City traders oppose food safety law

INDORE: Food Safety Standards Act 2006, implemented by the state government on August 5 last year, has left the city traders perplexed. The traders of food items in the city have termed the Act of Central government as draconian, as they feel it is against the interests of the small traders.

The Act is likely to leave small traders jobless and help MNCs spread their wings, they allege. Considering all these factors, a number of traders' associations in the city are staging an indefinite dharna against the Act on March 27 at Sanjay Setu. A meeting of traders will be held in this connection on March 25.

The protest launched by MP Food Products & Producers' Association is likely to see participation from MP Dal Mill Association (Indore), Association of Pulses Industry, Mithai Association, Namkeen Association, MP Spices Manufacturing Traders' Association and Wholesale Retail Traders' Association.

Suresh Agrawal, president, MP Dal Mill Association (Indore), told ToI, "The new law has made it mandatory for the small traders to get a fitness certificate from a practising doctor for running their business. Also, it has the provision of appointing a BSC graduate as technical advisor who will monitor the quality of food being manufactured by the trader. But these are all impractical guidelines". "Traders are finding the rules impossible to follow. Hence we are opposing the Act," said another trader Ramesh Khandelwal.

When contacted, food & safety officer Manish Kumar Swamy said, "The Act is meant to improve hygiene of the food materials as it becomes effective from the very stage of processing. The new law had replaced the old existing Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954."

Eating out becomes risky as FOOD CHECKS STOP ACROSS STATE

Chennai: Eating out has become risky, with state health authorities not inspecting restaurants or carrying out checks on their kitchens for the past seven months. This has become a problem since perishables rot faster in the summer heat due to longer power cuts.
    After the responsibility of food safety was taken from municipal corporations and given to a special state food safety unit, monitoring has been consigned to the backburner. The newly-formed unit has been struggling with its organisation, training and logistics.
    “We are yet to begin taking samples or conducting raids in Chennai,” said a food safety official in Chennai. “We are still registering eateries and setting up offices.” According to the state health department, corporations stopped collecting samples for testing and raiding restaurants to check if they are conforming to quality specifications in August 2011. A Chennai corporation official estimates that it may have been nine months since samples were collected.
    Health experts and corporation officials say unscrupulous restaurateurs and manufacturers of food products could take advantage of the fact that no checks are being conducted. “With several hours of power cuts being imposed on the state every day, the absence of checks could be a problem as perishable goods are likely to spoil even faster,” an official said.
    Officials say funding for the health department under the new Food Safety Act has begun only now, almost a year after the act was implemented. Even the state food commissioner is currently operating from the state homeopathy hospital without any support staff.
    Health department offices in other districts in the state have also been brought standstill, with the exception of Madurai and Coimbatore where officials recently started collecting samples for testing. “But we haven’t begun taking samples yet,” said a health department official in Tirunelveli. “Right now we our focus is on completing the registrations of over 12,000 small establishments in this district.”
    Many other districts are awaiting release of funds and allotment of office space. In Coimbatore samples have been collected from three restaurants so far and two were found to be contaminated but the authorities were unable to prosecute them, added a local food officer.
    Food safety, until last year, was overseen as additional duties by health officers in city and town municipal corporations. Rules regarding food safety were covered by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Now a new, more comprehensive, law is in place that has specific instructions for food packaging, ingredient display, hygiene and sanitary conditions.

Social cause: Retired bureaucrats help set up food testing laboratory in Indore

INDORE: A Centre-funded food testing laboratory is in the offing in Indore at the initiative of retired bureaucrats, who have come together for a social cause under an NGO - Centre for Consumer Protection Research and Awareness (CCPRA).
The state-of-the-art laboratory, which would come up on the campus of Oriental University here, is expected to be functional within six months.
"The laboratory is being set up under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, and would be empowered with special surveillance powers to carry out testing and inspection of samples of food items across Madhya Pradesh," said a former IAS officer, K S Parmar, who is the organizer of CCPRA. He further said that since the laboratory would be accredited by the government of India, the report prepared by it would be valid in the court of law.
The demand for the laboratory arose from the fact that Indore has become a hub of manufacturing and sale of adulterated food items. During festive seasons, the district administration and the civic body jointly carried out raids seizing large quantities of adulterated food items.
"This would be an added help to the authorities as the laboratory can suo motu collect samples and test them," said Parmar.
Moreover, Madhya Pradesh being dry-port area, the food items meant for export and import can be tested at the proposed laboratory for a fee.
"Though, the laboratory would be solely funded by the ministry of food processing, the maintenance and running cost of it will have to be borne by the private Oriental University," he said.
The CCPRA applied for the laboratory under a Union government scheme for setting up of food testing laboratory.
"We are happy to house the laboratory," said Dr Narendra Virmani, vice-chancellor, Oriental University. He assured all cooperation for setting up the laboratory. The scheme has a provision to allow a state government or any recognized university to set up the laboratory.
"In Madhya Pradesh, there is only one state laboratory for referral and food testing at Bhopal. So there was an urgent need for another one," he said.

Be wary of packed milk in villages

BHOPAL: Go for packed milk in Madhya Pradesh cities, these appear safe, but there is a 48 per cent chance that the same would be adulterated if you buy it from the villages.
Packed milk sold in the cities has been found pure and free from adulteration, but its not so in rural areas in Madhya Pradesh, according to a Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) test report, a senior official disclosed.
"No packed milk sample taken from any of the state's cities by FSSAI was found adulterated, according to its last month report," State Food and Drugs Department Controller AK Rai confirmed to TOI on Friday. But contrary to the perception that food stuff and milk was more pure in rural areas, both packed and unpacked milk sold in the rural areas were found to be spiked with water and having less fat and solids.
Rai said FSSAI took 61 milk samples from MP, out of which 29 were found to be impure. This meant that 48 per cent was not pure, he added.
He however said MP did well in the milk samples tests conducted all over northern India. Not a single sample out of the 61 contained urea that was found in milk samples of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar.
According to the FSSAI report, milk quality was best in the country in Goa and Pondicherry, following by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka. "We are after Karnataka in the list, "he claimed.
He said all the 19 samples collected from Chhattisgarh, carved out of MP, failed in the test.

Violators of food safety norms go scot-free

CHANDIGARH: If you have been digging into your favourite chicken dish which has not been prepared under hygienic conditions, the seller under the new food safety act can easily go scotfree despite being under the scanner. Reason -- no challan booklet for imposing fine has been approved by the heath authorities.
The Food Safety and Standards Act of India (FSSAI) in itself is 'powerful,' with the penalty cost having been raised from Rs 500 to Rs 1,00,000. Though seven different food samples have failed in the city following the implementation of the Act, the sellers have been let off with just a few words of warning.
The FSSAI which came into effect on 5 August, 2011 has proved to be ineffective in the absence of a challan booklet to penalize people selling food that fails safety norms. According to officials in the health department, a letter has been forwarded for legal clearance. In the absence of a challan booklet, no fine has been imposed on anyone since the Act came into force.
Prior to the FSSAI, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act entitled food inspectors to impose a maximum fine of Rs 500. However, the challan was issued through a court. "This new act is a fast track system as the deputy commissioner is entitled to impose a fine of upto Rs 1,00,000. Be it open or packaged food, all standards have to be met," said a food inspector of the UT health department.
He added, "But none of the sellers whose food samples have failed this time have been fined in the absence of a challan booklet."

3-day strike in mandis, biz worth Rs 8kcr hit & Food Grain Traders Call Off Strike (29.1.12)

JAIPUR: Several farmers returned dejected from foodgrain markets without selling their crops on Friday after foodgrain traders throughout the state went on a three-day strike to protest against the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006.

As many as 247 foodgrain markets in the state remained closed as the Rajasthan Khadya Padarth Vyapar Sangh (RKPVS) called for a three-day bandh. Edible oil and pulses mills too remained shut. RKVPS said business around Rs 8,000 crore has been badly affected owing to strike.

In Bharatpur, tea sellers and retailers kept their shops closed. In Jaipur, foodgrain markets in Surajpole mandi, Deenanathji ki Gali and wholesale dealers of tea joined the strike.

The loss includes daily sale of oilseeds (mustard, soyabean, groundnut, sesame) worth Rs1,500 crore, edible oil worth Rs 800 crore, pulses Rs1,200 crore, foodgrains Rs1,500 crore and dry spices worth Rs1,500 crore. Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 was implemented in the state in August 2011. However, from January 1, the state made it compulsory for foodgrain traders to procure licence from the medical, health and family welfare department, and that too with an increased fee.

The Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 was amended to form the new FSS Act. Under the newly-implemented FSS Act, 2006, foodgrains too will have to undergo inspection by the administration . Earlier, only cooked or packaged food was checked.

A chief medical and health officer said, "Earlier, we did not conduct raids at foodgrain storehouses as the licencing authority rested with the municipal bodies. However, under the new Act, the director (health) is now the food safety commissioner . The health and medical department is authorized to issue licences and at the same time check the licences of foodgrain traders."

The revised Act however, has not been welcomed by the traders who feel that as they just buy the grains from farmers and sell it off to dealers, they do not play any part in adulterating it, and therefore, should be kept out of it.

RKPVS president Babulal Gupta said, "The strike is our way of showing solidarity with traders across the country who protested against the Act. A meeting of Bhartiya Udhyog Vyapar Mandal was convened to demand rectification in the Act and intensify the protests across the country."

The traders also protested against the sharp rise in licence fee. Earlier the fee ranged between Rs 6 and Rs 12, but now it has gone up to Rs 2,000 and even up to Rs 7,500 in some cases , said Gupta. For a trader with a turnover of Rs 60 lakh, the fee should be Rs 20, while for those with a turnover of over Rs 60 lakh, it should be Rs 100, the traders demanded. 

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Food grain traders call off strike

JAIPUR: The three-day strike of food grain traders abruptly ended on its second day on Saturday when the state government assured the protesting traders of conveying their demands to the Centre.
Traders in the entire state opened their shops and normalcy was restored in the food grain markets.
The traders in the state had gone on strike, which was supposed to continue till Sunday, against the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act 2006 implemented in the state recently. Under the Act, the food grain traders have to procure license from the medical, health and family welfare department at an exorbitant fees. The traders were protesting against the licensing policy.

The Rajasthan Khadya Padarth Vyapar Sangh (RKPVS) office bearers met chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday to tell him their demands.

Since, the FSS Act was introduced by the Centre, the state government wrote to the Centre about the demands of traders. "The CM has directed principal secretary, health, to write to the Centre regarding our demands. Since the state government has written to Centre, we have decided to call off our strike," RKPVS president Babu Lal Gupta said.

Though the traders have called off the strike but have decided not to give up protest and plan to intensify their agitation against the FSS Act. "This is a national issue so the national traders' meet of Bhartiya Udhyog Vyapar Mandal will be held in February to take up the issue," Gupta added.

The RKPVS claimed that they went on strike just to send a message to traders in other states to raise their voice against the licensing policy under the Act.

The RKPVS officials said under the Act, the oil mills have to procure license from Delhi. They demanded that the provisions should be made for traders to procure licenses at state, district and tehsil levels.

Because of the strike around Rs 8,000 crore business was affected in the state on Friday.

PIL seeks certification to check milk adulteration

MUMBAI: A public interest litigation has been filed in the Bombay High Court against largescale adulteration of milk. It urged the court to direct setting up of an agency to certify milk with a 'Milk Mark' which would ensure quality and a 24-hour helpline for complaints.

The PIL was filed by homeopath Dr Sreedevi Mehta, chemical engineer Karan Doshi and Vidhvatta Malhotra, a homemaker who has a two-year-old child. The state, commissioners for Food Safety and Food and Drugs Administration, the BMC and ministry of health and family welfare have been made parties.

The petitioners said they became aware after reading news reports about the alarming portions of mass adulteration of milk that is consumed by almost every household in the city. They were "shocked and aghast", to learn that the National Milk Survey found nearly 70% of 1,791 samples picked up from 33 states and union territories had failed to conform to Food and Safety Standards Authority of India.

"It is a very sorry state of affairs wherethough unknowingly people are consuming urea, detergents, bad sugar, harmful chemicals and several other contaminants by drinking adulterated milk every day," the petition states. The petitioner urged that like AGMARK, which is a quality certification for agricultural products, milk must also be certified by a 'Milk Mark', certified by an authority at the state-level.

They also urged for a 24-hour helpline for people to register complaints so that raids, if necessary, are conducted and the guilty booked.

The PIL was mentioned by their advocate Advait Sethna before a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi and has been posted for hearing on January 25.

Authorities raid milk sellers, collect samples

JAIPUR: A day after the Rajasthan High Court directed the state government on milk adulteration issue, the Jaipur district administration began raiding milk sellers on Friday. Various newspapers had published a survey report by Food Safety Standards Authority of India that showed 76% of milk in Rajasthan is adulterated.

Mobile laboratories tested about 20 samples of milk in Sanganer and Mansarovar and found 19 to be adulterated with 50% water, a district administration official said. Besides, this, the department collected five more samples and sent them for testing.

The presence of toxic chemicals in adulterated milk could hamper brain development among infants, the doctors claimed. The report of Food Safety Standards Authority of India survey shows that the samples of milk contained chemical substances like urea and detergents. These substances are dangerous for infants.

JK Lon Hospital superintendent Dr SD Sharma said, "Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is essential for brain development. If the milk is adulterated then there are possibilities that the infant will not get DHA. Because of that the development of brain in the infant could be halted. The intelligence quotient among such children would not be as much as in a normal child. In some cases, it could also lead to mental retardation because major development of the brain takes place up to one-and-a-half years."

He said, "The parents give milk to make their children healthy but if the milk is not safe, then it could have adverse effects on health."

The doctors also appealed to the mothers to breastfeed their children. Various studies and researches in the recent past were conducted and held mother's milk as essential for the growth of the baby, which also keeps them safe from consuming adulterated milk.

Gastroenterologist Dr Abhinav Sharma said, "Patients come to me with complaints of gastroenteritis, acute pain abdomen, vomiting, feeling of bloating and sometimes bleeding ulcers. These are all common symptoms caused by consumption of adulterated milk."

The doctors also appealed to the people to check the milk they are consuming as it could lead to serious health problems.

125 food testing labs on cards

PUNE: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to set up 125 food testing laboratories in the country. The authority has also proposed to form guidelines to keep a check on flavoured drinking water, said V N Gaur, chief executive officer of FSSAI. The proposals have been submitted to the Union government for approval.
Gaur was speaking at the two-day 21st Indian Convention of Food Scientists and Technologists organised on the theme 'Innovations in food science and technology to fuel the growth of the Indian food industry'. Swapan Kumar Datta, deputy director general, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, New Delhi, Vasudha Kamath, vice-chancellor, SNDT University, Mumbai, and G Venkateswara Rao, acting director Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, were present for the convention that started on Friday.
He said, "The proposed labs are meant to undertake tests to check whether the adulteration is chemical, physical or microbiological. Physical category means substandard particles mixed in a product. The 125 primary labs will join the existing 72 labs in the country. Apart from these, there are four central food labs, working as referral labs to the primary labs, providing information about various research projects, their findings and usefulness of technology in the food industry."
Another emerging market is flavoured drinking water, for which there are no guidelines so far, he said. The authority has urged the Union government to initiate a procedure to form guidelines for flavoured drinking water, as there is definition of drinking water, bottled and packaged water, Gaur added.
The FSSAI has also appealed to the government to upgrade and modernise existing food testing labs and open them to packaged food manufacturers, consumers and researchers. The old machinery and lack of funds are limiting the functioning of the labs and their scope, he added.
When asked about the recently released national milk sample survey, in which 70% milk samples were found adulterated, Gaur said, "Out of them, 14% samples had detergent in them, which is a serious health concern. Adding skimmed milk powder or water does not pose any threat, but chemicals could cause serious health problems. The mechanism to check all types of adulteration is in place, but there are issues regarding effective implementation."
S M Naikare, president, Association of Food Scientist and Technologists, Pune chapter, told TOI, "The government has not emphasised processing of ethnic food items that are in huge demand. The copying of western food products has a limited response as food habits of Indians are different. The proposed labs would help keep a check on adulteration and would empower consumers."

PINK OR BLUE? A blood test can tell sex of a 5-week-old fetus

Ratio Of 2 Enzymes In Mom’s Blood Determines Gender

London: A pioneering blood test that could allow pregnant women know the sex of their unborn child as early as five weeks has been developed, but scientists have warned that it has potential for promoting sex-selection.
    Ateam led by Dr Hyun Mee Ryu at Cheil General Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, found that various ratios of two enzymes which can be extracted from a pregnant mother’s blood indicate the baby’s gender as early as five or six weeks.
    Knowing the sex early, the scientists said, is important if the mother is a carrier of an X-chromosome gene that can cause a disease like muscular dystrophy or haemophilia. They said that female fetuses are either free from the disease or are carriers, but a male has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease and parents may choose to abort the pregnancy, the Daily Mail reported.
    However, this method “might promote the potential for sex selection. Therefore, there should be careful consideration about the use of this analytical tool in clinical situations”, the scientists warned.
    Current ultrasounds can detect a baby’s sex at around five months, while available invasive testing can work at 11 weeks. But these tests carry a one to two per cent risk of miscarriage as they require a sample from the amniotic sac that protects the foetus.
    Writing in the The FASEB Journal, Dr Hyu said their test could “reduce the need for invasive procedures in pregnant women carrying an Xlinked chromosomal abnormality and clarify inconclusive readings by ultrasound.”
    For their study, the team collected maternal plasma from 203 women during the first trimester of their pregnancies between 2008 and 2009. They were able to accurately detect the gender of the baby from as early as five weeks by measuring the ratio of the amount of the enzymes — DYS14 and GAPDH — in the blood plasma.
    “Although more work must be done before such a test is widely available, this paper does show it is possible to predict the sex of a child as early as the first few weeks after conception," said Dr Gerald Weissmann, editor-inchief of the journal which published the study. PTI

FDA seeks report on milk adulteration cases

PUNE: The monitoring mechanism to check adulterated and sub-standard milk being sold in the state is set to undergo a complete overhaul. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked all 34 districts to send in reports on the milk adulteration cases which have occurred in their areas in the last five years.
The aim is to find out region-specific patterns of milk adulteration, improve on the existing system of taking samples for testing and find ways to bring erring milk suppliers to book.
"We have told the 34 districts to send in data on the milk adulteration that has occurred in the last five years," said a highly placed source in the FDA commissioner's office in Mumbai. "We have already started a systematic strategy to check milk adulteration in any form or manner. Data of the last five years will shed light on the more common ways milk is adulterated, find out region-specific patterns, improve milk sampling methodology, in short, give a proper perspective on milk adulteration in the state," he said.
Chandrakant Salunke, assistant commissioner (food) Pune said, "We have been asked to collate and compile data of the last five years in respect of milk adulteration cases in Pune. This data will be collected from various places in the state."
The FDA has already sent letters to 273 milk packaging units in the state, warning them that they could be checked at any time in the future.
"We wanted to remind the milk manufacturing units that we will not tolerate adulteration. The letter was sent to all owners of manufacturing units, asking them to sensitise their people and ensure that no adulterants are added in milk - from the processing unit stage until the milk reaches the people's doorstep," said the FDA official.
A recent study conducted by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) across 33 states found that milk in the country is adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea, as well as the age-old practice of diluting it with water. Across the country, 68.4% of the samples were found to be contaminated.
In urban areas, the number of non-confirming samples were 845 (68.9%) of which 282 (33.3%) were packed and 563 (66.6%) were loose.
The most common adulteration was that of fat and solid not food (SNF), found in 574 (46.8%) of the non-conforming samples. Scientists say this is because of dilution of milk with water. The second highest parameter of non-conformity was skim milk powder in 548 samples (44.69%), which includes the presence of glucose in 477 samples. Glucose could have been added to milk, probably to enhance SNF.
"Milk is a primary source of nutrition for children. Therefore, it is even more important to keep a strict vigil on adulteration," said padiatrician Sharad Agarkhedkar, former president of the Indian Medical Association.

Govt draws up mega plan to ensure food safety

NEW DELHI: The government, it seems, has finally woken up to the threat of adulteration and contamination in food products and is planning a slew of measure to shore up food safety.

It plans to set up cluster laboratories of accredited standards for every 4-5 districts to carry out basic tests and zonal food laboratories (1 in 10 districts) to perform tests for residues and heavy metals and 10 referral laboratories considering that a network of efficient laboratories is the backbone of a credible food safety initiative.

In addition, mobile laboratory facilities will also be started to cater to large public congregations, natural calamities, disease outbreak and inaccessible areas.

Under the ambitious plan, the government will spend around Rs 6,548 crore on food safety measures during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) that include strengthening of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

For the first time, the government plans to establish food safety offices in every district at the cost of around Rs 2,200 crore to tighten the food safety enforcement system.

There is also a plan to set up a National Food Science and Risk Assessment Centre costing Rs 155 crore. The dedicated institution under the direct control of FSSAI will conduct regulatory research and risk assessment, as well as oversee surveillance on the lines of international institutions like Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in the US and other countries. The institute is also envisaged to carry out a food safety risk analysis training programmes.

The Centre will be the repository of all food standards and will carry out all risk assessment related work and analyze food surveillance data received from labs and other surveillance organizations.

Along with networking of all food testing labs working, Planning Commission's working group on food safety has also recommended upgradation of Central Food Laboratories in Mumbai and Kolkata which will cost Rs 40 crore.

The group recommended that bio-safety should be an integral part of any risk assessment being undertaken by FSSAI. It is of the view that sufficient focus on food safety issues is lacking in the curriculum of MBBS and an appropriate module on food safety and bio-safety needs to be introduced at the earliest.

It also talked of spending Rs 50 crore for nation-wide food safety surveillance network and data collection on regular basis, along with a budget of Rs 669 crore to be spent on creating awareness of food safety related issues in the country.

The government will strengthen national food safety helpline, along with reward scheme to encourage public and employees to give information regarding unsafe food and malpractices within or outside the system.

The helpline will be strengthened to ensure direct communication with all stakeholders in an interactive manner. It will be linked to the emergency response centres in the states.

A National Food Safety Training Institute at FSSAI will be set up which will provide regular training programmes for trainers of food safety personnel and also other stakeholders. A fund of Rs 15 crore is proposed for conducting training programmes during the plan period.