatten chicken and whether antibiotics were being used in violation of rules.
The bench said, “Give public interest awareness ads against food adulteration in theatres. We believe there must be some regulatory law... Abroad there is much research done on growth of food. Put advertisements in theatres on food safety as is done for anti-smoking and other public places.”
An animal husbandry department officer present in court said, “No antibiotics were given to chicken, except when they were sick.’’ But he pointed out that “permitted probiotics were given in feeds”. The state’s contention is that probiotics can be given to poultry; antibiotics are given for three days when sick.
An affidavit by joint commissioner (food), submitted by government lawyer Deepali Patankar, stated there was only one NABL-accredited FDA laboratory in the state but action is taken for food safety.
The bench told the BMC, “Your concern should be what people are eating in the city of Mumbai. Are you vigilant?’’
The bench further said: “What prevents you from checking what food is being given as feed?... We want to know if supervision is falling short.”
The court also wants the FDA to consider proposals to check on labelling of unpacked fruits and vegetables sold in malls. The court said FDA should consider increasing the number of mobile vans to check milk adulteration too, and study proposals to check if meat sold in malls is safe for human consumption.
Temporary closure notice served on six eateries
Food safety authorities conduct suprise raid on Technopark campus
Temporary closure notices were served on six restaurants on the Technopark campus after a surprise raid conducted by a special squad of the Food Safety Department on Friday. The restaurants are Tasty Six in Bhavani building, Arabic Paradise at the Technopark main gate, Gafoor Ka Dosth, Zabardast Fusion and Table Cafe in Tejaswini building and Thoughtline Private Ltd in Ganga building.
Fifteen special squads consisting of food safety officials from Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram conducted inspections at various restaurants on the Technopark campus on Friday morning. Of the 92 hotels and restaurants inspected, notices were served on 63 for improvement of facilities and implementation of extra measures to ensure food safety.
In addition, a total fine amount of ₹1.94 lakh has been imposed on 30 restaurants for violation of various guidelines. Food Safety Commissioner Veena N. Madhavan said stringent inspections would be conducted in the coming days to ensure food safety in the district.
The public can register complaints regarding food safety on the following numbers — 8943346181, 8943346195, 8943346198, 18004251125 (Toll free). The identity of the complainants would be kept confidential.
STATE GETS FIRST MOBILE LAB TO CURB FOOD ADULTERATION
The State on Friday entered into the elite club to own a mobile vehicle (van), allocated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), well-equipped with laboratory devices facilitating on-the-spot testing of food samples at a nominal cost.
Minister, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Ramchandra Chandravanshi in the presence of other dignitaries inaugurated the first State of the Art ‘Mobile Lab’ on Friday at RCH Campus, Namkum.
To curb the rising adulteration level, two lab assistants will test food samples as per FSSAI guidelines. The mobile van will be functional for 20 days in a month and besides collecting food samples from hotels, confectionery shops, it will also test the chemical contents for milk and milk products, PH level of drinking water including high content of starch in sweets, confectionery items etc on public request instantly.
State Food Analyst, Chhaturbujh Meena present on the occasion, said, “At present merely 8 to 9 States by far owns a mobile van lab. At present, we have one mobile lab; later on requisition will be made to allot some more mobile labs considering its requirement and success rate. The mobile van is decked with milkoscan machine, sugar testing apparatuses, PH meter sensor etc.”
“For elaborate tests, depending on the significance of the contamination level, officials will send the samples to the State lab in Namkum. According to the rules, two lab technicians, two lab assistants, one attendant and one driver will be appointed for smooth functioning of mobile lab. The mobile lab service at present will be restricted to only urban areas,” added Meena.
No more Aashirvaad Atta Videos, Court issues restraining order
Guwahati, March 9: Following the uploads of the multiple videos claiming the presence of plastic in ‘Aashirvaad Atta’, the Court of City Civil and Sessions Judge in Bengaluru on Friday issued a notice for all online media platforms to stop publishing any irrelevant report regarding the matter.
The company in a press statement released today clarified that a thorough scientific test at NABL accredited laboratory in Mumbai assured that on testing Aashirvaad Atta as well as other popular atta brands recently, has confirmed the presence of gluten in the samples of all these atta in the range of 7 to 12 percent of atta.
The report of the laboratory also confirmed that when atta dough is washed with water, starch and fibre gets removed and a residue is obtained which is gluten and not plastic.
It may also be mentioned that Aashirvaad Atta was the subject of several homemade videos on internet platforms alleging that the atta contained plastic.
Also, the said videos claimed that if the dough made from ‘Aashirvaad atta’ was washed several times it resulted in a gum-like substance, which was alleged to be plastic.
Even the FSSAI regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, require that all atta must contain a minimum of 6% wheat protein.
Meanwhile, the Court has issued summons in the Suit to the said internet/social media platform providers.
Online inspector, food sampling system bring transparency in food safety dept : Brahm Mohindra
Chandigarh, Mar 9 (UNI) To bring transparency in the food safety department, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra here on Friday, launched an online inspection and sampling system to expedite the procedure of food sampling and testing.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mohindra said that it is essential that food safety inspections is be conducted diligently and reports made available to all stakeholders in short span of time with quick response provision.
He also ordered the food safety officials to clear backlog of licenses/ registration by March 31, 2018.
He said that food businesses have a legal and moral obligation to ensure they are not contributing to the statistics of food borne illness and other diseases.
He said that at the same time the food safety team must be equipped well to address to such issues concerning the food security which directly protect the healthy life of State’s population.
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