Aug 31, 2019
Food Safety officials begin inspections
The Food Safety Department has begun an intensive awareness and sample testing drive in view of the festival season ahead.
Four squads of food safety officials began inspections from August 22 and will continue it up to September 7 in various places in the district, according to Assistant Commissioner for Food Safety, Ernakulam, Jacob Thomas. Among the food items that find greater demand during festival times are jaggery, green gram, cereals, coconut oil, milk, pappadam, vegetables, and fruits.
Unsafe food will be confiscated and establishments functioning without licences shut down and their operators will be punished under the rules of the Food Safety Act, the official said.
Bihar govt bans 12 pan masala brands
The Nitish Kumar government on Friday banned 12 pan masala brands in Bihar for a period of one year for containing magnesium carbonate which causes health problems, an official said.
The decision was taken by the state government following the presence of magnesium carbonate in all the 20 samples of pan masala collected from nine districts by food safety officers.
Using power under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Food Safety Commissioner Sanjay Kumar has banned the manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution, display and sale of pan masala of 12 different brands for a period of one year from today August 30, 2019, an official release said.
People of the state have been requested to cooperate for the enforcement of the ban on pan masala, the commissioner said in the release.
The samples of these brands collected by food safety officers were sent for examination at 'Combined Food and drugs Laboratory' at Agamkuan, Patna where it was found that all the 20 samples contain magnesium carbonate, the release said.
On the basis of scientific studies, it has been found that the use of magnesium carbonate for a long period of time could "cause serious diseases such as cardiac arrest, acute hyper magnesia," the release said.
Pan masala comes under the category of food items and hence the use of magnesium carbonate in pan masala is a violation of clause 3.17 of Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011, it added.
The state government had earlier imposed a ban on the manufacture, sale, distribution and storage of gutka and all its varients.
The Bihar government had also enforced total prohibition in the state from April 5, 2016.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been pushing for de- addiction ever since prohibition was enforced in the state.
A Problem of Purity
The recent raids against milk chilling units in Madhya Pradesh show that food adulteration is a clear and present danger.
WHAT’S IN THERE? Milk being collected at Van Khandeshwari chilling plant, Morena.
In the last week of July, Special Task Force (STF) sleuths disguised as doodhias (a colloquial term for milkmen) began surveiling the Van Khandeshwari milk chilling plant at Ambah, in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. They had received credible intelligence that the sale of spurious milk in the area had spiked, likely due to the festive season, when demand surges. And when they compared the amount of raw milk being delivered to Van Khandeshwari to the amount leaving it, a huge mismatch had been revealed.
Despite expecting to find adulteration taking place, when cops raided the plant two days later, the scale of the operation they found was stunning. The plant was stocked with hundreds of kilos of chemicals, oils and detergents. Thousands of litres of 'synthetic milk' were being produced and sent on to packaging and distribution units. This packaged 'milk' was then being sold all across the region, including in major cities like the national capital, Gurgaon and Noida.
Allegedly, what the STF found was only the tip of the iceberg. Sources say that both chemical suppliers and local officials are part of the larger racket. Since the state's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials generally spend years posted to the same region, some say that unhealthily cosy relationships have developed between dairy units and the authorities responsible for overseeing them. What is also telling is that those in the Gwalior-Chambal region who can afford to do so generally keep their own cattle for milk-locals are undoubtedly all too aware of the scale of the racket.
A week after the raid on Van Khandeshwari, a state-wide crackdown was launched, with agencies expanding their investigation to include products other than milk. Those arrested in the raids-including those from Khandeshwari and nearby regions, including Morena, Gwalior and Ujjain-have been charged under the National Security Act (NSA). However, these events have led to a number of questions: what are the economics of the racket, and who are the key players? Is the government response adequate, or is it merely a stop-gap arrangement to quell public anger? And, most importantly, why is adulteration thriving in Bhind and Morena?
Bhind and Morena-districts that were once infested with dacoit gangs-have large Gujjar populations that are extensively engaged in cattle-rearing and associated activities, including dairy. Agriculture is not very remunerative, given the undulating, ravine-marked lands of the region. Manufacturing is almost entirely absent. Consequently, milk and dairy products constitute an important part of the rural economy. The Chambal region also has a long-standing reputation for lawlessness and weak governance, leading to rampant corruption.
Adulteration, for instance, is not limited to the dairy industry. The STF is now closing in on a thriving edible oil adulteration racket in the region as well. Since mustard is an important local crop, several oil mills also operate in the area, and there are frequent reports of mustard oil being adulterated with cheap rice bran and palm oil. "Adulterated oil is prepared as per market requirements and depending on the taste that is in demand in a given region," says a worker at one of Morena's oil mills, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Everyone is involved, from inter-state [authorities], the food and drugs department and the police."
HOW IT HAPPENS
The dairy industry begins with cattle farmers and transporters. Transporters collect milk from farmers twice a day, delivering it to local chilling units. Before being accepted, the milk is checked for purity-not regularly, but randomly-using a lactometer. Once accepted, the milk is chilled to about 1 degree Celsius, before being loaded onto tankers and sent to processing units, where it is packaged/ processed into milk powder, etc. Generally speaking, adulteration takes place at chilling units, simply because of the volume of milk passing through these locations. The process by which 'synthetic milk' is made involves the use of refined oil or vanaspati, soap and shampoo, aside from several other chemicals. In tests conducted by lactometers-which measure the fat content of a liquid-this sort of spurious milk passes with flying colours, as a result of the oil mixed into it.
The scale of the problem is enormous. "In Bhind and Morena alone, there are estimated to be more than 200 chilling units," says Amit Singh, superintendent of police, STF, Gwalior. And the seizures made by STF sleuths from such chilling plants have been chilling in their own right. Materials seized from Van Khandeshwari included sacks of sodium citrate, maltodextrin powder and sodium thiosulphate. There were also significant recoveries of detergent and thousands of litres of vanaspati and refined oil. During another search by FDA officials, this one at Maa Kailadevi chilling centre at Ambah, 36,000 litres of synthetic milk, 1,400 tins of refined oil, 550 bags of caustic soda, 17 cans of hydrogenated fats and 550 bags of skimmed milk powder were seized. The milk from these units was bound for Aligarh, Meerut, Kanpur and Agra. In yet another raid, this one at Gopal Ice Factory in Lahar, Bhind district, the STF seized 2,000 litres of synthetic milk, 1,000 kg of mawa and 1,500 kg of synthetic paneer. And the list goes on.
THE COSTS OF ADULTERATION
Right at the beginning of the value chain, cattle farmers earn about Rs 40 per litre of pure milk. After chilling, processing, packaging and the like, milk arrives at households priced at about Rs 48 per litre (and above). Given the vast volumes of milk sold every day, the profits of adulteration can be immense.
"To every 100 litres of raw milk, [milk adulterators] add about two litres of refined oil, 200 gm of detergent, 50 gm of lime and 30 litres of water," says a young man from Morena who claims to have worked at one such chilling unit-an investment of about Rs 200. The combined concoction yields about 150 litres of 'synthetic milk' per 100 litres of pure milk, at a total cost of Rs 4,200. Since 150 litres of pure milk costs about Rs 6,000, that means a profit of Rs 1,800 per 100 litres of pure milk, or Rs 18 per litre-almost 50 per cent per litre.
"A report by the Union ministry for science and technology had stated that a staggering 68.7 per cent of milk sold in the country is adulterated," said Madhya Pradesh minister of health, Tulsi Silawat. "Nationally, in 2017-18, the per capita availability of milk was 375 grams, while consumption was 480 grams per person." These figures also suggest that the excess demand is being met through synthetic milk. And these ill-gotten profits are not just confined to milk. Downstream dairy products such as mawa and paneer also have spurious forms produced using 'synthetic milk'. Just like milk, the demand for these products also rises during festive seasons, leading to bumper profits.
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: Samples of mawa seized by state police.
So profitable is the dairy adulteration industry, in fact, that Gwalior is filled with stories of people who went from selling milk on bicycles to setting up chilling plants-and who now travel around in expensive cars. Taking note of these sudden success stories, the income tax department is also reportedly looking into returns filled by chilling units in these regions in the last few years.
Another angle is the damage that adulterated milk and dairy products cause. Additives can have poisonous consequences, aside from stripping milk of beneficial proteins. As Dr C.C. Chaubal, a noted gastroenterologist from Bhopal, says, "Caustic soda is an alkaline compound that can cause ulcers, erosion of the gastric channel and can even lead to liver cancer." The use of shampoos and detergents can also cause damage to the liver and kidney, he adds. And a major problem is that complications from consuming adulterated milk only show effect after prolonged exposure, by which time significant damage has already been done to the body.
THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE
After the STF raids conducted in late July, the MP government responded swiftly, with Chief Minister Kamal Nath ordering a crackdown and instructing officials to invoke the NSA in such cases. The state FDA has also been instructed to inspect chilling units and dairies and to take samples for testing. On August 19, the state cabinet reiterated its fight against adulteration, adopting the slogan 'shuddh ke liye yuddh (war on adulteration).'
Since the raids at Bhind and Morena, a total of 57 people have been booked by the state police under Sections 51 and 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, as well as under Sections 272, 273, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. "We are also going after chemical suppliers," says Ashok Awasthi, additional director general of the STF. However, the government is also grappling with critical issues that hamper such investigations.
For one, of the mandated 275 food safety officer (FSO) positions in the state, 122 are vacant. Though the government has said it will recruit 85 more FSOs, this will take time. Secondly, the state has just one food-testing laboratory, in Bhopal, equipped to handle 6,000 tests per year. After the crackdown, 3,200 samples have already been sent to Bhopal for tests, where they are piling up at this solitary facility for lack of manpower. It takes an average of 10 hours for a sample to be tested-as of August 6, only 428 samples had been tested. Of these, 139 were substandard, 22 were misbranded, eight were unsafe, three were found to have had traces of prohibited material and nine were found to be adulterated. Adulterants found in these samples included urea, pesticide, boric acid and detergent. To ease the burden on this lab, the state government has announced that new labs are to be set up at Gwalior, Jabalpur and Indore, as well as beginning recruitment to existing vacant posts.
Another problem has to do with law-related issues. "Under the FSSA, the police do not have the authority to enter food production premises-only food department officials can," says STF SP Singh. "Further, while there are penal provisions in the FSSA, there are also fines, which enable people to get away." On this count, the state government is looking for possible interventions. "The government is working on a provision to introduce life imprisonment for those found guilty of food adulteration," said state health minister Silawat.
A third issue relates to the state's geography. MP shares borders with five states, all of which have varying laws to deal with food adulteration. Having a porous border doesn't help either.
"Awareness is very important in this battle. Besides the health department, the police and municipal authorities can play an important role in securing information about adulterated products, as they have a large public interface," says Pallavi Jain Govil, state principal secretary for health. The government's stated intentions, however, come under a cloud when one notes how rarely food department officials in Bhind and Morena are transferred, even when there is change of government. Most food inspectors are locals, and maintain their posts through connections to the party in power. Sometimes, they get themselves transferred to nearby towns for short periods of time so that their records show that they haven't been posted in one place for extended periods of time. A perusal of food inspector service records in Bhind and Morena makes it clear that the same individuals appear to keep cycling through regional posts.
The owners of chilling units, however, say the issue is being blown out of proportion. "It is said that the owners of such units are making crores in profits. This is not true. There is barely a margin of 20 paise per litre-but since milk costs more than Rs 40 per litre, and daily volumes are in the lakhs of litres, the turnover goes into crores," says Ram Naresh Sharma of Maa Vaishnav chilling centre in Ambah. He also says that the soap that appears in samples sent for testing is often trace amounts left over from washing storage containers.
"I understand that it is not right to add anything to the milk," he argues, "but many chilling unit owners add harmless skimmed milk powder if the milk doesn't meet fat content standards-which happens sometimes in certain seasons, or due to a poor diet of the dairy animal."
Aug 30, 2019
Packaged Indian foods are unhealthiest in the world, a study claims
A survey has revealed that Indian packaged foods rank as the unhealthiest in the world. Packaged food in the country mainly contains savoury and sweets and has been ranked worst among 12 countries that were surveyed, including US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, China, Chile, etc.
The ranks were conferred on the basis of Australian Health Star Rating System and the study was published in the medical journal ‘Obesity Reviews’.
Ingredients in these food products like fibres, proteins, trans-fat, saturated fat, legumes, calorie value, sugar and sodium content were evaluated for the study. India ranked the lowest at 2.27 while the UK ranked the best with 2.83, on the scale of 0 to 5.
Experts have a mixed view about the outcome of this study and say there is a need for more awareness on the ingredients of packaged foods. Meanwhile, some said that the information is just to malign Indian food brands owing to their huge demand in the international market.
“The reason is that many food items do not have contents or the right ingredients mentioned on them. The present law does not mandate companies to mention nutritional facts like sugar, cholesterol, fat, saturated fat and other crucial ingredients. Awareness needs to be instilled in the minds of consumers as to what they are consuming,” said Sonal Dhingra, deputy programme manager at food safety and toxins, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.
The expert, however, cautioned that quantity of these food items matters equally. “There is no standardisation of the quantities of these packaged food items to be consumed. There is a need to mention the serving figures on the packaging,” Dhingra told Mirror.
Dhingra added the quantities however also have to be realistic. “Having a smaller quantity is not always the best solution. But standardising the serving size couple with literacy can do the needful,” she said.
Meanwhile, some experts have a different opinion and said that the study is to defame Indian foodstuffs in the market. “It would be wrong to term that only Indian packaged food is unhealthy. There are many food items like foreign manufactured chips which have high calorific content, sometimes more than Indian snacks,” says Gurvinder Bindra, a food safety consultant.
Bindra said the quantity of food consumed also matters. “Indian food items have high nutritional value in some instances. All the major companies manufacture food in hygienic conditions and on par with the international manufacturing practices. Many of the international food companies are manufacturing in India too,” he added.
The consultant said that manufacturers need to come together and be more open about the contents and nutrient value.
46% of food sold in school canteens is junk, says study
A cross-sectional study of 300 children aged between 10 and 12 was carried out at seven government and 13 private schools early this year. It shows that nearly 46% food items sold in canteens are HFSS, including choices such as burgers and chips in private schools and samosa and wada pav in their public counterparts. In stalls outside schools, the percentage of HFSS food jumped to 73%. Worse, 65% of children carried HFSS food even in their lunch boxes. The share of children carrying fruits or vegetables was marginally higher in private schools than in government ones.
Investigators have called the study findings “appalling” and demanded stringent food regulations in and around campuses. The research carried out by Vithaldas Thackersay College of Home Science also found that boys studying in private schools had higher body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumference.
“It is shocking that 60% of canteen menus across these schools only offer junk food. Such unhealthy food choices are posing a risk of early development of metabolic disorders in an entire generation,” said Dr Jagmeet Madan, principal of the college and president of the Indian Dietic Association. She said, “Fat is the factory of hormones. And when one develops hormonal imbalance, it throws the entire metabolic health in a disarray, giving rise to the threat of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, insulin resistance, PCOD and hypertension, among others.”
A peek into the tiffin boxes showed most contained biscuits, wafers, chakli or plain bread and butter or rotis with ketchup. “Fruits or a full meal such as roti, sabzi were a rarity,” said Panchali Moitra, assistant professor. Research scholar Rashmi Bhatt found that most preferred junk food, which in turn also drove canteens to offer them. And 90% of schools didn’t have canteen management to check that.
FDA commissioner Pallavi Darade said the fact that sweetened and carbonated beverages were available in all government schools would be checked in the ongoing ‘Eat Right’ drive.
Food Safety Department conducts enumeration drive
Officials from the Food Safety Department are conducting an enumeration drive with the help of college students here to identify food businesses without Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence in the district.
The Food Safety Department has formed 40 teams with 80 students to conduct the drive here. At present, the teams are visiting all food related businesses, including hawkers, street vendors, restaurants, hotels and other eateries.
The teams are also checking for necessary licences for vehicles transporting food products.
According to officials, the teams are currently visiting outlets within the Salem Corporation. In the drive that began on August 21, the teams have visited 783 businesses in Hasthampatti zone, 888 in Sooramangalam zone, 785 businesses in Ammapet zone and 776 in Kondalampatti zone.
According to earlier statistics, there are 6,500 licensed food businesses within the Corporation limits.
Dr. R.Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Food Safety, said that businesses without licences were identified and they were given awareness pamphlets.
He added that special licence issuing drives were also being conducted to issue licences to identified businesses.
The Department conducted the special drive here on August 26 and 29 and received 236 applications for FSSAI licence. Dr. Kathiravan said that operating food related businesses without licence was punishable under section 51 and section 63 of Food Safety Act and offenders could face up to to 6 months of imprisonment and fine of ₹5 lakh.
Officials said that the drives would continue and it would be extended to the blocks in the district once its over in the Corporation limits.
Six Chennai hotels get ‘Hygiene Rating’ from TN Food Safety Dept
Chennai: The next time you order on the popular food delivery platforms or walk in to a restaurant, look out for ‘Hygiene Rating’ that lets you make informed choices.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come up with the initiative where the restaurant will be rated based on the norms prescribed.
Within three months of implementation, State Department of Food Safety and Drugs Administration Director and Additional Commissioner, Dr K Vanaja informs that six Food Business Operators (FBOs) from Chennai have obtained the credential. That apart, eight and six restaurants from Namakkal and Kanchipuram, respectively, have the rating.
Interestingly, even the consumers can visit the kitchen in the hotels that have obtained hygiene rating.
“The restaurants have to rate themselves based on the criteria on their own interest and conduct pre-auditing who will be accompanied with an official from the Food Safety Department where the owners would be given guidelines. Based on which, the operators have to correct, maintain and sustain it. According to the consistence, the restaurant would be starred which can be displayed on their premises,” stated Vanaja.
After obtaining the rating, the restaurant will be inspected and validated by a Food Safety Officer (FSO).
The mandatory requirements are: possession of FSSAI licence, ensuring the food being served to the consumers is of good quality and safe to eat, training all good handlers and appoint a certified ‘food safety supervisors’, mandatory display of food safety boards on the premises and periodic testing of food samples.
A few of the criteria include licensing, maintaining cleanliness, staff with authentic medical certificate, waste management and abiding with Good Hygiene Practices (GMP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Lab tests by FSSAI find food materials supplied to Anganwadis in Karnataka to be 'unsafe'
A report by FSSAI has found that food materials supplied to Anganwadi centres in Karnataka were of substandard quality, even 'unsafe'. Officials have been booked and a fine levied in this regard.
Anganwadi centres serve thousands of children in Karnataka
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Food materials supplied to anganwadis substandard, even unsafe: FSSAI
- Concerned MSPTC officials booked under Section 56 of FSS Act, 2006
- A fine of ₹20,000 has also been levied on the concerned officials by FSSAI
Bengaluru: Months after Mirror Now exposed the sorry state of affairs of food material supplied to Anganwadi centres in the state of Karnataka, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has concluded that material of substandard quality was being used in the process. Concerned officials have also been booked in this regard under relevant sections of the FSS Act.
As the result of an independent examination, FSSAI's lab reports found out that sampled food items such as peanuts, soya mix, red chillies and mustard being supplied to Anganwadi centres were of substandard quality and even unsafe for consumption. For the same, concerned officials of the Mahila Supplementary Nutrition Production & Training Centres (MSPTC) have been booked under Section 56 of the Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006.
In addition, a fine of ₹20,000 has also been levied on the officials responsible for facilitating food materials to Anganwadi centres in Karnataka. The lab report also found out that the packing of these materials was done in a negligent and unscientific manner by MSPTC employees.
At the time, then Karnataka Women and Child Development Minister Jayamala had denied the claims made about the quality of food materials supplied by MSPTC to Anganwadi centres in the state. However, the FSSAI report has now established beyond a doubt that food materials used to cook meals for thousands of children were substandard and even unsafe for human consumption.
Meanwhile, malnutrition continues to be a problem in Karnataka which scores the worst in South India on several key parameters related to nutrition according to the National Family Health Survey, 2016. A 2018 report by the Centre for Policy Research had revealed that 26 per cent of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) beneficiaries in Karnataka were malnourished at the time.
Similar reports had surfaced in 2014 when the Public Health Institute had warned the then Karnataka government that as many as 29 of the 287 samples of food grains collected from various Anganwadi centres were 'unsafe'. While eight of these substandard, 115 were misbranded. In 2014, about 34000 children in the state were severely malnourished.
A recent report had revealed that as many as a dozen MLAs and two dozen MLCs currently serving the people of Karnataka have not even spent a paisa of area development funds for the betterment of their constituents. These funds are used for the construction of Anganwadi, schools and health care centres along with water conservation and other important civic issues.
'Prasad' at Indore's Khajrana temple gets FSSAI certificate
The certification aims to ensure that prasad distributed by temples is safe for consumption.
Recently the FSSAI conducted a detailed audit of the prasad and other food items served to devotees at the Khajrana temple, Indore's Chief Food Safety Officer Manish Swami said on Thursday.
Indore: The `bhog' or `prasad' (offering) distributed at the famous Khajrana Ganesh temple here has received `Blissful Hygiene Offering to God' (BHOG) certification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The certification aims to ensure that prasad distributed by temples is safe for consumption.
Recently the FSSAI conducted a detailed audit of the prasad and other food items served to devotees at the Khajrana temple, Indore's Chief Food Safety Officer Manish Swami said on Thursday.
They were found to be as per the authority's food safety and hygiene parameters, he said.
Amul wants natural fortification of milk: GCMMF chief
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday said it has sent notice to dairy major Amul for "disparaging" the fortified milk segment.
Amul wants natural fortification of milk: GCMMF chief
Mumbai: The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells milk and milk products under the Amul brand, on Thursday said it is not against the fortification of milk but would prefer it to be natural. Responding to FSSAI's allegation of disparaging the fortified milk segment, Amul said it is not in favour of synthetic or artificial fortification of milk.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Wednesday said it has sent notice to dairy major Amul for "disparaging" the fortified milk segment. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been spearheading milk fortification and the food regulator said Amul though it has fortified two products, has reservations against the synthetic fortification of milk and the limits for the same. "We are not against fortification. FSSAI is doing a wonderful job. We are helping the food industry to grow. There can be a difference in opinion. We want natural fortification and want this where it is required," GCMMF managing director R S Sodhi told reporters at the FICCI Foodworld India event here.
"In milk, 10 per cent of the sector is organised. If I give you chemicals and synthetic where it is not required then it will become toxic," he added. FSSAI chief executive Pawan Agarwal on Wednesday had said "It (fortification) is not so far mandatory. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Why do you have to go out and disparage the entire sector and create confusion among the public?".. We have issued them a notice and they have to respond to that."
Sodhi said for the brand Amul it is eyeing a turnover of Rs 53,000 crore and for the Federation around Rs 40,000 crore for the year. Last year the revenue for Amul was around Rs 42,000 crore, he said. On Amul which has ventured into sweetmeats, Sodhi said, "We will be focusing on the sweets business as it is a large market. We already have a few products but we want to get into the fresh local sweets market, which will have a shelf life of at least 40 days. We plan to set up plants in various places including Mumbai, Surat, Delhi, Kolkata among others to offer the local delicacies there."
"Mumbai's sweets market itself is worth Rs 1,700 crore so you can understand the scope of this business. We will invest in setting up the facilities but it will not be very significant," he added.
AAP tests fish in South Goa, finds formalin
Margao: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said that fish samples tested by them from various places in South Goa using testing kits over the last two days were found positive for formalin.
Siddharth Karapurkar of AAP told reporters that fish was tested at different places like Margao wholesale market, Colva market, Quepem market and Loutolim on Tuesday and Wednesday. “In all these places, the fish was found to be positive for formalin,” he said.
“The government should come clear on whether formalin is bad for health or whether there is any permissible limit.,” said Ramiro Mascarenhas, AAP treasurer, South Goa unit.
AAP also criticized the government for its failure in setting up a laboratory to test fish as promised. “The government claims that fish is checked regularly at borders but there is fish being transported by railways—who is checking that?” party spokesperson Richard D’Sa said.
AAP further pointed out that Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) Act, 2006, as well as the rules and regulations thereunder do not prescribe any limits for formaldehyde in fish and fish products.
No licence for milk chilling centre in Patiala
Owner a repeat offender, say Health Department officials
The owner of the centre was caught producing spurious milk and milk products on August 17.
Patiala, August 28
The request for food licence by the Singla Milk Chilling Centre was rejected by the District Health Department here today.
The decision came a week after the food samples collected by the Health Department failed to meet the quality standards. The owner of the centre said he had applied for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence immediately after he was caught producing spurious milk and milk products on August 17 this year.
Notably, the food licence of the centre was cancelled last year after the authorities found a cache of spurious products during a raid. Since then, the centre had been running without a licence.
Last week, the centre was found operational by the Patiala police and the Health Department had to reseal it.
Patiala District Health Officer Satinder Singh said the department was waiting for lab reports to reject the request for the licence.
He said: “The owner of the centre is a repeat offender and we are rejecting his request. He has been caught twice by the department, therefore, there was no point in considering his request.”
Meanwhile, DSP AS Aulakh said that they had already added attempt to murder section in the case after receiving the lab reports because the doctors have informed that the centre’s works were life-threatening. He added: “We are investigating other plants where adulterated cottage cheese was being supplied by the centre.”
Aug 29, 2019
Kerala Food safety raids to be recorded
Thiruvananthapuram: With the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) pulling up food safety authorities for irregularities during food safety raids in the state, the Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety has made video-graphing or mobile recording mandatory for every food safety raid to ensure transparency.
For ensuring best hygienic practices at eateries and the availability of safe food during Onam festival season, the Commissionerate has launched special drive across the state.
The commissioner of food safety has given strict instructions to the squads to record the raids to avoid complaints. According to officials, they would continue inspection till September 14.
The squads would ensure the quality of milk, edible oil, pappadam, payasam mix, Jaggery, ghee, vegetables, fruits, meat, tea and cereals. Special squads will carry out night-time inspections at check posts.
"Normally we don't film every raid we carry out. If the conditions of the restaurant are worse or if there is any dispute we shoot and keep a video record on the raid. Keeping a visual record would help improve transparency and avoid allegations later," said an official.
The official said that strict action would be taken against eateries operating under unhygienic conditions or without a license or registration.
"The list of such eateries ordered to be closed down by the squads would be provided to the nearest police station," said the official.
The Commissionerate has also granted permission to hire an adequate number of vehicles to facilitate the special squad.
In the first phase of the special drive launched last week, the squads inspected 1,334 food business establishments and collected fine to the tune of Rs 5, 72,500.
The squads served improvement notices to 563 eateries and collected 72 statutory samples and 122 surveillance samples.
Around 22 eateries were shut down for non-compliance of food safety rules.
FSSAI seizes 1.5 tonnes of adulterated tea dust
Officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) seized 1.5 tonne of adulterated tea dust.
Designated Officer of FSSAI K. Tamilselvan said that the tea dust stock was seized from a house at Idikarai. He said that the half tonne of the seized tea dust was completely adulterated and the remaining one tonne was seized for suspected adulteration.
The tea dust stock was found at the house of Arumugam.
Spot checks
Officials, who got a tip-off on the stock, raided the house on Wednesday afternoon and conducted spot checks.
According to Dr. Tamilselvan, the adulterated tea dust was being sold under the brand name Royal Roses.
“Some of the 500g tea dust packets we seized had 50g sachet of tea dust mixed with high concentration of colourants. This sachet was meant to be mixed with the genuine tea dust to get strong colour. Several other packets contained tea dust which was mixed with colourants and ready for use,” he said.
Lab test
The official added that samples of the tea dust have been lifted which will be tested at a Government laboratory. Further action will be taken based on the results of the laboratory examination.
15000 litres of adulterated cooking oil seized by FSSAI
01/4Adulteration is a major concern
Adulteration of food is a major concern in most third world countries, and India is no stranger to it. A lot of food products are mixed with foreign agents for a variety of reasons. Milk is often mixed with water, milk powder, and even detergent so that more milk can be saved to sell another batch. Vegetables and fruits are adulterated with dye to make the stale variety appear fresh. Adulterated food can be life threatening and can lead to multiple health issues that can be life threatening.
02/4Seizing of adulterated edible oil
A new entrant to the adulterated food list is edible oil. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) seized around 1500 litres of unlabelled cooking oil, on suspicion of it being adulterated. The oil tins were stocked in a warehouse near a town called Anur, Coimbatore, and were immediately seized. The warehouse belonged to a resident from Kariyagoundanur village, near Annur.
03/4The raid
The surprise raid was conducted on Monday, 27th August, and it was found that the business was being run by a father-son duo, who were adding refined palm olein, a high fat liquid component of palm oil, to groundnut oil, coconut oil, and sunflower oil. Dr. K. Tamilselvan, Designated Officer of FSSAI in Coimbatore, said, “We have lifted samples of the oils, which will be tested in a Government food laboratory. Further action will be taken based on the test results.”
04/4The business
The duo was mixing super olein, which costs ₹70 per litre, and selling the adulterated groundnut oil for a price ranging from ₹240 to ₹280 per litre. They were selling the oil to many areas within Coimbatore such as Annur, Mettupalayam, Sirumugai and Periyanaickenpalayam, without having obtained a license from FSSAI to carry out the business. This had been going on for four years, and all the oil tins were unlabelled. The warehouse was sealed after the raid.
Coonoor: Public fumes as rodents, dogs invade beef outlets
Residents want a foolproof mechanism to be in place to grant licenses to run meat stalls in the town.
A rat nibbling at the meat in a beef stall in Coonoor.
COONOOR: It’s not just people or customers who flock beef stalls here. Rats and dogs run riots at these beef stalls in the municipal market here in Coonoor, subjecting consumers to great health risks.
Residents want a foolproof mechanism to be in place to grant licenses to run meat stalls in the town.
All this came to light after video-clips of rats running over and nibbling meat stocks in these beef stalls, and stray dogs by the numbers wandering around lazily, quick to lap up wastes thrown around, went viral on social media.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) wing officials swung into action and inspected beef stalls on Tuesday evening, and temporarily closed down five shops for not measuring to prescribed hygiene standards. They also seized the beef stacked up in these shops and destroyed it.
However, Rajeshkumar James, secretary of the Citizens' Forum of Coonoor, charged that the lax attitude of the officials gave beef stall owners the advantage to practice unhealthy standards in selling beef.
“Leave alone beef stalls, regular inspection by competent authorities should be ordered by the district administration to ensure that only quality and healthy meat products are sold in the market. Since the buildings that house meat and beef stalls in Coonoor market are very old, steps should be taken to demolish and reconstruct them with a foolproof mechanism in place to check rodents sneaking into the beef and meat stalls. Authorities concerned should explore possibilities of forming a task force consisting of members drawn from the public service organizations, and consumer forums to regularly monitor hygienic conditions in the stalls. Good coordination among the officials and consumer organisations would help curb this type of unhealthy trade practice,” he added.
Govt moots plan to check anti-microbial resistance
The action plan will bring together several departments such as health, drug control, food safety, animal husbandry, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the civic bodies, and the Delhi Jal Board to address various factors contributing towards growing resistance.
The draft proposes measures such as the food safety department testing its samples, especially meat and seafood, for antibiotics.
The Delhi government is in the process of drafting a state-level action plan to address the increasing threat of anti-microbial resistance (AMR), which makes common infections more difficult to treat.
The action plan will bring together several departments such as health, drug control, food safety, animal husbandry, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the civic bodies, and the Delhi Jal Board to address various factors contributing towards growing resistance.
“When we think about antimicrobial resistance we tend to think of the really sick patients and taking medicines. But, you might be unknowingly consuming antibiotics even if you do not take a pill. This is because antibiotics are used in our foods; the use in agriculture and improper disposal of antibiotics means that it is found in our water too. The action plan will address the challenge holistically,” said Dr Sangeeta Sharma, member secretary of the technical committee that is preparing the action plan.
A zero draft of the action plan developed by the 35-member technical committee was presented to 120 representatives of the various public department and private companies and associations in a meeting on Monday and Tuesday.
Delhi will become the third state after Kerala and Madhya Pradesh to come up with a state-level action plan. The action plan will be finalised by October and the implementation will begin from November.
The draft proposes measures such as the food safety department testing its samples, especially meat and seafood, for antibiotics. The Delhi Jal Board will also be testing water samples.
Delhi’s drug safety department has also written to chemist association to ensure all drug stores across the city store antimicrobial medicines to maintain their efficacy, do not dispense them without proper prescriptions, do not provide the medicines without the supervision of a trained pharmacist, and stamp the prescription after dispensing the medicines to ensure that it is not reused.
“When it comes to strong antibiotics that are categorised in schedule H1 of the drugs and cosmetics act and reporting the number of people purchasing TB drugs, almost 80% of the shops in the city already do it. This advisory is to just to reiterate the provisions of the Act,” said AK Nasa, head of Delhi’s drug control department. The action plan also proposes to have a committee of nodal officers from each department assisted by a core team from the department to monitor the outcomes.
FDA crackdown on pvt milk suppliers continues
Bhopal: MP food and drug administration (FDA) officials carried out more raids on private milk supplier, here on Wednesday. In the last few days, 10 samples from milk dairies Rajhans Dairy products have failed laboratory tests.
After one milk sample was found to contain detergent, the proprietor of Rajhans, Ish Arora was booked under National Security Act (NSA) on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, morning with help of district administration team, FDA sleuths raided the outlet of another milk manufacturer in Bhopal. Milk samples were taken from Mohan Dairy at Minal where in about 125 litres of milk as confiscated. Sample of milk, cheese and other products have also been taken for laboratory test.
The tests are undertaken by MPFDA food testing laboratory at Idgah Hills.
A report on tests is expected to take about four days. Till now, more than 200 tests have been undertaken on food products in Bhopal. It comes on heels on MP government’s ‘Shuddh ke liye Yuddh’ campaign launched in the state against the manufacturers and sellers of adulterated food. Meanwhile, Congress on Wednesday accused former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of protecting food adulterators during his regime as CM and said he had written to the prime minister not to enforce Food Safety Act.
Reacting to Chouhan’s statement that he was with the Congress government in its drive against food adulteration, state Congress media vice-president, Abhay Dubey, said that during 15 years of his rule, food adulterators had no fear of law. Besides writing to the Prime Minister, he also supported strike of traders against the Act.
His government also gave an affidavit in the apex court assuring that section 272 of the IPC would be amended to provide life imprisonment to persons found guilty of food adulteration, something which it never did.There was only one food lab in the state and it was the reason why from 2016 to 2018, 13,000 samples could not be tested at all. On the contrary, Kamal Nath government has shown firm political will to take on the menace of food adulteration and book offenders under NSA.
CHECK YOUR OIL OR END UP IN THE FRYING PAN
The colourful packs of gingelly oil that cost nearly less than half of the branded ones are not for cooking and its consumption can be injurious to health. Ahead of the festive season, food safety officials are holding talks with oil manufacturers and vendors, conducting raids and lifting samples from across the state for tests.
“Non-edible oil does not come under food safety department but our officials are now looking into this as many people use this oil for cooking. There are labelling defects and the low cost attracts people,” said Tamil Nadu food safety director and additional commissioner Dr K Vanaja.
Preliminary reports of tests done in labs ahead of the festival season suggest this is palm oil mixed with chemicals and dye to give it the colour and odour of fresh gingelly oil. But if this oil is used for cooking, it can cause serious health hazards including digestive disorders and chemical poisoning. “We also found manufacturers preparing edible and non-edible oil on the same premises. It may increase risk of contamination of edible oil,” she said.
An oil committee formed by the government as per the directions of the Madras high court has listed out the dos and don’ts for manufacturers and re-packers of non-edible oil. The new guidelines, likely to come into effect next month, have already been circulated among manufacturers. The court had also insisted on some guidelines since non-edible items did not come under the purview of the Food Safety Act. “So far, there were no guidelines. Products were packed and stored in retail stores along with edible products. Since this oil isn’t pure, the cost is less compared to edible oil. People picked the bottles and packs for cooking,” she said.
The commission has recommended the use of a photograph of a traditional lamp, kuthuvellakku, on a violet pack with the words “not edible” on the front label. It has also insisted that directions of use be mentioned in Tamil and the not-edible tag be in the font-size of at least 10mm. The lamp symbol should cover at least 30% of the space. Among the don’ts, manufacturers should not use the vegetarian sign and the expiry or date of manufacture, or use the term ‘gingelly oil’. No food safety licence is required to manufacture these products and no FSSAI labels should be used, the guidelines said.
Manufacturers have been asked not to use the same assembly line for edible and non-edible oil and ensure the health of workers is good and that they are free from skin diseases.
UNSAFE | Reusing oil to deepfry food items has adverse health effects
Efforts on to convert used oil into biodiesel
Reuse of cooking oil can cause hypertension, Alzheimer’s, heart attack and even cancer. But the same oil can be recycled into environmentally safe biodiesel — a fuel for diesel engines that has been wholly or partly made from vegetable oil. And the food safety department is networking with agents who collect used oil and manufacturers for it.
“Some private oil manufacturers have volunteered to help us. We are in talks with petroleum companies,” a senior health department official said. The factories should have the capability to separate glycerine from fat or vegetable oil through a process called transesterification. “While we produce a safe fuel, we will be able to stop hazardous practice of oil reuse,” the official said.
To curb the reuse of cooking oil by food business operators, FSSAI issued a regulation earlier this year that mandates operators using more than 50 litres of oil to maintain a record of the amount used for frying, quantity discharged, date and mode of disposal and the details of the person who collected it. “This will help the authorities ensure there is no resale by big units to smaller vendors,” said TN food safety director and additional commissioner Dr K Vanaja. Food safety officials in Chennai and Madurai said manufacturers mix a special dye with palm oil to give it the odour and colour of cooking oil or gingelly oil.
“We also have information that some business units sell used cooking oil. The smaller units may be overusing oil,” said an official.
As per FSSAI guidelines, small food business units should not use the same oil for more than three times – although it is ideal to use it just once. Oil should be filtered frequently to remove food particles and it should be disposed when blue-grey smoke appears.
No food business unit can dispose oil into drains. “It has to be handed over to collection agents, just like how hospitals dispose bio-medical waste,” Vanaja said.
Aug 28, 2019
Reuse of oil remains unchecked despite FSSAI regulations
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched Repurpose Used Cooking Oil campaign to enable collection and conversion of used oil into biofuel.
‘Long-term ingestion of food prepared using such oil can cause hypertension, diabetes, acidity, stroke and cancer’
Oil used for frying and discarded by hotels are often used for varied purposes. The height of the reuse of frying oil came to light when officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) stumbled upon several litres of used oil that were converted to pooja oil at Vellakovil in Tiruppur a few years ago.
The ‘manufacturers’ had sourced frying oil, used for frying items ranging from banana chips to chilly chicken, and converted it to pooja oil by adding scent and making other alterations.
Even after a year the FSSAI introduced regulations to avoid reuse of cooking oil, the enforcement is yet to come into effect.
As per the regulations, the oil used for frying should not be used for any form of cooking if the Total Polar Compounds (TPC), a benchmark for measuring the degradation of the oil when heated, is beyond 25 %. As per the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration) First Amendment Regulation 2017, the oil is not suitable for use if TPC is above 25 % . Also, used oil should not be topped with fresh oil.
According to FSSAI, repeated frying of oil leads to changes in physiochemical, nutritional and sensory properties of edible oil and the toxicity of TPCs is associated with several diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and liver diseases.
“Repeated heating of oil reduces the natural antioxidant level. Regular consumption of foods prepared using reheated oil can compromise antioxidant defence system in body. Long-term ingestion of food prepared using reused oil can cause hypertension, diabetes, acidity, stroke and cancer,” said P. Guhan, consultant medical oncologist and director of Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Oncology and Research.
Tamilselvan, Designated Officer of FSSAI in Coimbatore, said that the food regulator had instructed hoteliers, who used more than 50 litres of oil a day for frying, to strictly comply with the regulations and discard used oil to agencies that make biofuel out of it.
“Around 150 food business operators including bakers and hoteliers, who use more than 50 litres of oil a day for frying, have been identified by FSSAI. We have instructed them to comply with the regulations. We are also in the process of implementing Repurpose Used Cooking Oil, an initiative by FSSAI that will enable the collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biofuel,” he said.
M. Sivakumar, Secretary of Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association, said that members of the association were aware of the regulations and the health hazards of reuse of oil.
“Earlier, we used to sell the used oil to soap manufacturers. But we understood that the buyers may use such oil for other purposes. Members of the association have extended support to discard frying oil in safe manner as directed by FSSAI,” he said.
Dr. Tamilselvan added that food safety officers would check the TPC level in frying oils using a device by conducting random checks in restaurants and other places.
Restaurants reluctant to give away used edible oil to make biodiesel
Most restaurants sell their used oil to soap making companies for ₹35-45 a litre while officials are only offering ₹20.
Officials are undertaking the survey for 10 days, between August 20 and 30, to ascertain the exact amount of used oil that can be collected from various restaurants and hotels.
According to officials, there are around 1,000 registered restaurants in the district of which around 200 fall in the higher range category. “We are reaching out to restaurants and explaining to them the importance of biodiesel for the betterment of environment. The Haryana-based company which will be converting the used oil to biodiesel is offering ₹20 per litre while the soap companies are paying around ₹35-45 per litre,” Sanjay Sharma, food safety officer, said.
On August 7, additional chief secretary Anita Bhatnagar held a meeting with all food safety officials from various districts to finalise the plan to ensure that no restaurant is reusing edible oil multiple times for frying purposes. In the meeting, all officials were asked to do a survey and ensure that restaurants give away their used oil to make biodiesel.
A plant to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel has been set up in Bawal city of Haryana. It is expected that the biodiesel manufacturing plant in Bawal will convert 100 tonnes of used cooking oil a day into biodiesel.
“The decision was taken six months ago that no restaurant or hotel can reuse cooking oil more than three times. We are expecting to collect around 1,000 litres of used oil but for that, restaurants need to come forward. People need to understand the importance of environment friendly biodiesel and think beyond the financial gain,” Sharma said.
Officials have said reputed and major food chains have come forward to cooperate with officials but small eateries need to be convinced as well. The quality of oil can be checked by ascertaining its total dissolved solids (TDS).
According to officials, the maximum permissible limit of Total Polar Compound (TPC) in edible oil is 25%. Repeated frying changes its physio-chemical and nutrition properties which leads to the formation of TPC making it unfit for consumption.
3 months jail for supply of poor quality milk
A fine of ₹10,000 is also imposed
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Tuesday awarded three months simple imprisonment to Sanjay Nakra, nominee of M/s. Parag Milk Foods Private Limited, Palamaner, Chittoor district, for selling substandard milk.
In November, 2014, officials of the Food Safety Department conducted a raid on M/s. Surya Rajendra Sangam Distributors, located at K.T. Road, Vijayawada, and seized samples of ‘Go Doubled Toned Milk Tetrapack’, supplied by M/s. Parag Milk Foods Private Limited.
Food Safety officer A. Srinivas Rao registered cases against the supplier as well as the seller on various charges. The officers have sent the samples to laboratory, which confirmed that the packaged milk was ‘unsafe’, said Assistant Food Controller N. Purnachandra Rao.
Distributor acquitted
The court also imposed ₹10,000 as fine and acquitted the distributor in the case.
FSSAI frames law to promote food donation
The purpose of these regulations is to establish a uniform national regulation to protect organizations and individuals when they donate food in good faith.
New Delhi: Food regulator FSSAI has framed a regulation to promote food donationby businesses and reduce wastage. "Food Authority has come up with the Food Safety and Standards (Recovery and Distribution of surplus food) Regulations, 2019, so as to provide a legitimate backup to the food donation in India," the regulator said in a statement.
The purpose of these regulations is to establish a uniform national regulation to protect organizations and individuals when they donate food in good faith.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) seeks to encourage the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations for distribution to needy individuals.
These regulations will be enforced with effect from July 1, 2020.
"India is the second largest food producer in world but on Global Hunger Index 2014, India ranked 103rd out of the world's 119th hungriest countries. Due to some protocols, food businesses also destroy food with smaller shelf life. Prevention of food waste and promotion of surplus food distribution is a global concern," FSSAI said.
To address the same, the FSSAI held a second round of meeting with 20 Surplus Food Distribution Agencies from various parts of the country to discuss the steps taken by the government to ensure safe distribution of surplus food. The first meeting was organised on July 30 which was attended by 13 agencies.
The FSSAI has started an initiative called 'Save Food Share Food Share Joy' to create a food recovery ecosystem. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between food companies, surplus food distribution agencies and beneficiaries.
One of the key features is creation of Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA) - a network of food collection/recovery agencies in India, to create a pan India network of these agencies.
This network will serve as a common platform for this cause wherein all of them will be equally benefitted with regulatory support, food safety training and capacity building efforts.
"It will be mandatory for surplus food distribution agencies to register with the FSSAI on food licensing portal," the statement said.
Food Safety to Disease Diagnosis: 8 Tech Startups Solving India’s Biggest Problems!
Be it in a hospital or a college canteen, ideas for path-breaking innovations can strike you anywhere, at anytime. The win is in recognizing and following them through, as these individuals did to become changemakers of our society. You can, too!
It is often casually remarked that India is a country whose problems are both eternal and never-ending. And if not that statement, then its unmistakable twin is often proffered instead – India’s problems can only be fixed by the heart and charity, and not by innovative solutions and business models.
Both of these statements are, as even the smallest of research will easily reveal, fundamentally flawed. Neither are our problems eternal, nor is the solution dependant on ‘charity’. In fact, time and again it has been proven that almost all of our problems can be tackled, as long as someone has social impact in the heart, and a sound business plan in the head.
This is where the real problem actually begins – what does one do with a start up that can be profitable, and has a positive impact on society, but no funds to scale or no guidance to resolve roadblocks?
Luckily there are those addressing that as well. With expert guidance, capital funding and proper industry exposure, Villgro has been helping put exceptional social startups on the path to changing India for 19 years now – through its core incubation as well as through other programmes like INVENT (being run for, and in, the low income states of India), or iPitch- its deal discovery platform offering Rs 8 Crore investment for startups looking for seed to pre series A funding.
In 19 years, the ideas that Villgro has nurtured have changed the game in many areas – ranging from creating safe food at affordable prices to ensuring medical diagnosis comes to those who need it the most.
Here are a few of the many blooming startups from Villgro’s ecosystem:
“I was at a Pune hospital when this idea struck me. Dr Ayush Gupta, a prominent skin and tissue infection specialist, told me about a patient from a remote village. He had come in with something he called a ‘bacterial infection gone bad’. Apparently, his doctor back in the village, had diagnosed it to be a bacterial infection and had prescribed some antibiotics,” says Geethanjali Radhakrishnan, an entrepreneur who eventually started a tech venture to focus on providing quick and accurate medical diagnosis of wounds and infections.
Despite eight years of treatment, his wound worsened and the patient was advised amputation. When Dr Gupta checked the wound, he realised that it was a case of simple fungal infection, which could’ve been cured if diagnosed at an early stage. This made Geethanjali realise the importance of correct and timely diagnosis.
After some research, Geethanjali started Adiuvo in 2015. It is a unique health-tech company based in Chennai that has been driving substantial change in medical diagnosis, ensuring correct treatment from the very start.
Adiuvo’s state-of-the-art portable Point-Of-Care solution promises a rapid, non-invasive, reagent-less imaging system to assess and monitor Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (SSTIs). In other words, they manufacture an affordable handheld medical device, called the Skin-Scope, which uses machine learning to non-invasively detect and classify skin infections in under two minutes. This could be a massive improvement over the traditional culture technique where a diagnosis can take up to four days.
(Adiuvo was discovered at Villgro’s annual national social impact conference Unconvention in 2016. Since then, the company has been supported by the Villgro – Menterra platform.)
Government schools carry the stigma of sub-par quality of education. The problem however, is not always the lack of funds or adequate government support. It is the lack of access to real-time information about the schools across the country.
Owing to this, people face hindrance while improving on quality parameters or encouraging accountability.
Realising this problem, Onkar started Promorph that has developed and successfully implemented a smart system, ‘EmpowerU’. This system leverages technology and analytics to perform real-time monitoring and evaluation in schools. This is accomplished with a mobile application enabled with geo fencing, which works even in the remotest of villages, with zero internet connectivity.
As per the technology, a web dashboard provides instant analysis of the various parameters of a school like attendance tracking, evaluation of continuous and comprehensive evaluation system, midday meal, and asset monitoring among others. This helps schools make data-driven decision through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It also performs the necessary actions based on in-built intelligence at the control room established in the district or the state.
“We aim to impact the lives of 2 million students by 2020,” says Onkar to Villgro and INVENT, which have been guiding the startup since 2018.
India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. As per National Horticulture Database published by the National Horticulture Board, 2015-16, India produced a total of 90.2 million metric tonnes of fruits and 169.1 million metric tonnes of vegetables.
Despite the yields, India also stands prominent in food loss and waste. The post-harvest losses of major agricultural produce in India is estimated at Rs 92,651 crore ($13 billion) as per the food processing ministry data of August 2016.
And among the various reasons, the lack of infrastructure, insufficiency or unavailability of cold storages, are the major ones.
“The lack of cold storages often pushes farmers to sell off their produce at the earliest at whatever rates they get, thus reducing their scope of getting fair remunerative prices,” says Niraj Marathe, who founded CoolCorp as a solution for this problem.
“We are focused on building small cold storages that run sustainably on grid or solar power for marginal farmers. The objective is to help low-income farmers earn more money for their produce, instead of selling them at throwaway prices, because of the lack of storage,” he adds.
Based in Baroda, CoolCrop has established its footing in almost five states, providing cost-efficient, decentralised solar-powered micro-cooling stations at farm-level, which can be used by a farmer group or a co-operative. CoolCrop also provides a market analytics software tool in the form of a mobile app or SMS service. The service helps the farmers know the estimated price of their produce over the minimum storage period, so that they can decide when and in which market to sell their produce to maximise the value of harvest.
(CoolCrop is a Villgro | Renewable Energy incubatee)
Started by Vinayak Nandalike, Yostra Labs Private Limited is a healthcare technology firm that has been pioneering smart innovations to make healthcare effective, affordable and sustainable.
With a major focus on diabetic patients, they provide affordable diagnostic devices to enable mass screening of patients for peripheral neuropathy (permanent damage to nerves in the feet, owing to diabetes), as well as affordable treatment options for diabetic foot ulcers.
As an alternative to the conventional, expensive and bulky diabetic peripheral neuropathy screening devices that often require trained healthcare workers to operate, Yostra has two affordable and portable products, Sparsh and Kadam.
Sparsh is a diagnostic device which treats diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Kadam, on the other hand, is a therapeutic device responsible for reducing the healing time of chronic wounds.
(Yostra is a Villgro | Health incubatee)
Three hostel friends, Vatsal Dusad, Shubham Gupta and Arpit Jain graduated from IIT-Delhi in 2014, to find themselves working in various jobs in the education sector. Though their experiences were varied in the sector, a single recurrent problem kept troubling all of them. This eventually brought them together to start Blackboard Radio.
“We realised that while students in tier 1 cities have a culture of talking in English, that is not the case in Tier 2 or 3 cities. While their grammar and vocabulary might be strong on paper, there’s a huge gap in confidence and delivery when it comes to conversation. Blackboard Radio basically wanted to bridge this gap with an AI-powered, personalised spoken English coach, just a click away,” says Vatsal, one of the co-founders.
This technology enables conversational-English mastery by providing interactive, personalised instruction to young children from all socio-economic backgrounds via a basic smartphone. “The objective was to transform Indian students into global citizens. This will not only enhance their communication but also instill confidence opening new doors to an array of employment opportunities. We were an iPitch investee and that led to incubation at Villgro, and to say the least, it has been an absolute game-changer” he adds.
Amit Saraogi and Clementine Chambon started Oorja in 2016 as an energy services company focused on replacing diesel engines with affordable, reliable solar energy systems for productive power in rural markets.
In other words, Oorja designs, installs and operates solar energy systems to replace diesel engines used on farms.
“Replacing diesel engines, using energy as a catalyst for economic development and creation of jobs, and combating climate change–these are the three core elements of our mission,” says Amit.
Oorja’s first innovation was a pay-per-use irrigation service called Oonnati, that is 20 per cent cheaper than diesel-pumps and provides year-round water for marginal farmers.
“The support from Villgro has been tremendous – the team is committed to helping us grow to newer heights and I would recommend all early stage startup founders to apply for iPitch to witness a steep curve in your business growth”, adds Amit.
Although Raav Technologies was started in 2018, the idea was born a few years back, as four college-mates, Rahul Kumar, Abhinandan Bhargava, Alphonse Dhas Antony and Varshnee Raj sat in a college mess, complaining about the questionable quality of food.
“Discussing the bad quality of food served in our mess, as is done in maximum college canteens, we came up with the idea to bring forth a technology that can analyse the quality of any organic sample within seconds. Eventually, we realised how this could benefit the food supply chain in the larger sphere,” says Rahul.
For this, Raav leverages the technology of spectroscopy by using machine learning and AI to deliver accurate information like the freshness cycle or any scope of adulteration, all within 30 seconds. This can enhance procurement, mitigate inventory risk, and also enable quality-based payouts.
Speaking about the Villgro’s support throughout their journey, he adds, “We started receiving Villgro’s support back in December 2018 as part of Villgro & YES Bank’s YES Scale programme, which led to us being incubated at Villgro, whereby they helped us not just with a seed investment of Rs 40 lakh, but also guided us at every step of the way.”
8. Krimanshi
According to the Department of Agriculture in India, the national shortfall of cattle feed accounts to 40 per cent for dry fodder, 36 per cent for green fodder and 57 per cent for concentrate feed. Such a shortfall often amounts to unproductivity in under-fed cattle, and eventual economic loss for the farmer.
As a solution to this, Nikhil Bohra founded Krimanshi, a social enterprise that works in the field of dairy input innovations to manufacture high quality animal feed from surplus agriculture and food residue.
This Rajasthan-based startup that is being supported by Villgro & INVENT, upcycles food waste into nutritious cattle feed and fodder to provide affordable and round-the-year feed solutions to small dairy farmers without compromising on quality. This food waste is collected from various Agri hubs in the form of fruit leaves, crushed fruits, vegetable waste, etc.
Having incubated more than 275 enterprises as of 2018, impacting over 19 million lives, Villgro has inspired people to shift from a charity-driven model to developing the marginalised into stakeholders of growth. To do this, Villgro has re-created its own ecosystem of ‘inspiration to investment’, with initiatives like iPitch – an annual investment discovery platform that sources and invests in for-profit social enterprises in medtech, agritech, edtech, skilling, employability, cleantech and renewable energy.
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