Jul 5, 2018
Do bars have food safety licences: HC
The Madras High Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the quality of eatables sold in bars attached to State-run liquor shops and directed the State government as well as the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) to submit by Friday a list of bars which had obtained licences under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and V. Parthiban issued the direction while hearing a related case. The judges wanted the government to let the court know by when it would close down 500 liquor shops for the current year since the AIADMK had promised to shut shops in a phased manner.
Warehouse sealed for stocking banned tobacco products
Police arrest owner of the godown
The Selvapuram police have arrested owner of a godown at Ponnaiya Rajapuram which was sealed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Monday after it had a stock of 1,500 kg banned tobacco products.
According to police, B. Ashok Kumar of Sukrawarpet was held for employing head loading workers to remove the stock from the warehouse in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
A night patrol team of the police had found five persons standing in front of the godown. When enquired, the head load workers informed them that they were employed by Kumar to shift the tobacco products.
The police later traced the location of Kumar and arrested him.
The tobacco products seized and sealed in the warehouse are valued at Rs. 17 lakh according to FSSAI.
Rumours in Kerala on use of formaldehyde affects fish sales
Fisheries and food safety department officials have started conducting surprise raids at fishing harbours and fish markets in Kanyakumari district following rumours in neighbouring Kerala that fishes from the district are preserved using formaldehyde. This has badly affected trade in the busy Chinna Muttom fishing harbour in Kanyakumari district and affected the livelihood of fishermen and allied workers for the last one week.
Since the annual fishing ban is in effect in the western coast (parts of Kanyakumari district and whole of Kerala to Gujarat), Kerala primarily depends on fish from the Chinna Muttom fishing harbour for its requirement across the state. The fish brought to the harbour is transported to Kerala in trucks and containers.
Fishermen said that there are 264 trawlers from the port that are engaged in daily fishing. They start from the port at 5am and return to the shore with the catch between 9 and 10pm. Unlike other deep sea fishermen of Thoothoor region who go for deep sea fishing up to 50 days, covering a distance of 400 to 1,000 nautical miles, fishermen of Chinna Muttom do fishing between 20 and 30 nautical miles from the shore.
Some of the fish varieties like Mackerel Scad that was sold for Rs 2,000 (20 kg) is sold for a mere Rs 300 now. Fishermen claimed that they are suffering a loss of Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh per boat everyday. To avert loss, fishermen from the region refrained to go for fishing last Friday and Saturday. It was during this time, the fisheries department intervened to put an end to the issue by checking the quality of fish.
On the directions of the director of fisheries, the department officials from Kanyakumari sought help from the Fisheries College and Research Institute in Tuticorin. “They prepared chemicals and gave us a kit with 25 strips that can be readily used to check if formaldehyde has been used. The strip turns yellow within 10 minutes if the preservative is used,” said I Wivin, a fisheries inspector at Chinna Muttom.
Late on Tuesday evening fisheries officials led by assistant director V Deepa and Wivin and officials from the food safety department conducted a surprise raid at the harbour. Officials checked samples of fish and ice used to store the fish with the strips and found the result was negative, proving that formaldehyde was not used. Officials plan to conduct such surprise tests in other harbours and fish markets in the district.
“Since the fishermen here are mostly engaged in one-day fishing they only use ice from the nearby factories. Ice can keep the fish intact and preserve it from decay for more than 10 days. At times fishermen use rock salt to prevent speedy melting of ice, but there is no need to use the harmful preservative. However, we are planning to check vans carrying fish to Kerala to check if they are illegally using formaldehyde,” Wivin added.
Food regulator for mandatory mention of exact blend of oils on packs
NEW DELHI: In a move to enable consumers to make an informed choice, the food safety regulator has proposed to make it mandatory for manufacturers of blended oils to mention the exact blend in percentage terms on the front of the pack along with other labelling modifications.
The proposal is part of the draft regulation notified by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which has suggested changes to the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
The food regulator also said that such oil packs must also carry declaration “Blended Edible Vegetable Oil” in a font size not less than 5mm and not less than 10 mm if the net quantity is more than 1 litre.
Besides, packages of such blended oil will also have to declare in bold “NOT TO BE SOLD LOOSE”.
The move comes in the wake of increasing vegetable oil consumption in India driven by economic growth and rising disposable income. According to a recent report by Rabo Bank, India's vegetable oil consumption is expected to grow by 3% annually to exceed 34 million tonnes by 2030.
"Increasing income, urbanisation, changing food habits and deeper penetration of processed foods will be key drivers of future consumption growth of edible oil in the country," Rabo Research report 'The Future of India's Edible Oil Industry: How Will India's Vegetable Oil Demand Shape Up by 2030' said.
Palm oil, soy oil and sunflower oil are expected to penetrate regional markets further in the future, with the packaged edible oil segment leading the way for future growth of the industry. In this context, the regulator feels it is essential for consumers to be aware of what they are purchasing and consuming.
The country's vegetable oil consumption was at 23 million tonnes in 2017.
Besides, the draft changes, FSSAI has also initiated discussions with the Indian Biodiesel Association for setting up an ecosystem for collection of used cooking oil and its conversion into biodiesel.
"Annually, about 23 million tonnes of cooking oil is consumed in India. There is potential to recover and use about 3 million tonnes of this for production of bio-diesel," FSSAI said. According to the regulator, this will have an estimated value of Rs 18,000 crore per year.
Repeated use of same oil or re-heating of oil also produces harmful trans-fat. While re-heating of the same oil is a common practice in Indian cooking, particularly for industrial or commercial purposes, FSSAI recently also notified norms effective from July 1 for food business operators to monitor the quality of oil during frying. The regulator has prescribed a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC), which is a reliable benchmark for measuring the degradation of the oil, to be maximum 25% - beyond which the cooking oil is not suitable for use.
Currently, used-cooking oil is either not discarded at all or disposed of in an environmentally hazardous manner, thereby, choking drains and sewerage systems.
Recently the World Health Organisation (WHO) also raised concerns about industrially produced trans-fats and said it is responsible for over 5 lakh deaths worldwide every year.
Watch out next time you spice up your dish
The C. verum tree and the dried bark (inset) used as a spice.
Toxic Chinese cinnamon flooding South Indian market raises food safety concern
The cinnamon you just bought from the local grocery to spice up your dish may not be what the doctor ordered. Chances are the cinnamon bark you picked up from the shelf is a toxic version of the spice imported from China and passed off as the original.
A study conducted by scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) here has revealed that South Indian market is flooded with Chinese cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) containing high levels of coumarin, a hepatotoxic compound, raising food safety concerns.
While the authentic Cinnamomum verum cultivated in South India is a safe food additive with a market price about ₹1,000 a kg, the Chinese version is available for ₹180 to ₹200 per kg, making it an affordable option, albeit one with a health hazard for consumers.
The study conducted by K.B. Rameshkumar and R. Ananthakrishnan from the JNTBGRI found that the maximum coumarin content in authentic cinnamon (C. verum) collected from plantations in Kerala is 143 mg/kg while samples collected from various markets in South India contained up to 3,462 mg/ kg, indicating the widespread use of C. cassia as a substitute. The samples collected from the cinnamon estate established by the East India Company at Ancharakandy, Kannur, in 1767 had the lowest coumarin content of 12.3 mg/kg.
The study, using the latest liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry methods, was done with collaboration from the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, and has been published in the International Journal of Food Properties.
Recently, Indian cinnamon and food products containing cinnamon were banned in European countries due to the high content of coumarin.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has set the maximum permissible content of coumarin in food items at 0.3% while the European Food Safety Authority has established the tolerable daily intake of coumarin as 0.1 mg per kg of body weight. “C. cassia is remarkably similar to C. verum, making it virtually impossible for the consumer to distinguish the substitute from the original,” says Dr. Rameshkumar.
Director, JNTBGRI, R. Prakashkumar said the institute would take steps to popularise cinnamon plantations in the State.
Kerala Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association claims that false campaigns have tarnished their image
Recently, there were reports the authorities had detected Coliform bacteria in the mineral water supplied by major manufacturers in Kerala.
KOCHI: The Kerala Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association (KPDA) has claimed people with vested interests are running a false campaign against packaged water by saying they are infected with the Coliform bacteria. KPDA functionaries told reporters the other day they had lodged complaints against those levelling the false allegations against packaged water manufacturers. “We have approached the Food Safety Assistant Commissioner,” said KPDA president Rajeev Menon.
Recently, there were reports the authorities had detected Coliform bacteria in the mineral water supplied by major manufacturers in Kerala. However, Menon said false reports were being circulated against leading companies like Green Valley, Golden Valley, Blue Iris, Aqua Sair, Mount Mist, Bristol and Diplomat.
“The Food Safety Department did not detect any contamination or the presence of Coliform bacteria in the packaged water sold by the companies. The products are certified by the Food Safety Authority and BIS. False allegations are being propagated to topple down the industry,” Menon said.ISI is tasked with ensuring the quality of bottled potable water across the country. The companies engaged in manufacturing bottled water also have to follow guidelines laid by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). “The mineral water bottles hit the market after undergoing 10 stages of purification. The quality of the water is checked daily at the laboratory installed at each manufacturing units. Similarly, the samples are also checked by government authorities in a fixed time-period,” he said.
Jacob Abraham, chief patron, KPDA, urged the government to save the state’s bottled water industry by identifying and punishing companies which are operating and selling water devoid of the ISI mark.
“As for the fake WhatsApp messages being spread against the sector, complaints have been filed before the DGP and the Cyber Cell,” said Abraham.
Meanwhile, former BIS director R C Mathew said the authorities would definitely make sure each bottle of potable water is subjected to proper purification which includes chlorination, sand filtration, purification, activated carbon filtration, de-chlorination, reverse osmosis, microfilter, ultraviolet rays and ozonisation, before it enters the market.”
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