40% food samples tested, most fail to meet quality standards

600-kg ‘adulterated’ Vanaspati seized

Chandigarh: A food safety team on Thursday intercepted a vehicle at the Dhilwan toll plaza, carrying 40 tin containers of 15 kg each of edible oil/fat claimed to be Vanaspati, not bearing any label. The Amritsar-bound vehicle was ferrying the suspected material from Ludhiana. The stock was seized after taking samples of the same. TNS

Will ensure compliance: Pannu

The move by the Food Department against the food business operators engaged in the unscrupulous business of adulterated and spurious food stuffs would continue in order to ensure that the citizens get pure and healthy food, said KS Pannu, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Punjab.

Food safety officials had raided a milk manufacturing unit at Devigarh in Patiala earlier this month. 

Patiala, August 30

About one-third of the food samples collected by the Health Department and the police across Punjab in the past fortnight have failed to meet the prescribed standards. However, none has been declared “unfit for human consumption”, even as expired products were being sold.

As per documents available with The Tribune, the food testing laboratory in Kharar received 904 samples of milk products, including ghee, milk and paneer, till August 22. Of the 364 samples whose test reports were prepared today, 322 were found substandard (containing poor-quality ingredients) or not conforming to food safety standards.

Three samples were found adulterated with water or fat. The sampling has confirmed that four samples were “misbranded”; which means that inferior products were passed off as those of a particular brand available in the market by using branded labels.

A senior officer associated with food and milk testing in the state said Punjab was one of the biggest producers and consumers of milk products, but the state needed a special laboratory to test “outside mixed fat in the form of urea, detergent, refined oil or other substances harmful to health. “At present, these tests are done in Haryana, Karnataka and Gujarat,” the officer said.

Mission Tandarust Punjab Director Kahan Singh Pannu told The Tribune that the test reports of samples collected from manufacturers where detergents and refined oil were seized were awaited. “As of now, the reports state that the products (whose samples were tested) sold across the state are of inferior quality and do not meet the standards prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),” he said.

Pannu said the sampling reports would be sent soon to Additional Deputy Commissioners, who would ensure that the erring parties were fined heavily. “We have powers to impose a fine of Rs 10 lakh per sample,” he said.

40 tins of spurious vanaspati seized

Health officials with the seized material in Kapurthala. 
Jalandhar, August 30
As many as 40 tins of spurious vanaspati weighing 600 kg were seized by teams of the Kapurthala Health Department during a drive on Thursday.
Heath officials, including Assistant Commissioner, Food, Dr Harjot Pal Singh and Food Safety Officer Satnam Singh, initiated the drive in the morning from Dhilwan Toll Plaza.
A Mahindra Bolero Maxi Truck from Ludhiana, en route to Amritsar, was stopped for checking. A total of 40 tins of vanaspati were seized from the truck.
The tins were not bearing any label on them. A label is required to mention information such as the name or nature of the product contained, name and complete address of the manufacturer or packer, date of manufacturing or packing, best before or use by the date, lot/code/batch identification, net quantity and nutritional information.
All these details are mandatory to be mentioned on the label of any sealed food item as per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
All 40 tins were seized after taking its two samples. Thereafter, the health officials took these into custody and further action will be taken after getting the report from the State Food Laboratory, Kharar.
The legal action will be initiated in the court of law against the offenders as per the report of analysis of the State Food Lab, Kharar, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Rules and Regulations, 2011.
Samples of milk products taken
Jalandhar: A team of the Health Department, on Thursday conducted sampling of milk and milk products in various areas of the city.
The team comprising District Health Officer Dr Balwinder Singh, Food Safety Officer Rashu Mahajan and others, started a crackdown against adulteration at 6 am and took six samples of milk and milk products, after laying a trap at Pathankot Chowk.
The team later collected a sample of ‘khoya’ at the Golden Avenue locality. An official said in this month, the food safety wing had collected 122 samples, including 91 milk and milk products, and the samples had been sent to the State Food Testing Laboratory, Kharar.
He said under the ‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’ such drives would continue in the coming days as well.

Swadeshi Jagran Manch opposes food fortification

The FSSAI has approved the fortification of staples like rice and wheat. 

‘Some nutrients sourced from animals’

The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing mandatory fortification of foods on the ground that some micronutrients are sourced from animals and are against the cultural beliefs and practices of vegetarians and may lead to “law and order issues.”

The group has also claimed that the import of technology and raw material for fortifying foods with micronutrients could have an adverse impact on the national economy.

The letter suggests that the food industry not have a role in decision-making because of their vested interests in fortification. It names Tata Trusts, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Health Initiative, Food Fortification Initiative and Nutrition International, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) as those companies or agencies that may have or are known to have vested interests in fortification.

It also says that universal fortification could prove to be harmful for some and should be given to only those people who have some kind of deficiency.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified Food Fortification Regulations 2018, which provide for minimum and maximum range of fortification of staples like wheat, maida, rice, salt, vegetable oil and milk.