DINAKARAN NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

Milk safety: Feed producers told to meet BIS’ mark

FSSAI has said foods of animal origin (such as milk) are at times found to be non-compliant with relevant standards prescribed under the law.

CHENNAI: The Centre has fixed a deadline of June 10, 2020, for animal feed manufacturers to comply with regulatory standards prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It has also banned import of feed which does not have BIS certification mark. Cattle feed is a major source by which milk gets contaminated with Aflatoxin M1, a carcinogen. The order by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been issued to all States, two months after a national-level survey revealed the presence of the carcinogen in milk samples taken from Tamil Nadu and a few other States.

FSSAI has said foods of animal origin (such as milk) are at times found to be non-compliant with relevant standards prescribed under the law. It is examining the possibility of framing feed regulations, supported with appropriate amendments to the Food Safety Act. “On an interim basis, it has been decided that commercial feeds and feed materials intended for food-producing animals (such as cattle and sheep) shall comply with relevant BIS standards and shall not be manufactured/imported, distributed and sold except under BIS certification mark,” said the directive issued on December 10 by P Karthikeyan, deputy director, FSSAI, New Delhi.

The FSSAI has given feed manufacturers a deadline of six months, from the date of the order, to comply with it. Following reports of the presence of Aflatoxin M1 in milk, last month the State government constituted a high-level committee to conduct a detailed study. Cattle are fed with paddy straw, fodder and concentrate mixture. The concentrate feed is prepared using different varieties of cake along with food grains, husk, minerals and molasses from sugar mills.

Milk producers say ingredients used for preparing cattle feed are purchased from small-scale companies in rural parts of the State and currently there are no provisions to examine the quality standards.

“Most farmers will not even weigh the feed purchased. Regulation of cattle feed may be appreciated, but a majority of dairy farmers are unaware of the standards and other safety parameters,” said M G Rajendran, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Welfare Association (TNMPWS).

Tamil Nadu Food Grain Merchants Association State president S P Jayaprakasam said the association was informed by State health officials that Tamil Nadu Agricultural University will conduct a detailed study into cattle feed and only later would regulations be decided on. “We will create awareness among the manufacturers over toxic content. However, fodder gets contaminated mainly because of fertilisers”. “All dairy farmers are being sensitised by our field level staff and veterinarians over quality of feed,” said a senior official of Animal Husbandry department.

Coconut oil , tomato sauce companies slapped with fine for substandard products

KOCHI: State Food Safety department has slapped heavy fines on two coconut oil companies after finding out their products lacked quality and failed to meet the prescribed standards.

The brands facing ban are K P N Suddham, Kitchen Tasty, Shudhamaya Thani Nadan Velichenna and Keraleeyam. The company called Kairali Oil Kizhakkambalam, which is producing these four brands, has been slapped a fine of Rs 6 lakh under Food Safety act, in three adjudication cases.

Moovattupuzha RDO has signed the order that specifies the fine.

Along with Kairali Oil, ABH trading company was also fined Rs 3.15 lakh for its sub-standard product known as Keraleeyam coconut oil, distributed by Kochin Trading Company Allapra.

Kolanchery-based PKM Prime Foods Private Ltd was also fined Rs 2 lakh for their substandard Tomato sauce.

The above mentioned companies had selected for their products names that had resemblance with popular brands and by that way, duped customers into buying their products. This also brought bad name to those popular companies.

Punjab bans manufacturing, storage and sale of cooking oils made of admixtures of Ghee and Vanaspati

CHANDIGARH: Issuing a Prohibition Order in the interest of public health ,under section 30(2) (a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and in pursuance of the Regulation 2.1.1 of the Food Safety and Standards ( Prohibition and Sales ) Regulations, 2011, Kahan Singh Pannu, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Punjab informed that the manufacture, distribution, storage and sale of Cooking Medium concoctions prepared by admixture of ghee and any added matter not exclusively derived from milk fat and vanaspati to which ghee or any other substance has been added, have been prohibited in the State of Punjab. Such admixtures cannot be sold even under proprietary food category.

The orders have been enforced for one year with effect from January 15, 2020, said he.

He informed that the office of Commissioner, Food & Drug Administration, Punjab had cancelled the licenses of firms, in the month of September, 2019, which were manufacturing such admixtures in the State of Punjab against the provisions of Regulations, 2011. However, the sale of such admixtures continued in the State with the products manufactured outside the State.

Thereafter, in mid September, a notice was given for seeking objections, to completely prohibit the manufacture/sale/distribution of these concoctions in the State of Punjab. The objections, if any, were to be filed within a period of 15 days.

A company named M/s Tapan Agro Industries Private Limited, Agra filed the objection to the notice. A personal hearing was given to the representative of M/s Tapan Agro Industries Private Limited and was informed that the admixture formulation of M/s Tapan Agro Industries Private Limited (Preet Lite cooking medium proprietary food and Deep Classic cooking medium proprietary food) are not exempted from Regulation 2.1.1 of the Food Safety & Standards (Prohibition & Restrictions on Sales), Regulations, 2011. It was also cleared that this admixture cannot be sold even under proprietary food category , even after proper labeling declaration for being in contravention with the Regulations, 2011.

Pannu said that it has been observed that a large number of Food Business Operators are selling admixtures of vanaspati and admixtures of ghee in gross violation of the Regulations, 2011, under various names such as Cooking Medium, Lite Ghee, Pooja Ghee, Activo Lite, Preet Lite, Ultra Classic, etc. Such cooking mediums contains large amount of Saturated Fats and Trans Fats which further increase manifold when the product is used for frying purposes. The Trans Fats have been established to have ill effects on human health for causing hypertension and coronary diseases. These products are made with admixtures of vanaspati and admixtures of ghee and are prohibited in the State under the Regulations, 2011, being injurious to public health.