May 24, 2018
State extends ban on tobacco items for one year
PATNA: The food safety wing of state health department has extended the ban on the manufacture, sales and distribution of products containing tobacco and nicotine for one more year with effect from May 21.
A notice was issued by principal secretary (health) and food safety commissioner Sanjay Kumar in this regard on Tuesday. The ban applies on tobacco, pan masala, zarda, gutka and other tobacco-based flavoured mouth fresheners, whether packed or loose.
“In the Global Audit Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2010, more than 200 million Indians were reported consuming tobacco, which resulted in higher incidents of oral cancer in India. In that backdrop, the state government in 2012 banned the sales and manufacture of gutka. But later, in 2014, the Patna high court stayed the ban order. The case is pending in the Supreme Court,” a health department official said and added that the second survey of GATS in 2016-17 revealed a steep decline in tobacco consumption by Indians.
“According to Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products. It has come to the notice of state health department that the prohibited substances like tobacco and gutka are available for sales across the state despite ban on it. Thus, apart from the annual extension of prohibition orders, the state food safety department is also going to conduct an enforcement drive under which the food security officials will collect samples of different brands from retailers and wholesalers for test in laboratories for further investigation,” executive director of Socio Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS) Deepak Mishra said.
“After testing these samples based on the rules notified in the food security norms, strict action will be taken against companies in case of discrepancies found in the ingredients,” he added.
“The decision was taken in view of the expiry of similar order on May 21, 2017, wherein it was declared to circumvent ban of sales of tobacco and nicotine as the manufacturers are selling pan masala and flavoured tobacco as separate products in the market,” Mishra said.
FSSAI moves to make drinking water vending machines safe
NEW DELHI MAY 23
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is for the first time looking at steps to ensure safety and quality of drinking water offered or sold through vending machines. In a draft notification, it has proposed amendments that will put drinking water vending machines under the ambit of packaged drinking water regulations.
All the packaged drinking water needs to have BIS certification along with the FSSAI licence. However, drinking water vending machines are not required to follow this rule. The draft regulations propose to exempt such machine from BIS certification but getting FSSAI licence will be mandatory. “It has become a necessity to regulate these operations so as to ensure the safety and quality of water obtained from water vending machines,” the food safety authority said.
The standards for Packaged Drinking Water have been specified in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations-2011. Drinking water vending machines are especially prevalent across public places, including railway stations. Some of them are coin-operated vending machines and are aimed to offer drinking water at cheaper prices than packaged water companies.
“FSSAI has, therefore, proposed an amendment to the existing Standards of Packaged Drinking Water. In the said proposal such drinking water shall have to comply with parameters specified for Packaged Drinking Water,” according to FSSAI’s draft notification.
“ However, drinking water sold or offered through vending machines is proposed to be exempt from the requirement of Certification Mark of BIS,” the draft notification added.
The Food Safety regulator has now sought comments from various stakeholders on this proposed draft notification.
Cabinet clears India-Denmark MoU on food safety
New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) The Cabinet today gave ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Denmark on cooperation in food safety.
The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the agreement that was signed on April 16, 2018.
"The MoU will help improve setting up of food safety standards by getting access to best practices and facilitating food trade of important commodities," an official statement said.
This will help deepen bilateral ties, mutual understanding and trust, eventually strengthening both sides in their capacity building efforts towards food safety.
It will further promote understanding of the best practices in the areas of food safety in both countries and in faster resolution of the related issues.
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