Jul 24, 2019
Officials dump ‘adulterated’ milk
Jaipur: Suspecting adulteration, health department’s food safety wing, with the help of police, inspected a milk collection centre in Kotputli areas. They destroyed the ‘adulterated’ milk after collecting samples for test on Tuesday. Health department officials along with Paniyala SHO Kishanlal, reached milk collection centre of a private milk producer at Paneda village of Kotputli.
During inspection one Rajesh Kumar Yadav was present who was collecting milk at the centre. When asked about food licence, he showed Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) food registration which was issued for three years on August 10, 2017 on his name.
“There were four cans (tanks) filed with milk with a capacity of 30 litre each at the spot. During inspection, it was suspected that it is adulterated. Yadav’s house was inspected and in a room which was locked from outside, officials found 15kg of skimmed whey powder. A blue coloured plastic tank was also found in which 200 litre of a yellow-coloured sticky substance was found. A sticky oily substance was also found in a 50 litre container and in an open container with capacity of 15 litre,” said Dr Sunil Singh, state nodal officer (food safety), health department.
Are genetically engineered food crops safe?
Many activists contend that GM crops are dangerous for human health and in some cases even fatal.
Several complaints have been sent to the environment ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) regarding illegal growing of Bt Brinjal, GM mustard and other genetically modified crops, the ministry said in Parliament on Friday.
According to the complaints received, such cultivations are happening in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Punjab, it said.
Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo told the lower house that under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, all states and Union Territories (UTs) have been directed to constitute and strengthen their Biotechnology Coordination Committees and district-level panels for monitoring instances of illegal cultivation of GM crops and taking appropriate action.
“There is no scientific evidence to prove that GM crops are unsafe. GM foods are regulated under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidates laws for manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption,” he said.
“So far, no Living Modified Organisms relating to food has been approved by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” the minister of state said in response to a question whether any action has been taken on the complaints.
Expressing shock at the government’s response on the safety of GM crops, Kavitha Kuruganti of the Coalition for a GM-Free India said there are hundreds of studies and reports which show the ill-effects of GM crops.
“There are hundreds of studies in the USA and Brazil which show ill-effects of GM crop on human health. Even in India, an independent analysis has shown that Bt brinjal and GM mustard are not safe. The government is wrong to make such a statement,” Kavitha said.
She also said the coordination committees and district-level panel have already been formed under the Environment (Protection) Act but “they were not doing their work properly”.
Expressing a similar view, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Yudhvir Singh said genetically modified crops, especially GM mustard and Bt brinjal were quite harmful yet they are being grown illegally.
“GM mustard has cancer-causing chemical while Bt brinjal too has a poison which can have ill-effect on human beings if consumed. There are thousands of studies to show that GM crop is not safe to consume. It is killing not just pests but humans also,” he said.
The BKU leader also said GM mustard is killing honeybees which forage on mustard crop.
“Honeybees are getting killed by foraging on GM mustard crop. If they die, it will affect cross-pollination which is an essential part of farming,” Yudhvir Singh said.
Recently, farm activists upped the ante against illegal GM crop cultivation in the country and threatened to hold a nationwide agitation if the government failed to take stringent action to curb the illegal cultivation.
Kavitha, who was part of a recent press conference cautioning the government on the issue, however, said the GEAC has not responded to the complaints but told the activists that an appropriate action would be taken.
—PTI
A Healthy Bite
Food safety simply means the condition to keep any food absolutely free from contaminations and fit for human consumption. It is the hygienic and nutritional food which permits the development and maintenance of good health. In 2015, WHO reported the first ever estimate of disease burden caused by 31 food borne agents at global and regional level. So, without a safe, healthy and hygienic intake of food one cannot even dream of a healthy and potent output.
Globalization has triggered growing consumer demand for a wider variety of food resulting in an increasingly complex and longer food chain. Climate change also has an impact on food safety and risks associated with its production, storage and distribution. Thus these challenges have put a great responsibility on food producers and handlers to ensure food safety.
So, in order to provide safe and wholesome food to the countrymen, government of India made Food Safety Act 2006, rules 2011 and regulations 2011 for the whole country. The same act was adopted by the Govt. of J&K by way of legislation. By virtue of this act some science based standards for the articles of food were laid down. This has enabled government of India to take under its control the food industry of the country. Under this act even a petty manufacturer has to follow basic hygiene and safety requirements provided by these regulations. The guidance on a food safety management system, for bakery and bakery products is based on part-II of schedule (IV) of food safety and standards.
For the bakery industry there are many challenges, such as equipments which need to be hygienically designed and the policies which define the safety of these equipments such as planetary mixers, spiral mixers, dough dividers and dough rounders, moulders dough sheaters, ovens and even extractors and overall a clean mandate of improved packing and technology trends. We need to advance in this area.
From the Food Safety angle which is the key factor for food laws of the country, we can make use of advancements that we see today in the global knowledge and can later integrate them for the benefit of cottage, small and medium industries.
So, every product from each bakery must have a fixed seal of safety and nutrition packed into it. We can achieve this given target easily provided we interface and not become silos of industries which only worries their profits. We must go beyond it and think beyond it. We must pledge to ensure ethical business which dominates so that customers may get safe and contamination free articles of food.
Here the question arises how can we become leaders in the area of food production, even though we know that bakery was not one of the main food stuffs that we were producing in the recent past. But due to the innovations and adoption of latest trends we could grab an opportunity to lead the food industry to the next level. We also need to have new plans which are energy conservative and cost-effective. The mantra behind those plans is to process more products and to have more progress by innovations and value additions. For the purpose we need to look at ingredients such as high fiber, low fat high protein and to a large extent minimize the carbohydrates in our products.
Another important area that the bakery industry has to focus on is the use of millets. Presently India consumes 90 lakh metric tons of millets, one of the highest in the world. So bakers should not hesitate in using this opportunity for their products which are acceptable nutritionally and are available at an affordable cost.
From the nutritional point of view an average Indian today is consuming 5 gram less protein than what is required.
In Kashmir, foods fortified with carbohydrates in the shape of rice are being consumed at a large scale which is alarming from the health point of view. In order to overcome this we need to shift to other alternatives such as cereals, pulses, fruits – both dry and fresh, in our products. This is how we can fill up the gap with a clear mandate of high protein and high fiber.
In India nearly 10 million people are suffering from several diseases related to sensitiveness of wheat. One of them is celiac disease, a genetically determined autoimmune condition that can be present in any age group. This forces a patient to eat non-wheat, no-rye and non-barely products. So the role of the pulses, millets and fruits in the bakery products is of immense importance. As these are non-glutinous in nature they play a great role for regulation of immune system and autoimmune problems which people may have.
Here is the greatest opportunity for new additives and ingredients to make non wheat flavors which behave like wheat. As a result of innovations and new trends in food habits the present world has seen a successful food product in the shape of noodles. In some of the countries noodles were not dominant food but now these have become their staple food. Snacky, healthy and less fat noodles have huge market share. 140 million packets of noodles are being consumed a day as estimated in 2015 which can go up to 200 trillion packets by 2020. Same way bakery industry has a lot to do in creating new markets for producing healthy products by way of using different flavors and health hosed ingredients. At the same time, in order to fight obesity, one of the greatest challenges of the present world and to enhance the cognitive development. On the other side by way of innovative products with less fat, this problem can be solved easily. This can happen only with a clear science based approach and radiate the timeline to make things happen easily and rapidly. The role of biotechnology, molecular medicine, nutritional science and traditional food knowledge can be of great advantage for bakery industry which should be capitalized with low level of salt, sugar and fat.
By adopting all the above trends I think bakery industry can play a great role in building the health of nation.
Sufi Bashir Basher is Ex. President, Kashmir Bakers Association.
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