The milk you drink could be carrying unsafe bacteria!

Vijayawada: On one hand where Andhra Pradesh stands as the fifth largest producer of milk in India, milk-borne diseases have become a cause for concern on the other. A study by NTR Veterinary College revealed that a majority of raw and chilled samples contained bacteria such as E. coli, S. aureus and Salmonella.

Alarmingly, pasteurised milk too has been found contaminated. The study tested 600 milk samples and found that 13% of raw and chilled samples contained Listeria - a causative agent of one of the most severe Foodborne diseases. 

The samples also lacked the presence of dangerous bacteria Brucella and it was further found that around 17% of the samples had antibodies against Brucella. But on the contrary, it has been revealed that a large number of brucellosis cases have been reported in the state of which a maximum number of people consume raw milk. 

The study also cites that the expansion of dairy production in India and AP has taken place without food safety challenges being fully addressed.

Factors that currently hinder effective management of milk safety in Andhra include: largely informal milk supply chains with very diverse factors and dominated by small-scale producers, insufficient food safety legislation, monitoring and enforcement, lack of data on which to base systematic prioritization of hazards. 

“Lack of standardization and limited resources make food safety regulation challenging. With AP having third highest per-capita milk consumption in India, there is an importance of the dairy sector in the state, however, there is a limited adoption of good farming practices by producers and safe handling practices by actors along the supply channels,” the study explained. In this regard, NTR Veterinary College also held a meeting with various people from the scientist community and few other animal sciences universities on Thursday.

A collaborative research project will soon be undertaken between Royal Veterinary College London, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana on ‘Modelling exposure to biological hazards in the dairy chains of Andhra Pradesh to inform food safety policy’ funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. A MoU in this regard has also been signed at NTR Veterinary College with the Gates Foundation. Around $820,823 are expected to be spent on the project which would take place for a period of 36 months.

Telangana: Food court penalises customers for wasting food

A food court in Adalath Centre penalises customers for wasting food.

'Kedari Food Court' which is owned by Lingala Kedari, has introduced a 'carrot and stick' policy to keep a check on wastage of food. Kedari had introduced this policy around two years ago and since then he has been ensuring that no customer leaves the place without paying the fine in case he or she wastes food.

Speaking to ANI Kedari said, "I do not like people who waste food. We serve good quality food here. I tell people very frankly that if you waste food you are not invited here. Also, I do not serve food to those who come to our food court after consuming liquor. People should learn to respect food."

Kedari also informed that his family including his wife and their two sons work at the food court.Furthermore, he claimed that TRS working president KT Rama Rao is fond of the fish curry made by his wife.

Elaborating upon the food that is severed at the 'Kedari Food Court', owner's son Akash Raj told ANI: "Customers can have a meal with chicken curry, egg curry or fish as accompaniment and in vegetarian, we have 15 varieties of dishes. Till a couple of months ago, 300 to 400 customers would eat here on a daily basis but now the number has touched 800.

FSSAI’s FoSTaC programme trains 1 lakh supervisors

Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) Programme, a capacity building initiative of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has crossed the 1 lakh mark of trained and certified supervisors. The programme aims to build capacities of trained food handlers across the value chain in micro, small, medium and large companies in the food sector.

In a statement, the food safety authority said that it has created a pan-India training network comprising of 169 training partners and over 1500 empanelled trainers. “Under the FoSTaC program, over 80,000 people have been trained in the organized sector and almost 18,000 people in un-organized sector including street food vendors and self-help groups till date,” the statement added.

FSSAI said that food safety is a shared responsibility and the FoSTaC programme promotes a culture of self-compliance in food businesses by making them more diligent toward food safety and hygiene in their premises through effective training of their own staff.

Pawan Agarwal, CEO , FSSAI said, “ This would definitely raise the bar for food safety and build a culture of self-compliance for food safety in food businesses in the country.” “The success of this initiative lies in the power of partnership between stakeholders across the value chain as policing through licensing & enforcement alone does not ensure food is safe for consumption,” the regulator added.