Order - Inspections, monitoring and sampling of fruits and vegetables

DINAKARAN NEWS

Ice cream or unhealthy frozen dessert, what are you having?

Indore: Next time you buy ice cream, be extra careful. You might get duped and end buying an unhealthy frozen desert instead of ice-cream. 

Frozen dessert is actually mixture of milk powder, vegetable oil and artificial sweeteners unlike ice cream which is made of milk.

Ahead of summers, food department has started a special drive against sale of frozen dessert claiming to be ice cream. According to food inspector Manish Swami, on directions of ADM Ajaydev Sharma, food and drug administration department is conducting special drive against ice creams and frozen desserts in city. It has been found that several companies, who sell ice creams, are actually frozen desserts.

He added that as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ice cream is prepared by freezing pasteurized mix prepared from milk or products derived from milk. It must be free of artificial sweeteners. While dessert that doesn’t have milk products and requires freezing a pasteurized mix prepared with milk fat and/or edible vegetable oils and fat, and milk or vegetable protein, or a combination of both are frozen desserts.

He claimed that around nine samples of frozen desserts and ice creams have been seized from several brand depots in Annapurna and Rajendra Nagar. Usually ice cream family packs, which are worth Rs 55, are frozen desserts and the ones with price tag of Rs 120 and above are actual ice creams as they are made of milk. However, nowadays even frozen desserts are being sold at higher rates. Swami said department will start extensive drive againstsoft drinks and ice balls.

A palate test is an easy way to tell ice creams from frozen desserts. "The taste of frozen desserts lingers long after you have it whereas once you've gobbled ice cream, flavour leaves you," said Swami.

Food safety dept urged to check artificial ripening

Trichy: The food safety department was urged to conduct frequent inspections and sensitization drives to prevent artificial ripening of mangoes since it is difficult for the common man to differentiate it from the naturally ripened mangoes.

"A section of traders use chemicals to artificially ripen the mangos as the demand is very high. The food safety officials should sensitise the traders to ensure the quality of fruits," S Vadivel, a resident of Subramaniapuram, said. Mangoes have been decked up in supermarkets and small shops, but the residents said that the eagerness to taste mangos is on back foot owing to the fear of being end up in buying artificially ripened poor quality fruit.

Calcium carbide stones can ripen mangos in a day and it is convenient for the traders due to its easy availability. They can obtain it from even from welding and hardware shops for a meagre price. "We have seized tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes in the previous years. Since such seizure would bring big loss to the traders, such acts have come down over the years," an official with food safety department said. The department has promised to increase the vigil to prevent artificial ripening of fruits. Officials said that artificial ripening could be identified only if they seize carbide stone along with mangos. "It is very difficult to differentiate between artificially ripened and naturally ripened mangoes without tasting them," the official said. The department has planned to focus on the shops in Gandhi Market and other places across the city.

Special drive to check juice and soft drink outlets in Kozhikode

Kozhikode: Health and food safety officials have decided to commence a special drive to check the juice and soft drinks outlets that have sprang up on roadsides in the summer. The health department has directed the local self-government bodies to conduct a special drive covering makeshift juice outlets in the wake of spike in hepatitis A and diarrhoea cases.

The health department has also directed the public to keep vigil while consuming fresh juice items and soft drinks from cool bars and wayside juice shops. The direction was given after observing the number of temporary juice stalls selling bottled water, lemon juice, ‘sambaram’ (spiced butter milk), sugarcane juice and ‘kulukki sarbat’ are on the rise in the district. 

Not only the local self-government bodies, but the food safety department too has commenced inspections covering eateries across the district. The food safety officials, during the inspections, are directing eatery outlet owners to replace block ice with cube ice to ensure that the ice using for the preparation of juice and soft drinks is free from contamination. Consumption of contaminated water and juice results in waterborne diseases such as hepatitis A and diarrhoea.

According to the health department officials, 27 Hepatitis A cases have been reported from various parts of the district from January 1 to March 23, 2019. A total of 12,469 diarrhoea cases and one death have been reported from various parts of the district from January 1 to March 23, 2019. As many as 144 Hepatitis A cases, 52,415 diarrhoea cases and one death were reported in 2018.

Dr Ashadevi, additional district medical officer (public health), said that consumption of juice and soft drinks made of contaminated water is one of the major causes for the increase in number of hepatitis A and diarrhoea cases in the district. “Public should be very cautious when they consume fresh juice from wayside makeshift eatery outlets and the shop owners should use only good quality ice for the preparation of such items,” said the ADMO adding that ensuring personal hygiene is the best available option to keep away from water-borne diseases.

Corporation health officer Dr R S Gopakumar said that the civic body has already issued instructions to licenced cool bars and shops to make use of cube ice and safe drinking water to prepare juice items and soft drinks. “The special drive covering ice-manufacturing factories and units and wayside juice shops will commence on April 1,” he said.

Meanwhile, P K Eliyamma, assistant commissioner, food safety, Kozhikode, said that the drive to inspect ice manufacturing outlets will commence next month.