Five tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes seized

O.L.S. Vijay (second left), designated officer of FSSAI in Coimbatore, during a raid in a fruit market in the city on Monday

They were ripened using calcium carbide and ethylene powder

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials, on Monday, seized five tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes and 500 kg of sapodilla (sapota) from wholesale and retail traders in the city.

The fruits were ripened using calcium carbide and ethylene powder. FSSAI designated officer O.L.S. Vijay led the raid.

FSSAI officials said that the artificially ripened mangoes and sapodilla were seized from 15 retailers and two wholesale dealers at Karuppa Gounder street and Ukkadam fruit market.

While three tonnes of mangoes were seized from two warehouses at Karuppa Gounder street, two tonnes were seized from fruit market in Ukkadam. The value of the seized fruits will come to the tune of Rs. 5 lakh. Officials also seized 10kg calcium carbide from one of the warehouses.

The seized mangoes were of most sought-after varieties like Alphonso, Malgova , and Banganappalli. They were being sold for prices between Rs. 100 and Rs. 150 per kg, said officials.

“Usually raids for artificially ripened mangoes are carried out in April and May. This year the raids were advanced following specific information,” said food safety officer K. Chandran.

The seized fruits were handed over to persons in charge at the biogas plant functioning inside Vellalore dumpyard.

Four years of pesticide surveillance pays off

KOCHI: People in Kerala are consuming vegetables and fruits with lesser pesticide residues in the last couple of years, thanks to the initiatives of state departments of agriculture and food safety departments.

According to agriculture department officials, in the last four years, there has been a reduction in the percentage of pesticide contamination. The total percentage of contamination has come down from 18 per cent in 2013 to eight per cent in 2016. "These figures are based on the concept of presence of pesticide residue rather than magnitude, quantity or toxicity. We went by the simple principle that the pesticide should not be present in it," said Dr Thomas Biju Mathew, project coordinator and head, Pesticide Residue Research and Analytical Laboratory (PRAAL), College of Agriculture, Vellayani.

He said that highest quantum of pesticide residues were seen in chillies, mint, coriander, curry leaves, leafy vegetables, carrots and cauliflower.

"One of the most important lessons that people learnt was to cultivate something of their own in their backyard.When we started off, almost 75% of the produce came from outside the state.Now this has come down drastically ," he added.

However, the concern remains over the contamination seen in condiments and spices. The samples were collected from the second year and even now there is no drop in the residue seen in many of the powders. The common pesticide residues found were Chlorpyriphos, Cypermethrin, Fenvalerate, Bifenthrin, Lambda Cyhalothrin, Dimethoate, Profenophos, Malathion and Ethion.

Interestingly , rice, be it from Kerala or outside, does not seem to have been affected by pesticides. "The integrated pest management is in place in case of paddy . Also, even if there is some kind of spraying, it is done within 60 days while the harvest is in 90 days. Later, there is a process of drying to milling which will further clear any kind of residues," he added.

In many cases, apart from increased surveillance, officials of the food safety and PRAAL who collected samples from super markets and high-end shops which were selling pesticide-ridden produce under the guise of organic products were alerted and warned. They were told to monitor and correct their methods of acquisition and monitoring if they were selling it as `organic' brands.

UP slaughterhouse crackdown: Here's all you need to know about laws regulating abattoirs

The issue around the Uttar Pradesh government's crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses gained further steam on Monday with thousands of meat sellers going on strike for an indefinite period.

The strike, which started on Monday, has brought the over Rs 15,000-crore industry that employs 25 lakh people in the state, to a grinding halt. The issue also came up for discussion in Parliament on Tuesday, with the central government claiming that only illegal slaughterhouses were closed.

Meat sellers in the state, however, allege that police were raiding shops and forcing the closure of their establishments despite having valid licences. They said the ban on slaughterhouses has caused a shortage in meat supply across the state, as thousands of meat sellers have been forced to down shutters for an indefinite period of time, as uncertainty over the state government's policy continues.

Meanwhile, with contrasting arguments emerging, there is no making of the rights and wrongs in the issue. The issue has the right to livelihood of lakhs of people and their dependents on one hand, and the law of the land and crucial environmental checks on the other.

Considering only illegal slaughterhouses are the ones targeted, or so the government claims, here's a breakdown on the legal aspects of the issue to help define what exactly is a "legal slaughterhouse".

Legal meat, illegal meat

Cow slaughter is illegal in Uttar Pradesh, as is in most parts of India. However, the slaughtering of buffaloes, water buffaloes and other cattle is not banned. The protection of cows and calves is also one of the directive principles of state policy contained in Article 48 of the Constitution. However, a blanket ban remains very much a state subject. Various states have chosen to outlaw cow slaughter, as per local customs and culinary preferences, but in Uttar Pradesh, buffalo meat is legal as of now.

An issue more about environment than religious sentiments?

It is important to point out at the onset that the issue of slaughterhouses, in practical terms, is mostly about the environmental norms, blatantly flouted by the illegal units, usually in connivance with local administration and politicians.

Even though much of the debate has bordered around the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, which revers the cow, and the ruling party's alleged attempts to encourage vegetarianism, a much neglected aspect is its environmental implications. Slaughterhouses are listed under the 'red' category (amid those industries with highest release of effluents and pollutants in environment) of industries, which are considered heavily polluting and are covered under the central action plan for consent management.

This essentially means that abattoirs are counted amid industries that are most polluting for water bodies, and if unregulated can be a serious menace to public health.

According to a list put out by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in 2015, of the 129 industrial units (deemed very hazardous for the environment) that have not installed anti-pollution devices, 44 units are slaughterhouses.

What clearances are required before an abattoir can operate legally in UP?

There are no records of illegal slaughterhouses available officially. However, according to industry insiders, there could be an estimated 140 abattoirs and over 50,000 meat shops that don't have permission to operate, IANS reported. In the current crackdown, the government has rounded up more than 20 illegal slaughterhouses and several meat shops.

To open a slaughterhouse in India, the applicant is required to apply for land use clearance for opening the unit. However, it is after this step that a series of checks and norms kick in that are specific to this industry. According to Uttar Pradesh's Department of Infrastructue and Industrial development, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) must be obtained from the district authorities and the UPPCB, both of which carry out separate inspections to determine whether the unit is being built in accordance with the set norms.

After UPPCB grants an environmental clearance, the plant owner is then required to approach the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the Union government's body that regulates the export of all products. Before granting approval for export of the meat, APEDA has its own procedures and series of checks and inspections which are carried out before an NOC is granted.

The slaughterhouses should further operate in accordance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, that outlines further laws to ensure the health and well being of cattle being slaughtered. Amid other things, it requires a large and airy reception, and resting area for the cattle and a compulsory examination by a veterinary doctor, 24 hours before they are slaughtered.

Moreover, an abattoir should also be licensed and registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Food Safety (License and Registration of Food Business) Regulations Act, 2011.

Besides, even after the slaughterhouses have obtained these clearances, they are required to maintain standards of operations in accordance with the environmental, hygiene and sanitation, and prevention of animal cruelty norms in their day to day operation.

NGT intervention

In May 2015, hearing a plea of an environmental activist, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ruled that any slaughterhouse that is operating without the necessary permission from local authorities — particularly the UPPCB — should not be allowed to operate. According to a report in The Indian Express, it is this order that the UP government has cited time and again in justifying its action against the slaughterhouses. The NGT also asked UPPCB to form a form a committee that will issue certificates to small shops on a quarterly basis.

The NGT order had come on a petition alleging that "the abattoirs were discharging untreated effluents contaminated with animal waste and blood of slaughtered animals in open drains which go into the tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna, polluting them," according to a PTI report at the time published in OneIndia.

"As per official records, more than 8.5 lakhs cattle are slaughtered annually in Uttar Pradesh, at its 115 registered abattoirs. However, a bare perusal of the records of total export made by the state shows that it is several times higher than the amount mentioned in the records and data maintained by UP," the petitioner had said.

Now Jharkhand bans illegal abattoirs

HIGHLIGHTS

• Slaughterhouses given 72 hours to shut their illegal businesses if they failed to obtain licence from relevant authorities
• No abattoir in the state had licence from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

Slaughter of cow and buffalobanned in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Days after the Aditya Nath Yogi government's crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, Jharkhand, decided to ban all illegal slaughterhouses in the state on Monday. The slaughterhouses were given 72 hours to shut their illegal businesses if they failed to obtain licence from relevant authorities.

SKG Rahate, principal secretary, home, issued an order to all deputy commissioners and SPs along with authorities of municipal corporations, municipalities and notified area committees to ensure that the closure was effected immediately. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, that has issued licences to 62 abattoirs across the country, has not issued the same to even one unit in the state.

None of the country's 75 approved abattoirs-cum-meat processing plants or 34 approved meat processing units have permission from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority to operate. The Ranchi Municipal Corporation has, however, issued licenses to some slaughterhouses.

"Keeping in view safety and health of the general public, steps may immediately be taken for closure of illegal slaughterhouses. The principal secretary said that proper rules and regulations are already in place, issued by the department of animal husbandry, municipal bodies and health department," the order stated.

With the issuance of the order, people engaged in the sale of goat meat or chicken will have to obtain licences from municipal bodies while those involved in slaughter of cows and buffaloes would have to close their "illegal" business. In 2004-05, the Jharkhand government had banned slaughter of cow and buffalo, violation of which invited imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 10,000.

Ranchi Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya said most abattoirs didn't have a valid licence, and killing, selling or possessing cow meat was done in violation of the law.

FSSAI to partner global, desi firms to up food safety levels

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27: 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is looking to partner global and domestic companies to raise the levels of food safety and hygiene in the country. The regulator is also looking to engage with food companies on various other aspects such as compliance and developing robust consumer grievances processes.

FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said safe and nutritious food for all is a “shared responsibility”.

“We are looking to engage with corporates to scale up initiatives to ensure the availability of safe and nutritious food in the country. We are also looking to engage with companies on various other areas such as compliance, training and capacity building, among others,” he added.

The regulator on Monday signed an MoU with Coca-Cola India to train 50,000 streetfood vendors under its project “Clean Street Food” across India over the next three years. While Coca-Cola India will handle programme execution through its bottling plants network, FSSAI will help develop the training content.

Agarwal pointed out that several companies such as ITC, Mondelez India, Nestle India, Jubilant FoodWorks and TetraPak have recently collaborated with the regulator to create awareness about food safety and hygiene across schools, retailers, food vendors as well as streetfood vendors.

Project “Clean Street Food” will be rolled out in phases starting with Ludhiana in mid-April, and expanded to nine States gradually.

Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said: “We have been training kirana retailers for the past 10 ten years under our initiative ‘Parivartan’. This collaboration with FSSAI will help broaden the horizons of our initiative. We will train owners and employers of small food service outlets and streetfood vendors on the basic tenets of food safety.”

Coca-Cola ties up with FSSAI to train street food vendors

Coca-Cola India has tied up with FSSAI to train 50,000 street food vendors over the next three years in food safety, hygiene and waste management

Coca-Cola and FSSAI are now finalizing the curriculum for the training of street food vendors. 

New Delhi: A sector regulator and the companies under its watch aren’t usually partners. The regulator frames the rules and ensures that companies abide by them. But Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), believes companies can join hands with the food regulator in its primary task—ensuring safe food for every Indian.

Towards that end, the local unit of American beverages company Coca-Cola Co. formally singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FSSAI on Monday. Under the agreement, Coca-Cola India will train 50,000 street food vendors, irrespective of items they sell, over the next three years. The vendors will get training on how to prepare safe food, ensure hygiene, and in waste management.

Coca-Cola and FSSAI are now finalizing the curriculum for the training. The field training will start next month in Ludhiana, Punjab. Training retailers is not new for Coca-Cola. It has, in the past 10 years, offered training to about 350,000 retailers in India, but has never trained street food vendors, said Venkatesh Kini, president (India and South West Asia), Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola is not alone. Nestle India Ltd, the local arm of the Swiss packaged food company whose single-largest revenue earner Maggi instant noodles was banned by FSSAI in 2015 for about six months on safety concerns, has recently worked with the regulator to train 700 street food vendors in Goa.

“Besides Nestle and Coca-Cola, we are also working with companies like ITC Ltd, Mondelez India, TetraPak, Jubilant FoodWorks, Yum Brands, among others, for different projects related to nutrition and food safety,” Agarwal said.

While cigarette-to-biscuit maker ITC is working with FSSAI to ensure nutritious food at about 10,000 schools, Mondelez is working on ensuring safe food and nutrition at 40 underprivileged schools in north Delhi besides the points of sale in the retail market, according to the regulator. Like Coca-Cola, for most of the companies, these activities will be part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

"Besides Nestle and Coca-Cola, we are also working with companies like ITC Ltd, Mondelez India, TetraPak, Jubilant FoodWorks, Yum Brands, among others, for different projects related to nutrition and food safety"- Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI

For the past few months, Agarwal has been vocal about FSSAI’s aim to ensure safe and nutritious food for every Indian. In September last year, it initiated a special programme to promote safe food at all places including homes, schools, offices, eateries and even religious places while commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The regulator had, in January, said it aims to make use of fortified wheat flour, fortified edible oil and double fortified iodized salt mandatory for mid-day meals by December 2019 and in the public distribution system (PDS) by January 2020. Last week, FSSAI said in a statement that all major edible oil makers in India have agreed to add vitamins A and D to make their products fortified within the next three months.

According to the regulator’s estimates, fortification of edible oil with added vitamins A and D will increase manufacturing cost by 10 paise per litre.

The regulator had finalized standards for fortified rice, wheat flour, milk, edible oil and salt in January.

Villagers protest against private firm ‘polluting’ groundwater

They allege effluents let out by it affect people in surrounding villages

RAMANATHAPURAM

People of the coastal Panaikulam panchayat and members of CITU-affiliated Tamil Nadu Meenpidi Thozhirsanga Koottamaippu took out a rally and staged a demonstration at Panaikulam near here on Saturday, demanding the closure of ‘South Ganga’ a private firm which, they alleged, polluted groundwater.

Carrying the “polluted water” in pots, a large number of women participated in the protest, alleging that the private firm, which had been functioning at Krishnapuram village for about 12 years, completely spoiled groundwater by letting out ‘chemical effluents’ along the coast and waterbodies.

Though the firm had commenced operation as desalination plant to supply treated water to private power plants, it started releasing effluents in the open along the coastline and a village pond, thus polluting groundwater table, H. John Soundararajan, CITU district president, said.

The villagers who had been drawing water from the pond for bathing and washing purposes could not touch the water now, he said, adding the effluents posed serious health hazards to the local people.

After consuming the water, Suresh (16), a class X boy, and Murugan (27) had died, and Alexander (14), a school student, and Panneerselvam (27) were undergoing treatment in private hospitals for kidney ailments, M. Karunamurthy, district secretary of the Koottamaippu, said.

R. Karumalayan, CITU State deputy general secretary, who led the protest, said the CITU proposed to take up the issue with the green tribunal and move the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court if the district administration failed to close down the private firm.

He also urged the government to pay compensation to the families of the deceased and bear the medical expenses of the two persons undergoing treatment.

A veil of secrecy prevailed here as the company never allowed local village leaders to visit the factory, K. Chinnathambi, leader of Krishnapuram people, said. The effluents had polluted groundwater in at least six villages in the panchayat, he said.

The private firm could not be contacted for its comments.

When contacted, Collector S. Natarajan said officials from the District Food Safety Wing visited the private firm and the nearby villages. A team of experts had been constituted to study the situation, he said, adding “necessary action will be taken after the team submitted its report”.

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TACKLE NUTRITION

Because India faces a double-burden of malnutrition, (over-nutrition and under-nutrition), there is need to adopt a multi-sectoral nutritional approach

India has witnessed noteworthy improvement in health and nutrition in the last decade, especially among children. The recently released fourth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 data, compared to the third round of NFHS (2004-05) data shows that stunting (low height-for-age) levels have reduced by seven per cent (from 45 to 38); underweight (low weight-for-age) by five per cent (from 40 to 35) and wasting (low weight-for-height) by two per cent (from 23 to 21). These declines are encouraging but not substantial. More than a quarter of the children in the country continue to suffer from one or the other type of malnutrition.

Further, anaemia continues to affect 50 per cent of women, including pregnant women, and 60 per cent of children in the country. While anaemia prevalence has decreased in children by 20 per cent points, from 79 per cent to 59 per cent, the change is not so significant in women (three per cent decline) or in pregnant women (eight per cent decline). Anaemia is also on rise among men, currently at 22 per cent.

The problem of malnutrition and undernutrition on one hand, is compounded by the rising trend of obesity among Indians. Latest NHFS data show an upward increase in the levels of obesity among both men (seven per cent) increase from 12 to 19) and women (six per cent increase from 15 to 21). Furthermore, around six per cent of women and eight per cent of men suffer from diabetes; seven per cent and 10 per cent of women and men suffer from hypertension respectively. This double burden of undernutrition and growing percentage of obesity, hypertension and diabetes puts a dent on the country's growing asset (healthy human resource).

Another indicator highlighting malnutrition in India, is its ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). India ranks lower than other developing countries from the region on global indexes measuring hunger and malnutrition. It ranked 97 out of 118 countries (scoring 28.5 falling under serious category) in the GHI 2016. Though this score has improved from the earlier score of 36 in 2008, the nation is still one of the worst performers in the region. Out of a total of four components for calculating GHI, three are nutrition parameters (underweight population, wasting and stunting in children) indicating the highly unsatisfactory state of nutrition in the country. As per the Global Nutrition Report (2016), India ranks 114th out of 132 countries on under-five stunting and 120th out of 130 countries on under-five wasting and 170th out of 185 countries on prevalence of anaemia. 

To address the problem of malnutrition and under-nutrition, the Indian Government has taken important steps, such as the release of fortification standards for five staples by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to fight micronutrient malnutrition, release of food composition tables by the National Institute of Nutrition to increase focus on dietary diversity, and now, the release of nutrition data to address the issue of malnutrition more holistically.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-2 goal, which aims to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, is a priority area for India, which can offer key solutions for hunger and poverty eradication and also tackle the issue of malnutrition and undernourishment in the country. To achieve the SDG target, a number of steps are being taken globally and in the country by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). One of FAO's strategic objective is to help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition globally. The FAO looks at nutrition from the perspective of food and agriculture-based approaches as the sustainable long-term solution to hunger and malnutrition. A pilot harnessing the power of modern day technology for improving the health and nutrition behaviours among tribal populations in the state of Odisha has just been initiated.

Because India is facing a double-burden of malnutrition: Over-nutrition and under-nutrition existing simultaneously, there is a pressing need for a multi-sectoral approach along with nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions to address the problems holistically. For this, there is a need to reiterate the priorities which may include, spreading of knowledge and awareness regarding safe food, diversifying food baskets, putting women and children at the centre of any nutritional intervention and leverage on modern technologies to impart nutrition-linked messages and sustainable agricultural practices.

After clampdown, meat sellers apply for licences

Noida: The meat sellers in the city, who are in a panic mode following a sudden clampdown by Noida Authority in the wake of state government orders, are now applying with the district administration for registration certificates.

TOI reported on Sunday that according to Noida Authority's department of public health, no licence had been granted to any meat shop under its jurisdiction. They had issued licence to only one slaughterhouse and one meat processing unit in Greater Noida, suggesting that over a thousand shops and outlets are illegal. Interestingly, several meat shop owners were found to have a registration certificate from the district department following a reality check.

However, the administration is now allowing these shopkeepers to get a certificate by applying under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

After the Authority carried out demolitions in Sector 62 and removed meat shops in several parts of the city including Sector 5 and Sector 44 in last few days, meat sellers are running from pillar to post to understand the process of registration. "I have been running the shop for almost a year now. I never faced such a hassle before. However, on Friday, some police officers asked me if I had a license to run my shop. When I told them that I did not know about the requirement of any such certificate, they directed me to apply for one," said Laqeef Ahmed, a chicken biryani shop owner in Sector 44.

Another meat shop owner in Sector 46 said, "Several cops visited the Som Bazar on Wednesday and ordered shut down of the meat shops. Most of us are now in a fix.."

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SALT enemy in your FOOD!

Health the Food served to forces Unsafe

Lucknow goes veg as chicken, mutton sellers go on strikeUrooj Khan

HIGHLIGHTS

• 5,000 shops selling mutton and chicken went on strike protesting the Yogi government's crackdown on unlicensed abattoirs and meat outlets.
• The strike is now threatening to spread with Meat Murga Vyapar Kalyan Samiti, UP giving a call for a statewide strike from Sunday.

Tunday Kababi shop in Lucknow. 

LUCKNOW: The city of Nawabs, known for its mouthwatering Awadhi delicacies, was forced to turn vegetarian on Saturday when over 5,000 shops selling mutton and chicken went on strike protesting the Yogi government's crackdown on unlicensed abattoirs and meat outlets. Famous eateries of Lucknow like Tunday's and Mubeen's showed solidarity by downing their shutters.

The strike is now threatening to spread with Meat Murga Vyapar Kalyan Samiti, UP giving a call for a statewide strike from Sunday. Murga Vypar Mandal of Kanpur has already announced it will join the strike from Sunday.

In Noida and Ghaziabad, roadside meat shops, including those selling chicken, have disappeared overnight. However, the licenced shops have decided not to join the strike. But even among operators in these shops, there is wariness about the current situation, leading to a general downturn in business.

In Bareilly, while 60-odd licensed mutton shops were open on Friday, roadside outlets remained closed fearing a crackdown.

In Agra, mutton supply was very low while chicken was available.

In the state capital, Lucknow Murga Mandi Samiti (LMMS) and MMVKS held a meeting in the morning and decided to shut the supply. LMMS represents more than 50 wholesalers who supply chicken to about 5,000 retailers, besides restaurants, hotels and small food joints in the city. MMVKS represents about 600 dealers.

LMMS representative Sanjay Saxena said applications for licences of many dealers were gathering dust at Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) since 2010. "We were forced to work without licence because LMC is neither issuing fresh licences nor renewing old ones for three years. Our legal business turned illegal because of apathy of the authorities and now the crackdown has hit our livelihood," said Saxena.

Refuting the allegations, LMC veterinary officer AK Rao said, "Of all 602 licences, 340 have been renewed and approximately 130 cancelled because they were flouting the Supreme Court guidelines, according to which no butcher shop should be adjacent to religious places and educational institutions. The rest were for shops that sell buffalo meat. We cannot issue a licence to them because there is no legitimate slaughterhouse in the city. So, as of now, there is no pendency." MMVKS chief said there should be a designated market for meat sellers outside the city limits. "The government must give us place where it is legally correct. We are ready to hire or buy the premises so that our business is not affected," added Qureshi.

Other demands of the association include setting up of a modern 'murga mandi', a centralised market for broilers. Members of LMMS and MMVKS argued that most roadside dhabas, fast food vends, paan shops and vegetable/fruit vendors in the city are in business without a licence, but no action has been taken against them.

Their goose is cooked: Roadside meat shops vanish in Noida, GhaziabadShikha Salaria & Ayaskant Das

HIGHLIGHTS

• Most roadside vendors or butchers working from their jhuggi-jhopdis have either closed the shops or are in panic
• Many areas like Harola Murga Mandi in Sector 8, known for its meat market, now wear a deserted look

When contacted, DM N P Singh told TOI that the exact number of licence issued will be available with the FSDA department.

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: With the Noida Authority starting a drive against meat shops in Sector 62 and other areas, most roadside vendors or butchers working from their jhuggi-jhopdis have either closed the shops or are in panic. In neighbouring Ghaziabad too, a recce of markets in Trans-Hindon areas which had stalls of meat, fish and poultry products showed that many shops had suddenly vanished.

According to Noida Authority's department of public health, no licence has been issued to any meat shops within its jurisdiction. They have issued licence to only one slaughterhouse and one meat processing unit in Greater Noida -- suggesting that the over thousand shops and other outlets are illegal.

The designated officer for FSDA (food safety and drug administration) in the district, Mahendra Srivastava said that meat shops are running in the district without any licence and they have formed teams to regulate them. However, when TOI did a reality check, many shops were found to have a registration certificate from the food safety department of the district administration.

"We have heard about the drives being carried out by the Noida Authority in areas like Sector 62. The police have sealed some shops in Sector 8 while others on their own downed the shutters. There is no clarity on what will happen. We have a certificate from the government but I got to know that the officials have now asked the owners not to cut the animals inside the shop and bring the already cut meat or chicken from outside Noida. We are getting it from New Ashok Nagar ever since the formation of the new government," said a meat shop owner in Sector 12.

Many areas like Harola Murga Mandi in Sector 8, known for its meat market, now wear a deserted look.

"I went to get some mutton for my family friends last evening. However, where at least 25 makeshift shops used to operate, the street suprisingly looked deserted. Some shopkeepers told me that I will have to go inside the villages if I need mutton or chicken," said Darul Khan, an empl-oyee working in an office in Sector 16.

When contacted, DM N P Singh told TOI that the exact number of licence issued will be available with the FSDA department. "We will seek the exact number from the department on Monday," he said.

Asked about the lack of a proper policy to issue licences to meat shops in Noida, authority CEO Deepak Agarwal said, "We will study how the meat shops are given licences in municipalities in other places. Subsequently, a policy will be formed and it will be placed in the authority meeting ."

In Ghaziabad, poultry stalls that dotted the arterial CISF Road of Indirapuram have vanished while there are no shops either of fish or poultry products in Bihari Market. Meat shops set up in open areas of Ahimsa Khand 2 have also vanished while the poultry and fish market in Sector 3 of Vaishali wears a deserted look. Some shopkeepers, however, said poultry can be arranged upon order. "Over 95% shops that did not have licences have been shut down after an order was issued by the mayor," said GMC health officer Dr RK Yadav.

Health Dept. to rope in RWAs to check food quality

The next time you spot a pani puri wala using unhygienic water or find that the food in your school canteen is not fresh, the solution to your problem is at your fingertips, literally. All you have to do is take a photograph or a video of the food safety violation and send it on WhatsApp to the Department of Health and Family Welfare and your complaint is as good as registered.

The department has decided to work with resident welfare associations (RWAs) in the city to spread awareness about safe and unsafe food and also look into complaints pertaining to food safety. Subodh Yadav, Commissioner of the department, said active volunteers will also be given an identity card so that they are taken seriously. The department’s local officials will be given a three day deadline to attend to the complaint. Apart from flagging off the department about these complaints, citizens can also raise awareness about food safety practices among others.

The intention behind introducing the measure is to raise awareness about food safety. Mr. Yadav said that although the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act began in 2011, they had received very few complaints. “Currently, there is no feedback channel and the number of complaints we get are very few. The monitoring mechanism needs to be improved,” he said.

The department is also currently grappling with shortage of food inspectors in the State and has roped in taluk health officers for this task. Mr. Yadav also said letters have been written to the Deputy Commissioners asking them to take the lead in issues pertaining to food safety. They would be educated on what constitutes adulterated food, sub-standard food, unsafe food, and also educated on misleading advertisements.

RWAs have welcomed the move. Nitya Reddy, vice-president, Richmond and Langford Town Residents’ Welfare Association, termed it a much needed one. “It will be great if the Health Department ropes in RWAs as we will be able to point out to unhygienic neighbourhood eateries, restaurants, and roadside vendors. We can be in constant touch with them and help them monitor food quality.”

Kerala keeps tabs on bulk food buyers

Officials to ascertain quality of all goods being procured.

It was decided that since several trucks are coming from the neighbouring states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, there is an urgent need to keep a tab on them which are carrying variety of food items other than fruits and vegetables

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After keeping a periodic check at various checkposts in the state to seize pesticide-laden vegetables that come from across the border, food safety officials have decided to track vehicle operators and also buyers in the state who procure fruits/vegetables/fish and dried fish. The aim of the food safety officials is to track buyers in the state who are relying on business enterprises in the neighbouring states and to ascertain the quality of the stuff they are receiving.

It was at a recent meeting of food safety officials that its commissioner Dr Navjyoth Khosa decided to enforce their mechanism and also broaden its horizons. It was decided that since several trucks are coming from the neighbouring states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, there is an urgent need to keep a tab on them which are carrying variety of food items other than fruits and vegetables. During the recent session of the Legislative Assembly, legislators had raised lots of questions during the Question Hour as well as through submissions on various steps taken by the agriculture and food safety departments to ensure quality.

“At the same time, we wanted to know the buyer and the seller’s details. We can’t prosecute the seller as he might be belonging to a different state where we can inform the food safety authorities there. But we might be able to enlighten the buyer in Kerala on the quality of the product he is getting from across the border,” Ms Khosa told this newspaper. She has also demanded that surveillance and statutory samples of all the food items have to be checked which are coming to the state.

The samples of fish and dried fish have to be checked at Central Institute of Fisheries Technology and the statutory samples at the labs belonging to food safety department. At the same time, Ms Khosa has also urged that the outlets of food business operators in the state have to undergo checking so as to ascertain whether they have got the requisite licence and registration. Currently the state food safety department has got two mobile labs and is being put in to rigorous use for testing of pesticides in fruits and vegetables.

'Manufacturers agree to fortify edible oil with Vitamin A&D'

The regulator also discussed the issues related to the sale of loose edible oil and the industry was advised to adopt small packaging of edible oil to discourage sale of loose oil

New Delhi, Mar 25 All major edible oil manufacturers and processors have agreed to fortify cooking oil with Vitamin A & D within the next three months, the food regulator FSSAI said today.

Fortification means deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in food to improve its quality.

This decision is the outcome of a meeting convened by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently here. Over 130 persons, including the representatives of the edible oil industry and its associations, and academia attended this meeting among others.

The FSSAI is promoting food fortification in a big way and had last year issued standards for fortification of salt with iodine and iron, of vegetable oil and milk with Vitamin A and D, wheat flour and rice with iron, folic acid, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin A and some other micronutrients.

"All major edible oil manufacturing and processing sector decides to fortify the edible oil with vitamin A and D within the next three months," FSSAI said in a statement.

"During the deliberations industry partners, including Patanjali, resolved to adopt fortification of all their edible oil variants as an industry norm and have agreed to initiate fortification within 8-12 weeks," it added.

As per the National Institute of Nutrition, there is a high prevalence of vitamin A and D deficiencies amongst Indian population. Almost 50-90 per cent of the Indian population, across all socio-economic groups, suffers from vitamin A and D deficiencies.

FSSAI said the fortification of edible oils with vitamin A and D, offers the most feasible and cost-effective intervention, as India has a fairly high consumption of edible oils, ranging from 12-18 kg per annum per person.

The country imported 14.5 million tonnes of vegetable oils in the 2015-16 oil year (November-October) to meet its domestic demand.

"Food fortification has a great potential to enrich the nutritional quality of various foods. It is encouraging to see such a traction and commitment within the food industry to initiate fortification of foods. This would indeed help India to improve the nutritional status of millions of people, both the poor and the rich." FSSAI's CEO Pawan Agarwal said.

The regulator also discussed the issues related to the sale of loose edible oil and the industry was advised to adopt small packaging of edible oil to discourage sale of loose oil.

At the behest of governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat, entire edible oil industry is already selling only fortified edible oil across these States.

Several state and UT governments like Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, etc. Have started providing fortified oil through the public funded programmes like the PDS, ICDS and MDM.

"Edible oil processors also decided to come out with oils in small pouches in order to ensure effective ban on loose oil sale in the country," the statement said.

Most Delhi University canteens running sans valid licence

Canteens have been flouting guidelines issued by the FSSAI.

Delhi University has not laid down rules and regulations for food safety and precaution.

New Delhi: While provision of quality, hygienic and nutritious food has always been a concern for parents in schools, food safety and standards has not found any place in the canteens of the prestigious Delhi University either.

The canteens in the varsity have been flouting guidelines issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) with majority of them running without a valid FSSAI license.

However, on ground, the canteens do go through the routine checks and inspections by a general university body.

The shocking facts came to light in response to an RTI query filed by law faculty student Mohit Kumar Gupta through advocate Ms Shashi. The assistant registrar (AR) (estate) had made the reply on August 28 with all tender documents and agreements.

“DU has not laid down rules and regulations for food safety and precaution. Further, other contents regarding food safety and precaution are mentioned in the cafeteria services tender inviting notice,” the reply stated.

“The agreements state that there is no need of licence and when I asked them about the copies, they simply said that the information for the same cannot be disclosed. There are even illegal and unauthorised canteens running in Arts and Law faculty,” the final year law student said. In October 2016, the UGC had made it mandatory for all the messes and canteens running in varsities and colleges to get a licence from FSSAI under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, while ensuring to follow the guidelines.

In another response, SRCC administrative officer/PIO stated, “Any statutory authority or DU has never issued any guidelines/rules which prescribe bearing of FSAI license as mandatory condition for grant of contract for food operating canteen.” Mr Gupta also alleged that canteens are using domestic subsidised LPG cylinders for commercial purposes, which is a punishable offence.

Speaking to this newspaper, the general secretary of DU canteens, said, “We will check the papers and then only will be able to tell whether our canteen falls under the guidelines as the canteens were established long time back. So far, we have not received any such scrutiny regarding safety,” he said.

DU canteens lack licences

NEW DELHI: The canteens serving food to students and faculties at the prestigious Delhi University colleges and departments run without licence. An RTI query has revealed the canteens lack mandatory licence from the food regulator, Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.

According to FSSAI guidelines, all canteens should facilitate clean water storage tank, proper open windows and doors with suitable fly-proofing and fitted with strip curtains but as many as 80 canteens do not adhere to these norms.

Under the UGC guidelines issued in October last year, FSSAI licence is mandatory for every educational institution.

The RTI query also revealed that JNU has implemented the UGC guidelines and all its canteens have valid licenses from FSSAI.

“Adequate cleaning, disinfecting facility for equipment and Utensils, proper facilities for washing of raw material and utensils, workers should be provided with clean aprons, head wears ,hand gloves and foot wear and so on,” the guidelines by FSSAI stated. 

Another letter from a student of DU Law faculty has reached FSSAI seeking inspections in the college canteens so that a minimum standard is followed for serving food to the students.

Delhi University has 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, 77 colleges and five other recognised institutes spread all over the city with over one lakh students attending it on a daily basis and 50 percent of them depend on the canteen food.

The Sunday Standard inspected some DU canteens and found that the food is cooked on the domestic LPG cylinder illegally instead of on the blue cylinders meant for commercial purposes. Canteen workers don’t follow the basic norms; they don’t wear gloves, no cleaning and sanitation is maintained in the canteens.

“I come from Noida Extension everyday to Art faculty to attend the early morning lecture. I often miss my breakfast and lunch, and choose to eat at the canteen but a few months ago I got infection and food poisoning,” Chitranjali, a student, said.

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UP’s slaughter house crackdown: More about environment than Muslim persecution

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi’s drive against illegal slaughter houses in the state has led to a nationwide outcry that it is aimed at targeting a particular community. Some reports have presented statistics of livestock wealth’s steady growth to highlight the persecution of the meat production and processing industry dominated by Muslims. But there is more to the issue than just judging it on a single parameter of livestock population. For instance, what about the environmental threat it poses?

Parts of western UP like Meerut, Sambhal, Aligarh, Agra and Bulandshahr are major centres for meat production and export. Most of these places have illegal slaughter houses running where environmental norms are flouted with impunity. This was emphasised in the confusion between central and state pollution boards when they responded with different numbers for slaughter houses being run in the state. In its report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last year, the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said there are 58 slaughter houses while the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) report stated 126 such units running in UP. Only 27 of these units had effluent treatment plants as per CPCB’s report.

Meat exporters: Crackdown may slaughter 50,000 crore industry h

A petition in NGT last year claimed that only eight of the 146 applications got a no-objection certificate (NOC) by UPPCB in 2015 but ground reality indicates the presence of large-scale unauthorised operation of slaughterhouses to meet the huge production demand. These illegal units discharge untreated effluent contaminated with animal waste which is released in open drains. The effluent-contaminated water eventually finds its way into the groundwater and enters tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna rivers leading to major water pollution. In addition, furnaces used for extracting animal bone fat releases toxic and harmful gases into the atmosphere in contravention of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981.

Crackdown eats into Lucknow's meat business, losses of Rs 5crore reported in two days 

In a country where over a crore animals are reportedly butchered legally, UP contributes more than 19% of the total meat production. Even certified slaughter houses sub-contract their work to private players who slaughter animals in closed rooms with practically no ventilation and disposal facility. There is scant regard for the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nigam Act 1955 which make is mandatory for all animals being slaughtered to undergo health check-up.

Tackle vigilantes with iron hand, CM Yogi Adityanath tells officials 

As per reports, a buffalo weighs approximately two quintals but nearly one-fourth of the total body weight ends up as waste. This waste is either sold off or dumped in open fields while the liquid waste is discharged in drains leading to a pollution hazard. This can cause various diseases like cholera, hookworm, dysentery, and typhoid to name a few. In the end, it is the common man which ends up paying a price for this deliberate disregard for our environment.

Vendors using newspapers to sell food face action

Vadodara: Teams of food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) cracked down on street vendors and shops using newspapers to sell food items, particularly snacks and savouries.

The civic body has prohibited the use of newspapers to pack food items as it is believed to be detrimental to health.

The VMC had recently issued a notification asking vendors to stop selling food items in newspapers. On Thursday and Friday, teams of the health department of conducted extensive checking in the Chhani, Nizampura, Sayajigunj, Alkapuri, Manjalpur, Old Padra Road, Karelibaug, Subhanpura and other areas. Officials said that 77kg of old newspapers were found at eateries on Thursday and 22kg on Friday. In all, 45 street food vendors and 90 shops were checked during the two-day drive. The teams also disposed of 257kg of food items on these two days as they had been kept in newspapers or in unhygienic conditions.

The food safety officers also collected five samples of food items on Thursday and two on Friday. These will be sent to the public health laboratory for analysis and action will be taken against the vendors if they are found stale or adulterated, officials said.

Artificially ripened fruits seized in Koyambedu

Officials found that the merchants had used calcium carbide to artificially ripen mangoes.

3.5 tonnes seized in raids on nearly 70 shops in market

A team of officials from the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety wing) seized nearly 3.5 tonnes of artificially ripened fruits from the Koyambedu wholesale market on Thursday.

The team headed by R. Kathiravan conducted raids at nearly 70 shops in the market. Officials said that it was found that the merchants had used calcium carbide to artificially ripen mangoes, papayas and sapotas. Calcium carbide weighing nearly 75 kg was also seized.

The Koyambedu market has started receiving more truckloads of seasonal fruits such as mangoes and musk melons. On Thursday, nearly 100 tonnes of different varieties of mangoes were received and this may increase up to 300 tonnes next month.

Awareness programme

The seized fruits were dumped in the garbage transfer station in the market. Officials said they had earlier conducted an awareness programme on the health hazards of artificial ripening. The skin of such fruits would look ripe but the pulp would taste sour.

Action would be initiated against the traders and fines levied. Such raids would continue, an official said.

Free soup puts 350 in Myanmar hospital with food poisoning

Hundreds of villagers from Eain Ta Lone, west of Yangon, fell ill after eating fish stew served at a Buddhist ceremony

A free lunch for villagers in southern Myanmar turned sour after it landed more than a third of the rural community in hospital with food poisoning, local officials said Friday.

Hundreds of villagers from Eain Ta Lone, west of Yangon, fell ill after eating fish stew served at a Buddhist ceremony to celebrate the ordination of local novices.

The entire 1,000-person village was bundled over to the nearest hospital, where 367 were admitted for treatment, said charity worker Wai Lin Aung, who helped to transport the villagers.

Many were vomiting and some described aches and pains all over their body, he added.

“They felt like that after eating stewed hilsa (type of fish) and cassia soup at the donation.”

The sick returned home later on Thursday and were recovering, Myaung Mya township chief administrator Aung Kyaw Zaya told AFP.

“They are all back in the village now. We are monitoring the whole village to see if there are any other health problems.”

Myanmar has a poor food safety record and visitors to the country often complain of food poisoning.

Tests of street food in the largest city Yangon reportedly found around a third of it contained stomach-churning bacteria.

Even legal meat shops not spared during drive against illegal abattoirs Team

Noida Following the drive against the abattoirs in Gautam Budh Nagar, along with the shutdown of over hundred meat shops and a slaughterhouse in Noida, the legal shops selling only chicken, mutton and fish were also forced to full down their shutters. 

This sudden closure has resulted in a drastic shortage of meat supply and also unemployment of many. 

When Millennium Post went to one such meat market, we found that meat shops holding a license issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for selling chicken, mutton or fish were asked to shut their business under the drive. 

In Noida sector 4, there are around 46 meat shops selling chicken, mutton and fish that are exempted from the law but had to shut down as per the administration's orders. 

Usman, a meat trader in Noida sector 4 said, "We are into this business for the past twenty-seven years. There is no such rule yet on the prohibition of selling chicken. We are authorized by FSSAI and hold the license for the same which makes us legal. Some have taken up the license for selling mutton or fish. The space is also allotted to us by the authority. No one in the market sell the flesh of cow, bullock and ox. It was nowhere mentioned in the rule that legally selling the meat of exempted animals is also banned". 

The sudden closure of a large number of meat shops in the city has cut the supply of raw meat to the hotels. Bharahamputra Market in sector 29 Noida is one such market where one can get a variety of non-veg dishes served under one umbrella. A non-veg food counter owner in sector 29 said "We open-heartedly welcome the decision of the newly elected government but the ban on selling of raw meat of chicken and mutton has struck the supply. There are very few shops being left in the market are unable to meet the demands. The price of raw meat has also hiked due to high demand and less supply". 

 This drive was initiated by the newly elected BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP's poll promise to shut down all illegal slaughterhouses in the state, was kept. 

The closure of illegal slaughterhouses in state was one of the most spoken issues by the party in the recent assembly elections. It was highlighted by Yogi Adityanath and BJP president Amit Shah during their campaigning. 

Though issued by the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh was regarding the closure of illegal meat shops and slaughterhouses who deal with the slaughter of cow, bullock and ox, the law also prohibits the storage or consumption of beef.

FSSAI tells food sites to disclose manufacturing, expiry dates: LocalCircles

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has taken action on consumer requests and told eCommerce sites selling packaged food products to disclose manufacturing and expiry dates and has announced that imported food items with less than 60 per cent of shelf life will not be allowed to enter the Indian market, an organisation that conducted a survey said on Friday.

The FSSAI has responded to consumer requests made in a survey conducted by citizen engagement platform LocalCircles demanding ecommerce sites mandatorily disclose the information on packaged food products sold on their sites.

LocalCircles has said that they have got a commitment from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs regarding the same.

FSSAI has now asked all the e-commerce companies including Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Grofers etc. to comply with this.

In a recent poll by LocalCircles that saw the participation of more than 10,000 people, 96 per cent had voted in the favour of mandating the disclosure of manufacturing and expiry dates of packaged food on e-commerce sites.

Regulator steps in to improve quality of food ordered onlineJohn Sarkar|

NEW DELHI: The apex food regulator in the country, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is aiming to improve the quality of food sold through online channels, after consumers complained about expired food products being sold on ecommerce sites.

In doing so, the regulator has adopted a two-pronged approach — e-commerceentities selling packaged food will have to register with the regulator — and all e-commerce companies selling cooked food will have to take licences.

"We welcome the change by FSSAI and have ourselves been diligently working on the restaurant hygiene through our Food Doctor Programme," said a Foodpanda spokesperson.

"While we constantly work towards improving and maintaining standards, we have already set the process in motion to update the licence numbers and are already halfway."

Last week, TOI reported about thousands of consumers on citizen engagement platform — LocalCircles — demanding ecommerce sites should mandatorily disclose manufacturing and expiry dates of the packaged food products sold on their sites.

Subsequently, FSSAI announced imported food items with less than 60% of shelf life will not be allowed to enter Indian market.

"We have held talks with Amazon and Snapdeal," Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI told TOI. "We have also asked them to come up with their own solutions."

"We appreciate FSSAI for their progressive outlook in conducting a comprehensive stakeholder consultation on the guidelines for all ecommerce food business operators," said a Snapdeal spokesperson. "With a view to enable compliance with food safety and quality standards, we shall take steps to ensure adherence to the guidelines and also facilitate required communication to the sellers and the consumers."

While an Amazon India spokesperson did not reply to an email questionnaire, after looking at the guidelines, Albinder Dhindsa, cofounder of Grofers, said, "Yes, we will be getting re gistered." The FSSAI guidelines also said food products offered for sale by any ecommerce entity "shall be liable to sampling at any point in supply chain." This brings cloud kitchens under the scanner.

Rashmi Daga, founder of online kitchen FreshMenu, which runs kitchens in many cities across the country, said her company has all necessary licences in place. "The new guidelines will have implications for companies that list restaurants on their sites and deliver food," she said.

Hari Menon, co-founder and chief executive of Bigbasket said, "We already have FSSAI licences for all our warehouses, for our last mile delivery unit, the licence numbers are prominently displayed on all our private label products. We also ensure that we sell food products of companies only if they have an FSSAI licence.It is a mandatory requirement for listing products on BigBasket."

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Chennai shops that flout carbide ban will now lose licence

CHENNAI: After failing in its attempts to stop traders from selling artificially ripened fruits despite repeated searches and seizures, the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration (TNFDA) department has now decided to cancel licences of shops who are involved in this practice.

Speaking to Express after conducting raids on the Koyambedu wholesale market on Thursday, Dr R Kathiravan, designated officer of TNFDA, Chennai district, said the TNFDA would write to the Market Management Committee to cancel the licences of shops selling artificially ripened fruits.

In the raids by a 17-member team, the agency seized 3.7 tonnes of fruits — 2 tonnes of sapotta, 1.5 tonnes mangoes and 200 kg papaya — from 10 shops in the Koyambedu wholesale fruit market, which allegedly used calcium carbide stones to ripen fruits. During the search operation, 75 kg of carbide stones were recovered.

In India, use of calcium carbide is strictly banned as per PoFA (Prevention of Food Adultration) Act (Section 44AA). “However, since the mango season has yet to start, we also found two tonnes of sapotta ripened using the calcium carbide stones,” said Kathiravan.

Calcium carbide is an industrial grade chemical used for arch welding. It consists of heavy metals such as arsenic and lead.

People consuming fruits artificially ripened are prone to neurological disorders, gastritis and even cancer.

Kathiravan said the Food Safety Department had tried to spread awareness among traders about not selling artificially ripened fruits using calcium carbide stones. “But since they have not mended their ways, we have written to the MMC to cancel licences of all 10 shops.”

He also urged people to inform the department (044-23813095, email dofssache@gmail.com) on shops selling artificially ripened fruits.

Water in 8 out of 10 bubble tops unfit for consumption

Coimbatore: Think before you gulp down water from the bubble top can you just purchased. It has been found that a majority of the water packaging units do not adhere to basic hygiene and safety norms. A recent raid by the food safety department found that water in eight out of 10 water packaging units it checked was not fit for consumption. The water contained yeast, mould and even dangerous bacteria like ecoli and coliform. Three of the units have already opened shop again, after getting a stay from the court.

Several residents of the city have begun buying canned water for drinking, after water supply by the corporation reduced to anywhere between once in five days to once in 22 days. The severe droughts that hit the city have also led to ground water levels dropping alarmingly and borewells going dry. With ground water turning salty in many areas and corporation water supply becoming scanty, most households, including those in slums, buy a 20-litre can of water at least once every four days, believing it is safe.

However, a raid on 10 water packaging units spread across the western parts of the district, including Thondamuthur, Vadavalli, Thadagam, Thudiyalur, two months ago found that water from eight of the units were unfit for consumption. "In at least three companies, we found their water containing bacteria like ecoli and coliform," said a senior food safety officer. "In two companies, the chlorine levels in the water was as high as close to 50 gm per litre, against microbiological standards of 0.2 mg per litre," he said. All the other samples were found containing yeast and mould along the can and in the water. One unit was found misbranding the product by not mentioning the batch number.

These water cans, which cost anywhere between Rs 30 and Rs 60 for 20 to 25 litres, are sold under at least 70 different brands. There are 72 packaged water units in the district, according to the Food Safety and Standards Act of India (FSSAI) list. All these units procure water from borewells, add chlorine, purify it, manually fill it into cans and sell them. "The problem comes because there are no mechanised water canning plants for 20 litre and 25 litre cans in these units, unlike for one litre bottles, 500 ml bottles and water packets," said the food safety officer. "So they manually fill these cans, so contamination by hands is high," he said. "They are also advised to store the water for a day and check it for bacteria before supplying it, which they again do not do because of heavy demand and competition."

Corporation water can hardly be considered safer, said a Vadavalli resident. "When I gave a sample of corporation supplied water for testing, it was found to contain pseudomonas bacteria and even fecal traces," said R Jayashree.

Doctors advise all residents to either boil or further purify can water before drinking it, or buy trusted bigger brands even if they are more expensive. "The safer option is to boil or RO filter even canned water before drinking. Especially for children and people with low immunity like the elderly or people who have recently recovered from an illness," said resident medical officer of Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital Dr A Soundaravel. " Bacteria like ecoli and coliform can cause severe dysentry," he said.

Meat politics

UP’s crackdown on “illegal” slaughterhouses should have been accompanied by a plan to modernise and regulate this key sector

To be fair to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in the State could be seen as a fallout of a May 2015 order issued by the National Green Tribunal, which the previous administration in the State had done little to act upon. The NGT had ordered immediate closure of all illegally operating slaughterhouses in the State. The Tribunal had also directed the UP government to ensure that existing ones were properly regulated, and that environmental norms relating to water use and disposal of animal waste were strictly adhered to. One could argue that Yogi Adityanath was simply following court orders — which would be specious, since banning illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses and imposing a total ban on cow slaughter were part of the BJP’s poll manifesto. The ban is clearly a political move, aimed at underscoring the party’s commitment to carrying out its stated agenda. The political nature of the move is also evident from the fact that there is no accompanying move to improve regulation, or a roadmap to transition existing unauthorised slaughterhouses to compliant and regulated ones which meet legal, environmental and hygiene standards.

Illegal slaughterhouses are undoubtedly a huge environmental and public health hazard. Informed estimates put the number at over 7,000 in the country, not counting small backyard operations. There are only 75 government-approved integrated abbatoirs-cum-processing plants, of which nearly half are in UP. One of the reasons for the proliferation of illegal slaughterhouses is that the official machinery has been quite lackadaisical in its approach so far. Most civic administrations have not prioritised the development of modern abbatoirs, despite soaring population and demand for meat. Further, a strong customer preference for freshly slaughtered meat from wet markets, and lack of proper cold chain and storage facilities have also contributed to the illegal slaughterhouse trade, which has thrived despite regulatory efforts. Under the Food Safety (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Regulations 2011, for instance, all slaughter houses were required to be licensed and registered with the FSSAI, a provision observed more in the breach.

There is also the economic cost of banning slaughterhouses. UP is India’s largest meat-producing State, as well as the biggest exporter of meat, and a blanket crackdown will harm livestock farmers, the meat trade and consumers alike. As it is, growing pressure from cow protectionist groups, as well as bans on beef in several parts of the country, have seen India’s meat exports decline for the past couple of years. The cow slaughter ban has also skewed the cattle population in favour of buffaloes, since farmers do not get any subsidy for maintaining unproductive cattle. Instead of worsening the situation further with knee-jerk actions, governments — both at the Centre and in States — need to work on coming up with workable solutions which take into account the interests of all stakeholders.

தரம் குறைவான அப்பளம் தயாரித்தவருக்கு அபராதம்

சேலம்: தரம் குறைவான அப்பள தயாரிப்பில் ஈடுபட்டவருக்கு, 10 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் அபராதம், ஒருநாள் சிறை தண்டனை அளித்து, சேலம் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டது. சேலம், சூரமங்கலம் மூலைப் பிள்ளையார் கோவில் தெருவை சேர்ந்தவர் பீட்டர், 42. இவர், அப்பளம் தயாரித்து விற்று வந்தார். 

கந்தம்பட்டியில் உள்ள இவரது உற்பத்தி இடத்தில், 2016 செப்., 27ல், உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர்கள் சோதனை நடத்தினர். அப்பளத்தை ஆய்வுக்கு அனுப்பியதில், அது தரக்குறைவாக இருந்தது கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. இந்த வழக்கு சேலம் ஜே.எம்.எண் - 4ல் நடந்து வந்தது. 

நேற்று வழங்கிய தீர்ப்பில், பீட்டருக்கு, 10 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் அபராதம், நீதிமன்றம் கலையும் வரை, ஒருநாள் சிறை தண்டனை விதித்து, மாஜிஸ்திரேட் லிங்கம் உத்தரவிட்டார்.

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