May 29, 2018
3.5 tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes seized in Trichy market
Trichy: A surprise raid by the food safety department led to the seizure of 3.5 tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes from godowns at the Gandhi market here on Monday.
The team headed by D Selvaraj, food safety officer of Gandhi market area, found 101 trays of mangoes, weighing 1.4 tonnes, undergoing artificial ripening at a godown during the mass raid. They also found two boxes of carbide stones in the shop.
The next violation was found from a nearby godown where the officials found 2.1 tonnes of mangoes being artificially ripened using carbide stones.
The total volume of Monday’s seizure was 3.5 tonnes. This the first such seizure of unhealthy mangoes this season.
The raid was carried out in 30 shops in Gandhi market which trade mangoes by bringing the fruit from several parts of the state and supplying them to the local traders in the city. Mangoes from Thuvarankurichi, in Trichy, and Salem accounts from most of the supply.
The seized mango varieties include Iman Pasanth, Banganapalli, Alphonso and Sinduram.
Food safety officials said that owners of the two godowns brazenly violated norms despite advice and warning from the department before the commencement of mango season this year.
Officials claimed that the majority of mango traders followed approved natural ripening methods while few others indulged in the dangerous practice. They have also warned of severe health complications of consuming such mangoes which will cause eye irritation, vomiting etc.
Carbide stones, which are meant for welding works, is easily available to buy from some welding lathes.
The seized mangoes and carbide stones were taken to the Ariyamangalam dump yard and buried as per procedure.
Food safety supervisors in all central govt dept canteens
The central government has decided to appoint food safety supervisors in all its departmental canteens.
The central government has decided to appoint food safety supervisors in all its departmental canteens. The supervisors will be trained by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), mandated to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption, an official statement said.
These supervisors will also be keeping an eye on 25 food handlers, it said.
As per the FSSAI norms, all departmental canteens, tiffin rooms etc have to be licensed to ensure safe food in central government offices.
These licensed canteens should have trained food safety supervisors, whose training should be completed by December 31, 2018, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry to all central government departments said.
All the central government organisations have been asked to nominate officers for the first training workshop, scheduled to start from June 16.A total of 1,352 registered canteens and tiffin rooms are functioning in various central government establishments, the order added.
Beware, your juice may have inedible ice ‘Inedible ice used in fruit juice shops’
Madurai: The next time you walk into a roadside juice bar for a cold drink, think twice before you gulp it. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come up with this dire warning stating that ice mixed in fruit, sugarcane juices and sherbet being sold in all wayside eateries could well be the one used for preserving seafood and flowers.
Though health officials have recommended drinking plenty of water to keep you hydrated in summer, the use of ice in juices could land you in hospital. The trend is mostly down to the easy availability of inedible ice, also known as industrial ice, manufactured using non-purified water in hazardous environment and the ignorance of public about the health issues they pose.
FSSAI officials said there are stringent regulations and instructions that hygiene should be ensured before making ice for human consumption, but this is not happening when it comes to the manufacturing of industrial ice. This has made edible ice cost five times the price of the industrial one, which is sold Rs 2 a kg.
The officials have ordered ice manufacturers to add indigo carmine or brilliant blue up to 10 PPM (part per million) to overcome the problem. It has asked all the district level officials in the state to monitor and ensure the new procedure is followed with effect from June 1.
Asked about the sources of the ice they use, many traders failed to give a definite answer. “We do not know where the ice is manufactured and whether the vendor follows the procedures. We would be happy to give better quality ice. I don’t know how to distinguish between the good and the bad,” said a sugarcane vendor from South Gate who buys the ice from a dealer who delivers it at the doorstep for Rs 5 a kg.
Designated food safety officer for Madurai district M Somasundaram said they make sure that the rules and regulations are strictly adhered to by calling a meeting of the manufacturers in Madurai and discussing the issue in detail. Most manufacturers are doing the business without registration, he said.
Consuming juices mixed with ice manufactured from unhygienic water could leave one vulnerable to diseases like throat infection, cough, cold, hepatitis A, diarrheal diseases and even jaundice. Somasundaram urged people to be cautious while consuming drinks mixed with inedible ice.
“Soon, people will be able to distinguish between edible and industrial ice as the latter would have blue colour added to it. Severe action would be initiated against those selling industrial ice to juice and sherbet vendors,” he said. FSSAI sources said that substances like formaldehyde, which is used in preservation, is used in industrial ice. Seafood traders buying such ice as they can be sued to retain the stock for longer period.
Adulterated ghee seized; Fevicol added for flavour
Visakhapatnam: Officials of the vigilance and enforcement department and food safety department seized large quantity of spurious clarified butter (ghee) on Monday following they raided a wearhouse belonging to Sri Sai Raja Trading Company in Anakapalli in the district. They seized 11 cans weighing 200 kgs of adulterated ghee, 2,025 kgs of palm oil, 810 kgs of hydrogenated vegetable oil (vanaspati), 15 kgs of fevicol, some chemicals and a packaging machine.
According to vigilance department SP D Koteswara Rao, the adulterated ghee was packed under the brand name Radhakrishna, Govinda and Jai Radhakrishna. Officials conducted the raid and nabbed the main accused G Srinivasa Kumar.
Sources revealed, Srinivas, with the support of few others, manufactured the spurious clarified butter, with hydrogenated vegetable oil, palm oil, Fevicol and few others chemicals to bring about the flavour of the ghee. The accused confessed to supplying the adulterated ghee to small grocery stores in various parts of the northern AP region.
Officials registered cases against Srinivas under the Food Safety Act and Essential Commodities Act and sent the samples to a laboratory.
Bits of insects, rodent hair in food items
When I bite into a bar of chocolate, I think of calories. I don’t think of rat hair and faeces. But perhaps I should.
The American Food and Drug Authority, the regulatory body for food standards in the United States, publishes something called the Defect Levels Handbook. This sets permissible limits for “natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans”. The contents of these ‘natural and unavoidable’ defects is probably to protect manufacturers from being sued.
The FDA Handbook allows the average chocolate bar (about 100 grams) to have one rodent hair in it. This 100 grams is also allowed to contain up to 60 insect fragments. Legally.
Insects – either whole, body parts, larvae or mites – are the most common permissible defect, allowed in 71 foods. You will find them in peanut butter, paprika, oregano, cinnamon, bay leaves and many more foods. Oregano can have up to 300 insect fragments, with ground oregano allowed up to 1250 fragments. Tomato juice is allowed to have 10 fruit fly eggs or one maggot for every 100 grams. About 20 maggots or 75 mites are permissible in 15 grams of dried mushrooms. 5% of a can of cherries can also contain maggots.
In figs, interestingly, the FDA specifically only allows insect heads – up to 13 heads for every 100 grams of fig paste. Why only heads? God knows! (Because the FDA probably doesn’t).
However, what the FDA does know quite clearly, is the number of insects and rodent hairs that would make the perfect combination in food. It allows every 100 grams of peanut butter to have up to 30 insect fragments and one rodent hair. 50 grams of cinnamon is allowed 400 insect fragments and 10 rodent hairs. Paprika can contain 75 insect fragments and 11 rodents hairs for every 25 grams.
Cinnamon, paprika, oregano, thyme, sesame seeds (til), fennel seeds (saunf), ginger and other spices often contain another ingredient – animal or mammal excreta. FDA allows about 20 milligrams of this in 1 kilogram of cocoa beans. ‘mammalian excreta’ is another name for mouse faeces. Every kg of wheat is allowed to have an average of 9 faeces pellets. Even popcorn can have 1 pellet per subsample (the FDA handbook does not define the size of the subsample).
Mould, a type of fungus is also a commonly permitted contaminant in most fruit, vegetables, butters and jams. Up to 20% of paprika is allowed to be mouldy. 5% of a packet of bay leaves (tej patta) and 3% of a can of frozen peaches is also allowed to have mould in it. Blackcurrant jam is high on the list, with 74% of it permissibly mouldy. Low levels of mould are also allowed in tomato ketchup, tomato juice and canned tomatoes.
If all this weren’t enough, the FDA handbook also has a provision for the presence of ‘foreign matter’ in select foods. This includes objects such as stones, sticks, jute bags and even cigarette butts! This , strangely enough, fits into “natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans”.
If you are appalled by the low quality demanded of American packaged food, let us shift the focus to our own country. The Indian version of the FDA is the FSSAI – Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. It follows similar standards but makes them so confusing that no one bothers to read them. Instead of putting them out clearly in one handbook, it hides them in different rules for different foods.
When describing permissible food defects, FSSAI uses a term called ‘extraneous matter’. This is defined as “any matter contained in an article of food which may be carried from the raw materials, packaging materials or process systems used for its manufacture or which is added to it, but such matter does not render such article of food unsafe”.
FSSAI does not clearly define permitted contaminants in one handbook or document. It is, however, hidden in the fine print of their numerous rules and regulations.
For instance, FSSAI requires de-shelled peanuts to only be ‘practically’ free from matter such as stones, dirt, clay etc. Further, 5% of the total packet is permitted to be damaged. 2% of most dry fruits and nuts can permissibly be ‘damaged or discoloured’ which includes damage by insects.
With dry apricots, FSSAI states that they should be free from living insects, but goes on to allow a ‘reasonable’ amount of insect debris, vegetable matter and other objectionable matter. Up to 3% of supari can also be damaged by mould and insects.
A packet of wheat flour (atta) can contain up to 2% ash. Paushtik atta (which means healthy or nourishing) can have a little more ash – 2.75%. Whole grains of wheat, maize, jawar, bajra, rice and most lentils including chana, rajma, moong, masur, urad etc. are permitted 1% extraneous matter, which includes 0.1% impurities of animal origin. These essentials, which every household in our country consumes on a daily basis, is allowed to contain metallic pieces, sand, gravel, dirt, pebbles, stones, lumps of earth, clay, mud and animal faeces and hair.
Sugar, refined sugar, bura and misri are permitted to have 0.1% extraneous matter, while this is permitted up to 2% in the case of jaggery. If you were impressed by this accuracy, honey, on the other hand, only needs to be visually inspected to ensure that it is free from mould, dirt, scum, the fragments of bees and other insects etc.
Similarly, one of India’s favourites – tea – is required by FSSAI to only be free from living insects, moulds, dead insects, insect fragments and rodent contamination which are “visible to the naked eye.”
FSSAI also allows most types of salt and spices, such as jeera, elaichi, laung, dalchini, red chillies, haldi, black pepper, dhania, methi etc., to contain 1-2% extraneous matter. This includes dust, dirt, stones and lumps of earth. One official told me that some years ago, when India needed dals immediately, they imported them from Burma. The dal came full of stones. Instead of making a fuss, the FSAAI checked with their ministry and simply changed the rules to allow more stones.
So the quality of food is decided by corporations and regulatory bodies created to protect them. Who protects the consumer?
Alcoholic beverages to carry warning on safe driving: FSSAI
Come April 2019 and all bottles containing alcoholic beverages will carry warning asking people not to drink and drive, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said.
Come April 2019 and all bottles containing alcoholic beverages will carry warning asking people not to drink and drive, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said. The move comes following a Public Interest Litigation filed by social activist Prince Singhal.
Citing Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulations, 2018, the FSSAI in a recent order said the warning "Consumption of alcohol is injurious to health. Be safe - Don't drink and drive" can be printed on the labels of alcoholic beverages -- both Indian Made Foreign Liquors (IMFL) and the imported ones.
This warning can also be printed in the local or regional language, if any state desires to do so, it said.
"In such cases, there would be no requirement of also printing this warning in English," the FSSAI said.
The food safety commissioners of all states and Union territories have been directed to ensure that the warning is printed uniformly from April 1, 2019, it said.
The PIL was filed by Singhal, who runs a non-government organisation Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), in 2017.
"Drinking and driving is an intentional crime and it should be treated as a premeditated criminal act since the person driving drunk knows or should know that he can cause potential harm while driving," he said.
Several countries across the world that have adopted such warnings include the USA, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey and they have been able to bring down drunk- driving tragedies, as not only does it allow consumers to make an informed choice but it also reiterates on the need to practice no drinking-and-driving policy, Singhal said.With almost 7,00,000 road accidents annually on Indian roads, and 1,65,000 deaths every year, road accidents are a critical public concern which require immediate attention of policy-makers, he said.
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