Mar 9, 2020
Food dept team attacked by bakery owner
Jhansi: A team of officials of the food department which had gone to collect samples of eatables from a bakery in the city on Sunday afternoon were allegedly attacked by the bakery owner and his employees. The bakery was later sealed and the officials are in process of lodging a case in this connection.
According to reports, a team of officials of the food safety department had gone to collect samples from a bakery but the the owner resisted.
Following heated arguments between the officials and the bakery owner, the latter along with his workers, allegedly attacked one of the officials. The team immediately informed the police following which city magistrate Salil Kumar Patel and CO (city), Sangram Singh arrived with the force. After hearing both the sides, the police took the CCTV footage for the purpose of investigation.
The city magistrate said, “The officials of the food department have sealed the bakery and are in the process of lodging an FIR”.
Fat-free approach: FSSAI is trying to make India vanaspati free
FSSAI plans to cap TFA at 3% by 2021 and 2% by 2022 in edible fats and oils.
All of us want to lead a healthy life, but there are hurdles in achieving this goal. Inability to avoid cooking oils containing trans-fats or trans fatty acids (TFA) and lack of awareness about our eating habits, are the two prime problems.
It has been scientifically proven, that the use of TFA is fraught with major health issues. Despite this, consumption of oils is high. Besides, cut-throat competition has resulted in large-scale production of vegetable oils using the hydrogenation process, which jacks up the content of TFA. Oil-makers resort to this process as it is cost effective and increases shelf life.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Foods Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) are working in tandem to eliminate the presence of TFA from industrially produced cooking oils. But the progress towards the elimination of trans fats (which means restricting their presence to 0.2%) has been slow.
To begin with, FSSAI put in place a regulation in 2016 halving the permissible quantum of trans-fats in edible fats and oils from 10% to 5%. On its part, WHO launched a REPLACE campaign in 2018 for global-level elimination of trans-fats in industrially produced edible oils by 2023. The Indian regulator has got more ambitious, setting 2022 as the deadline.
FSSAI plans to cap TFA at 3% by 2021 and 2% by 2022 in edible fats and oils. The resolution is yet to become a regulation.
According to a WHO report, Indian snacks contain 6-30% of TFA, far exceeding the safe limit of 2%. One survey of street food in Delhi and Haryana found that 25% of snacks contained high TFA levels. Snacks such as samosa, gulab jamun and jalebi prepared in vanaspati-a primary dietary source for trans fats prepared by adding hydrogen to the cheap edible oils-reportedly contained 50% of fat in the form of TFA.
Consumption of trans fats beyond the prescribed limit disrupts good and bad cholesterol (HDL and LDL) levels, causing dyslipidemia, heart diseases, diabetes, liver dysfunction, fertility issues, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and some types of cancer. This is also the reason that India has witnessed an escalation in DALYs attributable to NCDs.
Considering all these aspects, FSSAI launched an awareness campaign “Heart attack rewind.” Through another initiative, the authority launched a “Trans Fat Free” logo for voluntary labelling to promote TFA-free products. The label can be used by bakeries, local food outlets and shops for preparations containing TFA not exceeding 0.2 per 100 g/ml. Offering subsidies on edible oils with healthier nutrient profiles could be another approach. Authorities should not promote consumption of saturated fats as part of the trans fat free movement. These are also associated with health hazards.
The need to achieve the goal before the 2022 deadline cannot be over-emphasised, considering the high stakes.
Stale fish destroyed during raids at Pollachi
Officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Sunday inspected fish stalls at Pollachi in Coimbatore district to check the use of preservatives like formalin in fish and also sale of stale fish.
They seized 20 kg of stale fish from four fish stalls that were later destroyed.
K. Tamilselvan, Designated Officer of FSSAI in Coimbatore, said that the raids were held as part of instructions from the Commissioner of Food Safety and Coimbatore District Collector.
He said that one fish stall was found using banned plastic carry bag for packing. Officials slapped a fine of ₹2,000 on the stall owner.
Dr. Tamilselvan added that stern action will be taken against stalls if they were found selling fish laced with preservatives and stale fish. On March 5, FSSAI and Fisheries Department had seized 430 kg of stale fish and 70 kg of fish found with traces of formalin from the wholesale and retail fish markets at Ukkadam in Coimbatore.
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