Jun 19, 2019
To stay truly organic
The agriculture department has launched good agricultural practices in 12,000 hectares. It has already collected samples from around 300 clusters to get them tested at accredited labs under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. (In Pic): A cabbage farm in Kanthallur in Idukki district
You have organic shops dime a dozen even in small towns, but there has been no guarantee on the quality of products they sell. The Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety has decided to step up measures to ensure quality organic produce by tightening norms including fixing logos on them.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With fake organic products flooding the markets across the state, the Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety (KCFS) has decided to step up measures to ensure quality organic produce for the consumers. Currently, unorganised players without any mandatory certification are selling organic products at exorbitant rates as the state has failed to regulate them.
To end the malpractices in the sector, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has mandated organic logo in products being sold across the nation from April 1, 2019.
To begin with, the state authorities are planning to give organic certification for rice and pepper being produced in Palakkad and Idukki respectively by next month.
According to officials, there are around 700 hectares of pepper cultivation in Idukki and over 800 hectares of paddy cultivation in Palakkad.
As part of its effort to certify organic produce, the state food safety commissionerate has tied up with the agriculture department to ensure organic food products through the ‘farm to plate’ concept by promoting good farming practices. The commissionerate would provide a ‘wrapper’ which would be covered over the products showing the FSSAI licence and farmers’ unique ID for facilitating the consumers to pick the most authentic organic product.
“We get complaints regarding the fake organic products being sold in the state. Organic branding by food safety would help put an end to the cheating in the market. Food safety officials and agriculture department officials will work hand-in-hand in each district to make the initiative a success,” a food safety official said.
Currently, there are over 50,000 hectares of farmlands in the state. As part of the centrally-sponsored scheme Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), the agriculture department has launched good agricultural practices in 12,000 hectares of farmland in the state.
An official of the agriculture department said that the scheme was in phase II. “We launched the scheme a year back and the transition time of the farmland is three years. We are in the second year and our farmers are very well aware of the ill-effect of pesticides. We have formed clusters among the farmers and selected a lead resource person to represent each cluster. Each cluster covers around 20 hectares of farmland,” said the official.
“The farmers engaged in organic farming should get the product tested at an empanelled lab under the agriculture department to get the necessary registration from the food safety,” the official added.
The agriculture department has already collected samples from around 300 clusters to get them tested at accredited labs under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
“We collect the samples and send them for scrutiny at the APEDA-accredited lab in Mumbai. There are around 16 such labs in the country which tests the product to check if it’s of export quality,” said the official.
Distribution of packaged drinking water will be streamlined: FSSAI
‘Association of distributors being formed’
The supply of packaged drinking water in the city, which is beset with irregularities, will soon be streamlined, said officer in charge of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Mysuru Chidambara S.
Pointing out that an association of distributors of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-registered manufacturers was being formed following a suggestion from the FSSAI, Dr. Chidambara said the bona fide members of the association will be certified by the local authorities.
Malpractices
With regard to the malpractices in the supply of packaged drinking water, he said instances of people filling up 20-litre cans from MCC’s RO plants and selling them to consumers were few. However, he admitted that he had seen a video provided by the distributors of a few people filling up seven to eight cans from a MCC RO plant in Vijayanagar 4th Stage. “But, such cases may be few,” he said.
He said the FSSAI had forced the closure of five to six packaged drinking water manufacturers, who did not possess registration from BIS, in Mysuru during the last five to six months.
In Mysuru district, there were 42 BIS-registered packaged drinking water manufacturers, including 11 in the city. Each unit is believed to supply about 1,000 20-litre cans every day.
Are packaged drinking water cans safe?
The packaged drinking water supplied by bona fide distributors from ISI-registered manufacturers goes through a series of procedures.
Distributors say a large number of fraudulent suppliers fill up empty cans directly from taps
The expansion of the market for packaged drinking water, particularly in 20-litre cans, in the city is feared to have spawned a large number of fraudulent suppliers, who are sourcing drinking water from unauthorised sources.
A section of the packaged drinking water distributors in Mysuru would have you believe that the water you consume from the 20-litre cans is not processed at ISI-registered manufacturers. A large number of fraudulent suppliers have begun filling up empty cans from the water made available not only at the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC)’s Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plants set up in different wards across the city, but also directly from the taps. Some suppliers are sourcing water from unauthorised drinking water packaging units that do not follow the procedure for processing the water, a distributor, Chandrashekar M., told The Hindu on Tuesday.
“Many have taken to doing business by filling up water cans from the RO water plants set up by the MCC and charitable organizations across the city and on the outskirts”, Mr. Chandrashekar complained. “They just need to pay a small fraction of the amount they collect from the buyers”, he alleged.
Worse, many others are collecting from taps and other sources even in cans bearing ISI mark and supplying them to the gullible public, endangering their health in the process, he said.
The packaged drinking water supplied by bona fide distributors from ISI-registered manufacturers goes through a series of procedures. “Firstly, the water has to be drawn from a borewell and should have a constant TDS (total dissolved salts). Next, it goes through a process of RO, ionisation and UV purification”, said Mr. Chandrashekar. But, in the case of the packaged drinking water supplied by many fraudulent suppliers, this is not the case, he warned.
Hence, Mr. Chandrashekar and many other suppliers in Mysuru and neighbouring Mandya dealing with packaged drinking water processed by ISI-registered manufacturers have come together to form the Sri Chamundeshwari Mysuru-Mandya District Packaged Drinking Water Suppliers Association.
“Our members will be the authorised suppliers of ISI-registered manufacturers approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). On demand, they will be furnish their credentials, which will help the consumers distinguish between fraudulent suppliers and bona fide ones”, said Nithin Gowda, Vice-President of the Association, which is scheduled to be inaugurated by Designated FSSAI officers of Mysuru and Mandya Chidambara S. and Balakrishna B.S. respectively in Mysuru on June 21.
Only 4 food inspectors in Greater Hyderabad
There are around 30 circles in the city and one food inspector should be appointed for each circle to keep tab on quality of food provided by food joints, roadside pushcarts, food vendors and hotels, according to the officials of the GHMC.
For the huge city population and more number of food joints, roadside pushcart vendors and hotels, the GHMC has only four food inspectors, including two Gazette food inspectors, one food inspector and an assistant food inspector in Food Safety Department to look after the quality of the food provided at the hotels and food joints.
There were seven to eight food inspectors when it was Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) and then the staff has been reduced every year, and now it has reached four, said an official at GHMC.
The responsibility of the food inspectors is to ensure that all registered restaurants and eateries abide by the acceptable standards of health and hygiene. Some 26 food inspector posts are lying vacant since a few years and either state government or civic body is showing interest to fill up the vacancies that play a vital role in maintaining the health of the common man.
Even though the 26 posts are sanctioned a few years ago, the recruitment has not been done till date, as it is pending at the government level, said a GHMC official. This shows that the Food Safety Department has been neglected in the GHMC.
The food inspectors at Food Safety Department conduct raids on regular basis on hotels and restaurants to check the food quality and cleanliness maintaining in the kitchens of the hotels along with medical department staff, due to lack of adequate food inspectors in GHMC.
Speaking to the Hans India, Sudarshan Reddy, a food inspector said, "We are trying to fill the vacant posts, and we have written a letter requesting the government to fill the vacancies in the Food Safety Department. We are waiting for the reply from the government." It is very difficult to ensure hygiene and safety in all hotels across the city with less staff, the official admits.
Food safety is highest priority of my govt: Goa health minister
PANAJI: Health minister Vishwajit Rane said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Churchill Alemao is trying to create panic among people asking them not to eat fish till August 15. On Monday, Alemao urged people to refrain from consuming fish during fishing ban period due to formalin scare.
Urging people to ignore Alemao’s appeal, Rane said, “There is nothing to worry and fish available in the markets of Goa is safe for consumption. Food safety is the highest priority of my government. A monitoring system has been put in place. The government is very serious on the issue. It knows what is to be done.”
Talking about measures taken, he said random checks are conducted and samples collected for testing. A whole protocol has been laid down. It is mandated that fish has to be transported in insulated vehicles. The vehicles with inadequate documents but transporting fish are not to be allowed to enter the state, he said.
“Chief minister Pramod Sawant, deputy chief minister Vijai Sardesai and I, had a joint meeting to discuss this issue,” he said reacting to NCP's MLA's appeal.
Three food outlets shut temporarily after raids
‘Subhojanam’ to provide training to those handling food
The city Corporation conducted raids across 52 restaurants and catering centres on Tuesday, closing down three of them temporarily for preparing food in unhygienic conditions.
Following the raid, Mayor V.K. Prashant also announced the launch of the civic body’s ‘Subhojanam’ project to provide mandatory training to those handling food in the city’s restaurants.
The raid was conducted by four special squads in different parts of the city. Misban hotel at Sreekaryam, Ammu catering service in Attipra, and one more catering service without a name were temporarily closed down to improve their working environment.
According to Corporation health officials, there was no issue with the quality of the food served here.
Notices served
In addition, notices were served on 47 more restaurants and catering services for not having proper system for segregated disposal of waste.
The Corporation had recently published an approved list of 19 firms that have been licensed to collect biodegradable waste from restaurants in the city.
The restaurant owners were asked to enter into a contract with these firms.
Identity cards
On completion of a week-long training as part of Subhojanam project, participants will be provided with identity cards.
Once all the phases of the training are completed, the civic body will make it mandatory that only those holding these identity cards can handle food in restaurants, bakeries, tea stalls, and catering units.
The training will be provided by experts from the industry, along with health inspectors of the Corporation. The training modules will be prepared in July.
In August
The training process is expected to begin by August. Those interested in working in the sector will also be provided training.
The Corporation is also mulling the inclusion of basic training in Malayalam language with the help of the literacy mission to migrant workers who make up a majority of workers in the restaurant industry.
Mizoram has taken many steps to ensure food safety: Minister
The Mizoram government has taken several steps to check the standard of food under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FoodSafety and Standards Rules and Regulations 2011, Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana informed the state Assembly Tuesday.
Replying to questions from Dr Vanlaltanpuia of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Lalthangliana said that inspection of hotels and restaurants and sampling of some food products have been conducted by the food administration officials.
Most of the food samples were sent to State Public Health Laboratory in Guwahati, he said.
A food testing laboratory is being set up at Zemabawk locality in Aizawl where equipment and machinery purchased by the state commerce and industries department have been already installed, he said.
He said that the new laboratory would be commissioned after the equipment are handed over to the health department.
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