Gutter Oil Scandal Raises Food Safety Concerns Again

 

Local chains in Hong Kong are being pressured to tug merchandise from their cabinets as authorities examine whether or not they include gutter oil from Taiwan, the place considerations are rising over a meals security scare, officers stated. An investigation has been launched after oil from a Taiwanese firm accused of utilizing illegally recycled merchandise – together with fats collected from grease traps – was exported to Hong Kong.
Taiwanese authorities say a manufacturing unit within the south of the island illegally used 243 tonnes of tainted merchandise, also known as “gutter oil”, to combine into lard oil in a case that has reignited regional considerations about meals security requirements. The lard oil – a transparent oil pressed from pig fats – was provided to at the least 900 eating places and bakeries in Taiwan. The proprietor of the manufacturing unit has been arrested.
In Hong Kong, Philip Ho, an officer from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, informed RTHK radio that dozens of meals samples had been taken with outcomes anticipated within the subsequent few days. “The investigation is ongoing. After we noticed the issue, we’ve got been making an attempt to contact meals operators corresponding to importers and bakeries,” Ho stated.
A spokeswoman for the Centre for Food Safety stated that labs have been additionally conducting exams on mooncakes from retailers throughout the town. Mooncakes are in style dense pastries consumed in huge numbers in the course of the Mid-Autumn pageant, a standard harvest pageant that’s presently being celebrated throughout China. Popular bakery chain Maxim’s Cakes eliminated pineapple buns from their cabinets over the weekend after confirming that they had used oil from Chang Guann, the Taiwanese oil producer on the coronary heart of the scandal.
The chain stated there was no proof that the lard oil used to make the buns contained tainted merchandise, however it was eradicating them anyway “to be extremely cautious on meals security”. It has since switched to a Dutch provider. Dumpling eatery chain Bafang Yunji additionally pulled its curry dumplings, native broadcaster RTHK reported, whereas grocery store Wellcome eliminated two merchandise, a BBQ sauce and a noodle dish, from its cabinets.
The Centre for Food Safety stated it was liasing with Taiwanese authorities, including that it was prioritising checks on “cooking oil, bakeries, dim sum producers and snacks outlets promoting Taiwanese-fashion meals”.
In Macau, the town’s Food Safety Centre stated 21 bakeries and meals producers had purchased oil from Chang Guann by means of an area importer. Chang Guann has apologised for the scandal however stated it was unaware the oils have been recycled.
The scandal is the second meals security scare to hit Hong Kong this summer time.
In July, McDonald’s suspended gross sales of hen nuggets and a number of other different gadgets after admitting it imported meals from a US-owned agency in China on the centre of an expired meat scandal.

Adulterated tea dust, dal sold during Onam

KOCHI: A special drive by the food safety department in Ernakulam found adulterated dal and tea dust sold through shops during Onam. The team also found poor quality clove and coriander in markets.
The two-week-long drive was conducted as part of a statewide initiative to ensure quality of food items sold during Onam.
The food safety department had collected 62 samples of various products from the district during the season. According to officials, four of the six samples taken were found to be unsafe and substandard.
While laboratory tests showed presence of iron filings in tea dust, dal was found mixed with ?kesari' dal, both injurious to health. According to sources, dal came from Maharashtra.
The samples were tested in the regional analytical laboratory at Kakkanad.
"The department will soon initiate action against suppliers of dal and tea dust. In two other cases, fines will be imposed," said a food safety officer.
However, all products were sold freely in the district during the season. "We could not ban the sale of the product earlier as results took two weeks. A report will be submitted to the food safety department soon," said the official. He added that the products are likely to be banned.
In the pre-Onam drive last year, the department had found adulterated ghee and milk.
The products had come from Tamil Nadu. The department had banned the products and imposed fines on suppliers.

Inspection by Food Safety Authorities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Food Safety authorities conducted inspections in around 2,000 locations in the state as part of ensuring food safety during the Onam season.
During the inspection, a tanker transporting edible oil from Tamil Nadu through Meenakshipuram check-post was found to contain adulterant in preliminary tests. The tanker was seized and statutory samples sent for confirmation tests, the food safety authorities said. The food safety authorities had checked around 580 milk samples and 12 coconut oil samples.
They said that prosecution steps would be initiated based on the result of analysis from the laboratory which may take between 14 and 30 days. As part of ensuring food safety during the Onam season, squads were formed in all the districts under the supervision of Assistant Food Safety Commissioners. Temporary mobile laboratories were also set up at border districts, including check-posts.

Tobacco products freely available: AAP

Aam Aadmi Party members came to meet District Collector G. Govindaraj on Monday carrying different brands of banned tobacco products.
“We brought the packets of at least a dozen of brands just to show that the same are freely available. The drives conducted by corporation officials, the police, and health officials are mostly been an eyewash. Most of the seizures were from petty shops or some small scale shops. Unless raids are carried out at wholesale distributors, and stockists sales of tobacco products are not going to stop,” said AAP district convener S. Sundarapandian.
AAP activists said the products were available in shops situated close to education institutions.
Authorities were being very selective while carrying out raids on shops, the activists said.

Eateries violate rules as GHMC faces staff shortage

Great Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is suffering an acute staff crunch in the food safety wing of the health department which is severely hampering inspection of the restaurants and other food joints in the sprawling city, reported a national daily.
According to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2011, local bodies should have adequate number of food safety officers to monitor food quality in hotels and collect samples for examination on a regular basis. The Act also suggests that the licences of food caterers be given only after a standard quality test and permits be regularly revised.
It is shocking to know that there are just four food inspectors for all the 18 circles of GHMC. And they are over 20,000 eateries in the city. Despite the growing work, there has been no recruitment for several years. Considering the vast area of the twin cities, it is nearly impossible for the four officials to visit every eatery to collect food samples. Taking advantage, eateries are violating the Food Safety Act.
Worse, the skeletal staff has been assigned additional duties for Intensive Household Survey and Ganesh Immersion. “Now, all the food safety officials are busy with the idol immersion work and there won’t be any inspection until immersion is over,” said T.Damodar, an official of the health and sanitation wing of GHMC.
Recently, GHMC officials sealed a poultry farm at Ramnagar for supplying rotten chicken. Many fast food centres in the city are allegedly using expired meat in food preparations. Even big hotels are culprits in this regard. “We can’t blame just petty small food stalls as star hotels too violate the rules. But the punishment is the same irrespective of their status,” said Damodar.
The food quality testing team is finding it very difficult to cover the entire city. Besides, the GHMC does not have a well-equipped lab to conduct an accurate analysis of the quality.

Ensuring Food Safety

Off and on, we hear of various instances in the state with regard to impurities being found in packaged drinking water and other forms of processed food like biscuits, cakes and bakery items. These reported cases are but a small fraction of the tough reality that the food we eat is not safe. Earlier, the state government sent out public notifications over the ban of various food products entering the state from Myanmar and followed it up with raids on shops selling such items as canned fish with no indications of contents and ingredients used. However, things have turned right back to square one with the banned articles making their appearance in the consumable food market. There is no denying that a whole lot of unsavory practices continue in the food market sector all across the country with buyers putting in a range of additives that are not meant to be added at all to food consumable products and using underhand practices to make food more appealing to consumers. To cite an example, a report by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) a few years back found that most of the country’s milk was being watered down or adulterated with products ranging from fertilizer, bleach and detergent which were being used to make milk thick and give it a white, frothy look that would entice consumers to buy them.
Incidentally, the FSSAI was only instituted in 2006 to look into and take action over matters related to the quality of food products in the country and is still plagued with an acute shortage of human resources and technical apparatus needed for the task at hand. While the FSSAI has undertaken various studies and drives at times, they are far too less with more attention on the macro level rather than tackling what happens at the micro level in the numerous eating joints and markets that dot the country. To start with the issue of food safety at the micro level, it is a known fact that road-side hotels use left-over oil or mix in used tea leaves with new ones to cut their costs all over the country. Graduating a bit further, fruits and vegetables are often laced with calcium carbide to make them appear shining and fresh. With the transportation process of vegetables and fruits taking a long haul on roads and sometimes crossing numerous states and region, it is an open secret that when starting out, raw fruits and vegetables are loaded in along with chemicals to keep them from rotting. Once they reach their intended destination, another round of chemical brush up takes place to make them appear fresh and colorful.
In Manipur, the revelations of substandard quality food products or those being sold against their shelf life have been brought to public notice by an array of vigilante cum social groups. While the overall message on food safety concern is laudable, it would be wise to be suspicious of the ‘go back outsider’ agenda for many who have been targeted, happen to be non-locals selling the said goods. This is not to condone the practice of selling products beyond their shelf life but to point out that such drives should be not on the identity of people selling them but to put a plug on unsafe items being sold to the public. After all, there is yet to any action being taken up with regard to how fish are being fermented to give the staple ingredient of every Manipuri household: Ngari, when it is common knowledge yet again that the procedures involved are not hygienic or quality controlled. If food safety is to be the core issue as it should be, there needs to be a serious attempt with the Government agency leading from the front and supported by various stakeholders including civil society groups. The Government agencies would have to spread awareness among the general public and sensitize shopkeepers and warehouse staff that food products that have reached their shelf life or expiry dates should not reach the public and keep a check on food items are being stored as unscientific storage systems can also harm food and food products. The public on their part should not take the matter of raiding shops and godowns and seizing items but be alert by checking manufacturing information, expiry dates and notify the authorities.

FHRAI & HRAWI launch first non-commercial food testing lab in Vadodara

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and its counterpart in the western region, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), inaugurated their first non-commercial food testing laboratory in Vadodara, Gujarat, recently.
With this, HRAWI became the first hospitality industry association in the country to establish its own food testing laboratory. It would not only adhere to the global food safety and hygiene standards, but would also conduct the tests at 40-50 per cent lower costs than its commercial counterparts.
“It is our objective to encourage food business operators (FBO) and our members to follow international standards of hygiene,” stated Nirav Gandhi, chairman, Gujarat Region, HRAWI. He added that the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 mandated self-declaration from FBO for food items.
“To do that, scientific testing on microbiological and chemical parameters would become a must,” Gandhi said. The facility would be supplementary to the Act. Speaking at its launch, D S Advani, president, HRAWI said, “With the introduction of FSSA, 2006, it has become mandatory for food business operators (FBO) to test their food products.”
“The number of labs currently existing is grossly insufficient, and would not be able to cope with the sheer volume of service-seekers. Our lab would benefit thousands of FBO, including bakery federations, catering associations, food retail traders and mithai associations,” he added.
The HRAWI-owned lab is equipped with national and international-standard equipment. Managed by a team of qualified and experienced technologists, it would have the proficiency to test almost all Indian culinary samples.
In addition, unlike other labs, it would send technologists personally to collect food samples from hoteliers and other FBO. Such samplings would reflect the truth without ambiguity.
Besides setting up the lab, HRAWI would also make provisions for the training and education of hoteliers. The training programme would help hoteliers put up systems and procedures in place to make them independent in maintaining food safety norms.
“The training would include setting up of a documented system on cutting, handling and preservation of food and other raw materials. Proper information and training would be provided on temperatures in which different types of food need to be preserved along with other defined parameters,” said Kamlesh Barot, immediate past president, HRAWI.
“The system would take into consideration such factors as hygiene stations, receiving raw material stations, pre-production, post-production, serving stations and setting up of standard operating procedures for each of them,” he added.
“Food handlers’ habits change from one hotel to other. This new arrangement would provide a one-of-a-kind service that would help hoteliers maintain standardised practices,” Barot stated.
Only upon maintaining a system for six months to a year would the hotels be accorded certifications. Other aspects of the training programme would include providing guidance to hoteliers on adherence to FSSAI laws.
It would explain complex procedures in simple implementable formats. The training would be provided at the hotel property, be tailor-made for each property, and adhere to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 22000 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification norms.
FHRAI’s knowledge partner, Parikshan, would undertake tests and risk analysis at the newly-instituted lab. Parikshan runs a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-audited lab in Chennai, and would bring its vast experience to the Vadodara facility.
Nobody would be allowed inside the lab except for the technologist/food analyst. “Since its inception, HRAWI has been working towards achieving international standards of food safety among its members,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, the western India hotel body’s vice-president.
“It has been one of our key objectives to establish internally a compliance framework that is transparent yet flexible, and one that maintains the highest standards of hygiene. The setting up of the new lab will bring us a step closer to achieving this objective,” he added. In the pipeline is the establishment of several such facilities across the nation.

DINAMALAR NEWS

உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறை கெடுபிடியால் ஆயிரம் டன் வெல்லம் உற்பத்தி நிறுத்தம்

சேலம், செப்.7:
சேலத்தில் உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறையின் கெடுபிடியால் ஆயிரம் டன் வெல்லம் உற்பத்தி நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால் பல லட்சம் ரூபாய் வர்த்தகம் முடங்கியுள்ளதாக வியாபாரிகள் வேதனை தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.
சேலம் செவ்வாய்பேட்டையில் வெல்லம் ஏல மண்டி பல ஆண்டாக செயல்பட்டு வருகிறது. இந்த மண்டிகளுக்கு ஓமலூர், தேக்கம்பட்டி, வட்டக்காடு, கருப்பூர், மூங்கில்பாடி, காமலாபுரம், தின்னப்பட்டி, தீவட்டிப்பட்டி உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு பகுதிகளை சேர்ந்தவர்கள், தாங்கள் உற்பத்தி செய்யும் வெல்லத்தை இங்கு கொண்டு வந்து ஏலத்தில் விற்பனை செய்கின்றனர்.
சேலம், மதுரை, தேனி, திண்டுக்கல் உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு மாவட்ட வியாபாரிகள் இங்கு வந்து வெல்லத்தை வாங்கி செல்கின்றனர்.
இந்த மண்டியில் தினந்தோறும் லட்சக்கணக்கான ரூபாய்க்கு வர்த்தகம் நடைபெற்று வருகிறது. இந்நிலையில், சேலம் மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை நியமன அலுவலர் அனுராதா தலைமையிலான அதிகாரிகள், செவ்வாய்பேட்டை பகுதி வெல்ல வியாபார கடைகளில் கடந்த சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு திடீர் ஆய்வு நடத்தினர்.
அங்கு விற்பனைக்கு வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த வெல்லத்தில், உணவு பாதுகாப்பு சட்டத்தில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளதை விட, அதிக ரசாயனம் கலந்துள்ளதாகவும், வெல்ல தயாரிப்பிற்கு சர்க்கரை பயன்படுத்தியிருப்பதாகவும் கூறி வெல்லத்தை பரிசோதனைக்கு எடுத்து சென்றனர். இதனால் கடந்த 28ம் தேதி நடைபெற இருந்த வெல்ல ஏலத்தில் வியாபாரிகள் யாரும் கலந்து கொள்ளவில்லை.
ஏலத்திற்காக கொண்டு வரப்பட்ட சுமார் 150 டன் வெல்லம் விற்பனையாகாமல் தேக்கமடைந்தது. அந்த வெல்லம் அனைத்தும் வாகனங்களிலேயே வைக்கப்பட்டன. இந்நிலையில் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறையின் கெடுபிடியால், வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் வெல்ல உற்பத்தியை நிறுத்திவிட்டனர். ஒரு வாரமாக மண்டிக்கு ஏலத்திற்கு வெல்லம் வரவில்லை. இந்த வகையில் ஆயிரம் டன் வெல்ல உற்பத்தி தடைபட்டு, லட்சக்கணக்கான ரூபாய் மதிப்பில் வர்த்தகம் முடங்கியுள்ளது.
இது குறித்த வெல்ல மண்டி வியாபாரிகள் கூறுகையில், ‘‘சேலம் செவ்வாய்பேட்டையில் தினசரி காலையில் நடக்கும் வெல்ல ஏல மண்டியில் 150 முதல் 200 டன் வெல்லம் விற்பனை நடக்கும். கடந்த வாரத்தில் சேலம் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள், மண்டிகளில் ஆய்வு நடத்தி, சோதனைக்காக வெல்ல மாதிரி எடுத்துச்சென்றார். வெல்லத்தில் கலப்படம் இருந்ததால், வியாபாரிகள் மீது கடும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும் என்று எச்சரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளனர்.
இதனால் கடந்த வாரத்தில் நடந்த ஏலத்தில் வியாபாரிகள் யாரும் பங்கேற்வில்லை. வியாபாரிகள் தரமுள்ள வெல்லத்தை விற்பனை செய்ய தயாராக உள்ளோம். அதற்கு உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் ஒத்துழைக்க வேண்டும்’’ என்றனர்.
இது குறித்து வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் கூறியதாவது: காலங்காலமாக தற் போது உள்ள முறைகளின்படிதான் வெல்லம் தயாரித்து வருகிறோம். இது வரை எந்த பிரச்னையும் வரவில்லை. வெல்லம் உற்பத்தியில் ஒரு சிலர் எடை வரவேண்டும் என்பதற்காக சிறிதளவு அஸ்கா சர்க்கரை கலக்கின்றனர். இதனால் அனைத்து வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்களும் பாதிக்கின்றனர். உணவுத்துறையின் கெடுபிடியால் வியாபாரிகள் வெல்லம் கொள்முதல் செய்ய தயக்கம் காட்டி வருகின்றனர். அதிகாரிகளின் இந்த நடவடிக்கையால், ஒரு வாரத்தில் ஆயிரம்டன் வெல்ல உற்பத்தி நிறுத்தப்பட்டு, லட்சக்கணக்கான ரூபாய் வர்த்தகம் முடங்கியுள்ளது. இவ்வாறு வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் கூறினர்.
லட்சக்கணக்கில் வர்த்தகம் முடக்கம் விலையேறும் அபாயம்
கடந்த ஒரு வாரமாக வெல்ல உற்பத்தியை நிறுத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதால், மண்டிக்கு வெல்லம் வரத்து இல்லை. இந்நிலையில் வரும் அக்டோபரில் ஆயுதபூஜை, அதைத் தொடர்ந்து தீபாவளி, பொங்கல் பண்டிகை வருகிறது. தற்போது உற்பத்தி நிறுத்தி இருப்பதால், ஆயுதபூஜை, தீபாவளிக்கு வெல்லத்திற்கு தட்டுப்பாடு ஏற்படும் என்றும், இதனால் விலையேற வாய்ப்புள்ளது என்றும் வர்த்தகர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

கலப்படமற்ற வெல்லம் தயாரிக்க உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை சார்பில் விழிப்புணர்வு கூட்டம்

பரமத்திவேலூர், செப்.6:பிலிக்கல்பாளையத்தில், கலெக்டர் தட்சிணாமூர்த்தியின் உத்தரவின் பேரில், மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை சார்பில், கபிலர்மலை வட்டார வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்கள், வியாபாரிகள், மண்டிக்கடைக்காரர்கள் ஆகியோருக்கான ஆலோசனை கூட்டம் நடந்தது.
கூட்டத்திற்கு மாவட்ட உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை நியமன அலுவலர் தமிழ்செல்வன் தலைமை வகித்தார். இதில் வெல்லம் தயாரிக்கும் போது, சர்க்கரை கலக்க கூடாது, ரசாயன பொருட்கள் எதையும் கலக்காமல் இயற்கையான முறையில் மட்டுமே வெல்லம் தயாரிக்க வேண்டும் என அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டது. கலப்படம் செய்து தயாரிக்கப்படும் வெல்லத்தை வியாபாரிகளோ, மண்டிக்கடைக்காரர்களோ வாங்கி விற்பனை செய்யக்கூடாது என வலியுறுத்தப்பட்டது.
மேலும் இப்பகுதியில் உள்ள வெல்ல ஆலைகளுக்கு உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறை அலுவலர்கள் நேரடியாக சென்று ஆய்வு செய்து, வெல்ல உணவு மாதிரியை பகுப்பாய்வுக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்து, அறிக்கையின்படி சட்டப்பூர்வ நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும் என எச்சரிக்கை விடுக்கப்பட்டது.
கூட்டத்தில் வெல்ல உற்பத்தியாளர்கள், வியாபாரிகள், மண்டிக்கடைக்காரர்கள் நூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் கலந்து கொண் டனர். இதற்கான ஏற்பாடுகளை உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர்கள் சிவசண்முகம், சிவநேசன், இளங்கோவன் ஆகியோர் செய்திருந்தனர். வெல்ல மண்டி சார்பாக ராசு, தெய்வநாயகா, ரவிச்சந்திரன், சேகர் மற்றும் பொறுப்பாளர்கள் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

Highlights of the FSSAI’s Fifteenth Authority Meeting

Lecithin Granules 

In a recent fifteenth Authority meeting held on 20th August 2014, FSSAI adopted the minutes of the 14th meeting with a few amendments in the ‘supplementary agenda’ as regards the use of lecithin and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate in biscuits 

Other items approved in the Supplementary Agenda are 

Use of synthetic colour in thermally-processed bell pepper, okra and spinach 

Approval of Sodium Alginate as a food additive in ice cream 

Finalization and adoption of draft FSSAI manuals on method of analysis of food

Chairperson Mr. K Chandramouli appreciated the work that the various Scientific Panel expert groups were presently undertaking to “strengthen the process of standard setting”. He said that the increase in the number of proposals of standardization that are going to the panels would be effective in implementation of the Act and safety of the consumers. He also informed the members that the proposed Amendment of the Act, to simplify the notification process (as approved by the Union Cabinet) had been presented in the Rajya Sabha in February 2014. He hoped that once the Amendment was passed setting standards would become faster. 

Most ‘Agenda Items’ were approved except couple of items where comments were invited. Microbiological standards of Milk and Milk products were approved but the technical suggestions would be taken up at the time of compilation of comments on draft notification. Approval for microbiological standards for fruit and vegetable products was held up and comments were invited due to biological hazards. 

Microbiological standards that were approved during this meeting are 

Standards for meat and meat products 

Standards for water used in food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment (water as an ingredient in food). 

Standards of lactic acid – food grade 

Standards of malt extract as recommended by Scientific Committee 

Adoption of ICMR/DBT guidelines for probiotics with minor modification in the title as ICMR/DBT guidelines, evaluation of probiotics in food 

Members were also informed about the ICMR guidelines for the safety assessment of foods derived from genetically engineered plants. 

The revised title for salted fish/dried salted fish was approved as ‘Dried/Salted and Dried fishery products’. Permitted additives as approved in Appendix A could be added, while chemical and microbiological requirements are to conform to regulations. A revised list of fish species with the potential to cause histamine fish poisoning was also approved and approval was given to revise the limits in levels of histamine, pharmacologically active substances, heavy metals, biotoxins and contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds in fish and fishery products 

Final approval was made of the following draft notifications – 

Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan – Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013) 

Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Second Amendment Regulations, 2013 dated September 10, 2013 (No 1-83/Sci Pan – Noti/FSSAI-2012 dated May 16, 2013) 

The draft amendment for Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 w.r.t fixation of MRLs of 24 pesticides were recommended by the Scientific Panel on Pesticides and Antibiotic Residues of FSSAI and approved by the Scientific Committee in its meeting held in March 2014. 

The ingredients approved by the scientific committee on Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Dietetic Products and other similar products were also listed and approved at the meeting. 

The following Agenda items were also put forward for consideration and were approved 

Draft regulation on gluten-free and low gluten-food products 

Noted status on harmonisation of India’s food standards with Codex standards and other international best practices 

Considered manuals on adjudicating officer, designated officer and food safety officer 

Considered and approved harmonization of horizontal standards for 

microbiological contamination (mycotoxins) in food 

heavy metals for all food product categories 

naturally-occurring toxins (NOTS) for all food product categories 

FSSAI also confirmed the minutes of the 13th meeting held in January 2014. Director Codex informed the members that 

The papers submitted by two members on Areca nut have been sent to the concerned Director. 

FSSAI had sent its reply on May 2014 to the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) on the issue of product approval process. 

Agmark was denotifying their standards, and the Bureau of Indian Standards was in the process of adopting them. Thereafter, the issue would be taken up. 

Comments regarding degumming would be referred to the concerned expert group for oils and fats.