FOOD SAFETY LATEST: Apr 3, 2018

Apr 3, 2018

Handling cash could be bad for the tummy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the most widely circulated objects in the country could also be the carriers of disease-causing germs, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The FSSAI has asked the Food Safety Commissioners of all states to create awareness about the clean handling of currency notes and coins.

Handling of currency with unclean and soiled hands, use of saliva during counting and storage under unhygienic conditions result in it becoming contaminated with harmful microorganisms, said the advisory.

The Food Safety Commissioners have been instructed to launch a systematic campaign to discourage simultaneous handling of food and currency notes and coins.

Cross-contamination from cash is a risk to human health leading to a host of ailments, including food poisoning and skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, it said.“Food vendors, especially wayside eateries, often prepare and serve food and collect money from patrons using the same hand. Hence, food handlers, food sellers and others should avoid handling currency and food simultaneously. Ideally, handling of food and money should be physically separated. After handling currency, the hands should be thoroughly washed before serving food items,” said the March 28 communique.

Know quality of water you buy

The general public can know the quality of the packaged drinking water in Namakkal district by visiting the State Food Safety Department website: https://safewater.fssai.gov.in/CleanWater/home.

In a press release here recently, M. Asia Mariam, District Collector said that units involved in the manufacture of the packaged drinking water should display the ISI number and the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) number prominently in all the water sachets, bottles and 20 litre cans for the benefit of the public.

The people by using any one of the numbers in the website could collect the details of the six months or one year test reports and also the quality of the drinking water. They can also collect the details of the usage period.

The people can also use the website for knowing whether the concern continues to have the ISI and FSSAI standards.

The Collector called upon the public to take advantage of this facility to know the quality of the package drinking water being supplied to them.

The people can prefer complaints about the packaged drinking water concerns and also about the functioning of the food safety department to the Whatsapp number 94440 42322, the release added.

CAG pulls up state dept for hiring unlicensed vendor

Pune: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s recent report rapped the state women and child development (WCD) department for “gross violation of terms and conditions” in engaging a food vendor.

The report said a private vendor from Pune, whose licence was cancelled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), supplied 20.2 lakh packets of biscuits to anganwadi workers under the WCD’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme.

Per the report, the FDA has no mechanism to check whether food business operators (FBOs) with expired licences continue to operate.

As per Food Safety and Standard Regulations, any FBO with an expired licence must cease business activity until their apply for a fresh registration or licence.

In the Pune case, the report stated, the vendor continued to supply food under ICDS without a licence. The vendor in question is Govardhan Ayur Pharma Private Limited (GAPPL). The supply order was placed in February 2015. GAPPL’s licence was cancelled in January 2014.

On July 22, 2015, a food supply officer inspected the premises and collected food samples, which were declared sub-standard.

The ICDS department was told to recall the food from all anganwadis, but the biscuits had already distributed by then. The CAG recommended: “The government may create a database of FBOs which should be updated periodically ... (and) strengthen the enforcement structure.”

A case was lodged with Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pune, in November 2015.

Why eggs are hard outside and soft inside

Scientists believe they have cracked the conundrum of how chicken eggs are strong enough to resist being fractured from the outside, but weak enough to be broken from the inside when the chick hatches.

A Canadian study found that eggshells develop to be strong, but also not too weak because of changes in their nanostructure that occur during the egg’s incubation.

Researchers believe that a better understanding of events that drive eggshell hardening and strength could have important implications for food safety.

The team from McGill University in Montreal used new techniques to expose the interior of the eggshells to study their molecular nanostructure and mechanical properties. They said birds have benefited from millions of years of evolution to make the perfect eggshell — a thin, protective biomineralised chamber for embryonic growth that contains all the nutrients required for the growth of a baby chick.

Eggs are sufficiently hard when laid and during brooding to protect them from breaking. As the chick grows inside the eggshell, it needs calcium to form its bones. During egg incubation, the inner portion of the shell dissolves to provide this mineral ion supply, while at the same time weakening the shell enough to be broken by the hatching chick.

Using atomic force microscopy, and electron and X-ray imaging methods, the team found that this dual-function relationship is possible thanks to minute changes in the shell’s nanostructure that occurs during egg incubation.

In parallel experiments, the researchers were also able to recreate a similar nanostructure by adding osteopontin to mineral crystals grown in the lab. They found that a factor determining shell strength is the presence of nanostructured mineral associated with osteopontin, an eggshell protein also found in composite biological materials such as bone.

Professor Marc McKee said: “Eggshells are notoriously difficult to study by traditional means, because they easily break when we try to make a thin slice for imaging by electron microscopy. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

Rs 2.5 lakh fine imposed on ‘dead chicken’ sellers

Tirupur: The district administration has imposed a total of Rs 2.5 lakh fine on three people who tried to sell dead chickens in the city.

Velliyangiri and M Radhakrishnan were caught red-handed when they were transporting dead chicken near Veerapandi on December 15. It was found that they would buy dead chicken from poultry farms in and around Palladam, and clean them at their houses at Kallangadu before selling masala-mixed meat to roadside food stalls. Subsequently, they were booked under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Following this, the district revenue officer and additional district magistrate S Prasanna Ramasamy imposed Rs 1 lakh fine on the violators recently.

In another case, P Arumugam of MS Garden in Palladam was found selling dead chicken. He was also booked under the Food Safety and Standards Act and was slapped a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Meanwhile, FSDA designated officer to Tirupur K Tamil Selvan said, “The administration was committed to increase vigil on such violations. Heavy fines will be slapped on violators. The people should alert the food safety and drug administration department if they come across such cases. The department could be reached through WhatsApp too.”

New low-cost tool to detect bacteria in food, water

A new low-cost method for detecting bacteria in food or water samples has come closer to the reality.

Developed by scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the rapid and low-cost method could be useful to the chefs using fresh fruits and vegetables.

Researcher Lili He said, "Most people around the world cook their vegetables before eating, but here in the U.S. more and more people like to eat these foods raw. This gave us the idea that a quick test that can be done at home would be a good idea."

She added, "Microbial contamination is an important research topic right now. It has been a problem for a long time, but it is now the number one concern for food safety in the U.S."

The researchers designed a sensitive and reliable bacteria-detecting chip that can test whether fresh spinach or apple juice, for example, carry a bacterial load. The chip, used with a light microscope for optical detection, relies on what He called a "capture molecule," 3-mercaptophenylboronic acid (3-MBPA) that attracts and binds to any bacteria.

The chemical detection method relies on silver nanoparticles. The techniques are now in the patenting process.

The first step in the new test for bacteria detection is to collect a sample of water, juice or mashed vegetable leaf and place the chemical-based detection chip in with the sample.

The standard method for culturing bacteria from food samples, known as an aerobic plate count (APC) takes two days, He explained. "There are some others that are faster, but they are not very sensitive or reliable because ingredients in the food can interfere with them. We show in our most recent paper that our method is both sensitive and reliable and it can give you results in less than two hours."

The findings are published in the online issue of Food Microbiology and an earlier one in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal, Analytical Methods.

FSSAI to launch campaign ‘Project Dhoop’

Food Safety and Standard Authority India is on mission to spread awareness among children about Vitamin D that comes through natural sunlight intake of fortified food. FSSAI will soon launch a campaign ‘Project Dhoop’ that will help spread awareness.

According to the survey 2016 that was conducted by National Health and Family, 70 per cent of pre-school children and around 50 per cent of women suffer from anaemia caused by iron deficiency.

The source of Vitamin D is limited to sunlight and few non-vegetarian foods, hence fortifying foods is a necessary involvement, said by R K Marwaha, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of Endocrinology.

The campaign Project Dhoop will be implemented in alliance with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and private firm Kwality Ltd, the regulator said in a statement.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) informed stakeholders about the projected campaign at an interaction on the issue of fortification. The campaign details are being worked out.

Alarming 70 per cent of the Indian population consumes less than 50 per cent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of micronutrients.

FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said, “Public health consequences of micronutrient deficiencies are serious. The message of food fortification hence needs to go out using various methods, to a variety of people.”

Food fortification is simple, inexpensive yet priceless strategy that has been used across the world to effectively prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies, he added.

The FSSAI has notified the standards and launched a fortification logo +F’ to help consumers and businesses identify the fortified product.

Santosh Karmarkar, an expert on folic acid deficiency said, it is the need of an hour to understand the importance of fortifying food with Vitamin D.”