Dec 30, 2018
FSSAI bans plastic, newspaper packaging of food items
Of the 380 samples picked up from the unorganised sector, 51 samples were found to be non-conforming, taking overall rate to 13.4%, according to a survey report that FSSAI commissioned.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has framed new food packaging regulations that are in the process of being notified. The regulations will come into effect from July 1.
The country’s top food regulator has prohibited the use of recycled plastic or newspaper and magazine pages for packaging of food items, in a bid to crackdown on use of packaging material that poses a health risk.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has framed new food packaging regulations that are in the process of being notified. The regulations will come into effect from July 1.
“The packaging of food regulations have been sent for publishing and will raise the bar for food safety in India. Packaging is an integral part of the process and we have framed regulations to address the it,” said Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI.
Acknowledging the importance of packaging in the food sector and its impact on food safety, the packaging regulations have been separated from the labelling ones . The new regulations replace the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011. Besides general and specific requirement for packaging material, the regulations also prescribe overall and specific migration limits of contaminants for plastic packaging materials. There is a suggestive list of packing materials for different food product categories.
The main concern for the food regulator is the unorganised sector that found to be making use of hazardous packaging material in the surveys that were commissioned by the regulator.
Of the 380 samples picked up from the unorganised sector, 51 samples were found to be non-conforming, taking overall rate to 13.4%, according to a survey report that FSSAI commissioned. The food items in these instances were found contaminated even with heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, etc. “The surveys that we commissioned have shown that the packaging material used by the organized sector is largely safe but it’s the unorganised sector that is a cause for concern for us, especially loose packaging material,” he said.
Packing Food In Plastic And Newspaper Banned By The FSSAI
The food regulator of India, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has put a ban on food packaging made out of plastic, magazine paper and newspaper reports Hindustan Times. The decision was taken in lieu of removing packaging that posed a health risk. A new set of food packaging regulations has been framed by the regulator and these will be implied by 1st of July next year.
FSSAI BANS PLASTIC & NEWSPAPER PACKAGING
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI told the media, “The packaging of food regulations have been sent for publishing and will raise the bar for food safety in India. Packaging is an integral part of the process and we have framed regulations to address the it.” The report further says that these new regulations have replaced the old Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.
Along with the changes, the regulator have also suggested packaging alternatives to newspapers and plastic. “The surveys that we commissioned have shown that the packaging material used by the organized sector is largely safe but it’s the unorganised sector that is a cause for concern for us, especially loose packaging material,” added Agarwal.
Packaged drinking water samples not up to FSSAI standards
Government officials attribute this to a lack of clean drinking water.
NEW DELHI: An alarming 44 per cent of the bottled water samples across the country have failed the government’s quality tests, according to data released by food regulators of several states on Saturday.
In a bid to keep an eye on quality, food safety departments lifted 1,123 samples across the country in 2017-18. Of these, 496 samples failed to meet the quality standards prescribed by the country’s apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Government officials attribute this to a lack of clean drinking water. Also, several small bottling plants or water packaging units have mushroomed in most cities. Tushar Trivedi, the founder of ‘bottledwater.org’ said, “Low investment, high demand and high returns have led to unregulated growth ... One can start even in a flat with a small investment of `2-3 lakh.
They don’t have any license and they don’t follow any norms.” One small unlicensed unit could cater to the demand of 2-3 colonies , he added.
Desi ghee samples fail purity test
Bathinda, December 29
A total of 15 sample of desi ghee collected from a factory in Ludhiana and from its employees here by the Health Department have failed the purity test.
The factory owner is accused of selling desi ghee in the region by pasting labels of Nestle and Verka brands.
District Health Department officials had informed Ludhiana officials about collecting samples from factory emplyees here. Thereafter, Ludhiana health officials had conducted a raid on the factory and collected samples of desi ghee on December 10. The health team had also recovered three tin of desi ghee.
Sources in the Health Department said the factory was manufacturing “adulterated” desi ghee and selling it in Bathinda, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Mansa and other districts by pasting labels of premium desi ghee-making brands. After collecting the samples, the Health Department had sent them for purity test to the state laboratory in Chandigarh.
Dr Ashok Monga, district health officer, said, “The suspects had pasted fake stickers of Verka and Nestle on desi ghee packages (tins). They were also selling them in the region. The samples of desi ghee have failed the purity test and we will submit the report of the same to the police soon. As many as 15 samples have failed the purity test.”
Assistant Sub-Inspector Harjivan Singh said, “Suspects Suman Kumar and Lakhya Garg were in Bathinda to supply adulterated desi ghee. After getting a tip-off, we conducted a raid and arrested them. A case under Sections 272, 273, 420, 465, 467, 472 and 473 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 59 and 63 of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, at the Cantonment police station.”
Dr Monga said that in November, samples of turmeric powder, milk, tomato ketchup, cheese, desi ghee and curd had also failed the purity test. He added that in December, samples of Verka desi ghee, sunflower oil, rasgulla, curd and tamarind ketchup also failed to match the required standards.
Indian Railways ensuring hygienic, quality food in trains
New Delhi, Dec 29 (UNI) In its endeavour to provide hygienic and quality food to the passengers, Indian Railways has taken several measures like upgrading quality of food preparation, setting up of new kitchens and revamping existing ones.
Only potable drinking water is used for cooking of food in Indian Railways, official sources here said.
To ensure centralised monitoring of the kitchen activities, CCTVs have been installed in base kitchens, kitchen units. Sharing of live streaming of the base kitchens through website of IRCTC has been made operational.
To ensure compliance of Food Safety Norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification from Designated Food Safety Officers of each catering unit is mandatory. Food Safety Supervisors have been deployed at Kitchen Units to monitor food safety and hygienic practices.
Food samples collected by Food Safety Officers/Supervisors are sent to the nominated accredited Laboratories under Food Safety & Standard Act for analysis and testing.
Penalties are imposed in cases of detection of unsatisfactory food samples and prosecutions are carried out as per provisions of Food Safety & Standard Rule -2011, they added.
Examination of quality of food, hygiene and cleanliness in Pantry Cars and Kitchen Units is done through Third Party Audit. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted through Third Party Agencies.
Regular and surprise inspections are conducted by railway officials including Food Safety Officers. Detailed instructions/guidelines have been issued to the Zonal Railways for conducting inspections.
Monitoring and supervision of catering service is done through operation of centralised Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC) toll free number 1800-111-321, Operation of All India Helpline No. 138, Twitter handle, CPGRAMS, E-Mail and SMS based complaints redressal, the sources said.
With the objective to provide quality and hygienic food to passengers, a new Catering Policy 2017 has been notified wherein unbundling of catering services on trains by IRCTC has been envisaged. In compliance thereof IRCTC has already taken over management of 377 mobile units (pairs of trains with pantry Cars) and 262 static units/Kitchen Units.
IRCTC has already upgraded 30 Base Kitchens/ Kitchen Units. IRCTC is closely monitoring the quality of food preparation through various modalities like CCTV, Food safety supervisors, IRCTC supervisor, food sampling in NABL accredited labs, Third Party Audit.
Food safety officials take bakeries to task
Coimbatore: Bakeries mushrooming on city’s bylanes are keeping food safety officials on their toes.
Ahead of the plastic ban and the looming deadline for getting licence and registration under the FSSAI act, the officials are racing against time to bring all bakeries under the law’s ambit.
Tracking them and educating the owners on food safety and safe disposal practices continue to be a challenge, designated officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) A Vijayalalithambigai said.
While the district has thousands of bakeries, from multi-chain outlets to standalone shops, hardly a few thousand have been licences or registered with the food safety department. “Large bakery chains like Aroma, K R and KRS Bakeries have got proper licences and follow all the rules and norms of the FSSAI Act,” Vijayalalithambigai said. “However, it is the corner shops and those in interior areas that we are trying to get to follow the norms.”
Many small-scale bakeries end up outsourcing products. “We have stuck to important rules on the use of margarine in specific products, on colours in products like icing, having separate sinks for washing vessels and raw materials and keeping storage and production areas free of insects and rodents. Food produced on different dates should be displayed separately. First in-first out policy should be followed. Food should not be served in plastic trays or in newspapers. They should serve good quality drinking water,” the official said.
“Many small bakeries still display products in the open. This makes them susceptible to flies. Many products are not refrigerated properly. Labelling products according to our norms is also something we have to teach them,” she added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)