New mantra for Pepsico, Mondelez: Less salt, sugar

Urban consumers are shifting towards organic foods, which will prompt more firms to cut salt, fat and sugar

PepsiCo India has cut salt content by 13% in Lay’s India’s Magic Masala variant and 15% in the Spanish Tomato Tango variant, the company said. 

New Delhi: Snacks and beverage makers are under pressure to shape up. Mondelez International, which makes Cadbury chocolates, and PepsiCo India are responding to changing consumer preferences by cutting salt, fat and sugar.

PepsiCo India, which sells snacks under the Kurkure and Lay’s brands, said on Wednesday it has cut salt by as much as 15% in its Lay’s potato chips brand to counter health concerns.

“Consumer activism against high salt/sugar content is picking up in India with urban consumers shifting towards wholesome and organic foods,” said Rajat Wahi, partner at consulting firm Deloitte India.

“We will see more such companies committing to create well-balanced products with low sugar, salt and fat content,” he said.

PepsiCo India has cut salt content by 13% in Lay’s India’s Magic Masala variant and 15% in the Spanish Tomato Tango variant, the company said. PepsiCo India introduced a healthier ‘multi-grain’ variant of Kurkure in April this year with 21% less salt content.

“We have reduced 5-25% sodium across popular variants of our snacks flagship brands, Lay’s and Kurkure, and we further aim at reducing sodium in 75% of our food portfolio by 2025,” said Jagrut Kotecha, vice-president, snacks category, at PepsiCo India. The firm plans to launch low-fat Baked Lay’s chips in the next two years in India.

Mondelez India, which sells Cadbury Dairy Milk, 5 Star and Perk chocolates, said it is planning to cut sugar content in its offerings. The company, whose chocolate brand Cadbury completes 70 years in India this year, hopes to ride on the increasing awareness and inclination among consumers to buy healthier food and beverages.

“We want to drive balanced indulgence and responsible consumption. In the long term, we are looking at innovations which could offer consumers the opportunity to consume something which has reduced sugar in it,” Anil Viswanathan, director, marketing (chocolates), at Mondelez India, said without giving details.

Mondelez said its current focus is to create products, across categories, in formats like Home Treats (bite-sized chocolates across Cadbury, Perk and 5 Star brands) where portion sizes can be controlled.

Both Mondelez and PepsiCo recently signed up for food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s Eat Right Movement, along with 12 other firms. They have pledged to cut sugar, salt and fat content and launch healthy products over three to seven years.

DINAKARAN NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

Why your fish is fishy

Food apps in hot water over hygiene

Owner of gutka unit gets bail

Coimbatore: Amit Jain of New Delhi, the owner of the illegal gutka manufacturing unit at Kannampalayam near Sulur that was raided in April, has obtained conditional bail from the Madras high court.

Police sources said that after submitting surety, he will have to appear at the Sulur police station every day until further order from the court. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials are also planning to question him in connection with the case.

A special team of the city police had camped in New Delhi for more than a month to nab Amit Jain. But they failed to trace his whereabouts.

Amit Jain had bought a textile mill at Kannampalayam in 2010 and procured machineries to manufacture tobacco products in 2011. After the Tamil Nadu government banned the sales and manufacturing of gutka and other tobacco products, he got the licence to manufacture sweet betel nut from (FSSAI) in 2013. But he manufactured banned tobacco products at the unit and supplied the items across the state in the name of VIP. But police failed to detect the illegal operation for five years. Coimbatore SP Moorthy, who got a tip off in April, had sent a special team to the spot. The police team raided the unit and seized raw materials used for manufacturing gutka. Police also seized 3.24 lakh sachets (648 kg ) of gutka from the unit and 750kg of pan masala.

4,500 kilo jaggery seized on suspicion of adulteration

Erode: Food safety officials raided the jaggery shandy at Chithode here on Saturday and seized 4,500kg jaggery worth 1.5 lakh on suspicion that they might have been . The seized jaggery would be destroyed, if they were found to be adulterated.

A team led by T Kalaivani, designated food safety officer of Erode district, conducted the search based on a tip that manufacturers were mixing chemicals, including sodium hydrogen sulphate, lime (Calcium oxide), sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, superphosphate and alum, into jaggery.

“Sodium hydrogen sulphate, a bleaching agent in textile industry, is used to whiten jaggery. The chemical should not be used in jaggery manufacturing,” said Kalaivani, adding, “Sugar is mixed into jaggery to enrich sweetness. It is harmful to people, especially ones with diabetics.”

Officials have collected samples and sent them to a government lab. “Strict action will be initiated against manufacturers if samples were found to be adulterated,” she said.

Officials have also seized nattu sarkarai to check whether it was mixed with sugar.

Kerala to strengthen monitoring of fish

Move to impound vehicles carrying contaminated fish

In the wake of seizure of 5,000 kg of formalin-laced fish from Vadakara here, the Kerala Food Safety Department is seeking the help of the police and the Motor Vehicles Department to impound vehicles carrying adulterated fish. Food safety officers heading various circles in the district will work as a team to expose the traders who collude with suppliers in Tamil Nadu to get stock at cheaper rate and sell it at higher margins in local markets. Efforts are also on to track the stock that had reached the city from Tamil Nadu. The officers suspect attempts to hide the contaminated stock using cold-storage facilities or convert it as dry fish to make profit. Regional squads will trace such stocks procured secretly and destroy them, an officer said.

Network of informers

“We are allowed to conduct vehicle checks on getting information about movement of adulterated fish by road. Our network of informers is broader now and we are confident of instantly tracking such suspected vehicles,” P. Jithinraj, an officer attached to the squad, said.

Keeping safety factors in mind, the conventional practice of sending back the suspicious stock to the suppliers has been stopped.

Following the latest directives from the Food Safety Commissioner, fish, if found adulterated after tests, will be destroyed on the spot. The officers say the move will prevent efforts to push the adulterated consignment again into the market.

Since the detection of formalin-laced fish from the other States in the local market, local fish traders have been experiencing a setback in business and a steep decline in their income.

Annoyed by the trend, some of the vendors have come out in support of the Food Safety Department’s drive against the unsafe stock.

Fish merchants at the Nadakkavu market say they take the stock directly from the local fishers as most of the buyers are interested only in the local catch.

Cong files police complaint against FDA director

PANAJI

The Congress party on Saturday filed a complaint at the Agacaim police station against food and drugs administration director Jyoti Sardesai seeking her arrest for misleading the people of Goa over the ‘formalin-in-fish’ row.

The lone Opposition party in the state asked the police to register an FIR against the director, who has been under fire after the FDA blew hot and cold over the results of fish samples drawn for testing formaldehyde.

“Jyoti Sardesai should be booked under various sections of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Act, and also under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. We have filed a complaint with the police… we demand that an FIR should be registered immediately and she should be arrested,” said North Goa Congress district president Vijay Bhike while addressing a press conference in Panaji.

The Congress alleged that Sardesai tampered with the evidence found by the designated officer at the Margao wholesale

fish market and twisted the reports of the fish samples “in favour of certain politicians and fish mafia”.

The party also accused Sardesai of not following the sampling and testing procedures prescribed under the FSSAI Act.

Raising doubts as whether Sardesai was qualified to hold the post of the FDA director, Bhike asked the government to “discharge” her from the services immediately.

“If she continues to hold the position of the FDA director then I feel that there could a danger to the public health, as under her tenure the FDA has restricted itself to pharmaceutical companies overlooking the matter of food safety in Goa,” he claimed.

Former Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes demanded that all the people in the state who have been eating fish for the past many years should be screened for cancer.

“The government is well aware of the people who are involved in the fraudulent practice of lacing fish with formalin. And if the government fails to take action and arrest them then we will move the High Court,” he warned.