Oct 9, 2017
19k l of synthetic milk for making Diwali sweets destroyed
Agra: In a major crackdown, as much as 19,000 litre of synthetic milk was destroyed by the Food Safety and Drug Administration department (FSDA) here. The synthetic milk was bought in the city for making sweets for the festive season.
An FSDA team intercepted a tanker with synthetic milk with a market value of over Rs 1 lakh at the time of checking near Saiyan toll plaza.
Talking with TOI, Shweta Saini, designated officer, FSDA, said, “We are regularly sending our teams to inspect food items to ensure pure and safe supply of consumable items in the city during the festival season. We have lodged a complaint against the owner of this synthetic milk and sent a sample to a laboratory for testing. Action will be taken against the owner in accordance with the sample report.”
Another FSDA team has been deployed to collect sample of sweets from mithai shops in Tajganj.
According to FSDA sources, there is not much difference between “real” milk and its synthetic variant, except that the former nourishes and the other kills. They taste and look so similar that one fails to detect the difference.
Synthetic milk is prepared with vegetable refined oil, mixed with emulsifier and then poured slowly into a wide-mouthed container. The two are mixed to acquire the form of a thick white paste and with the addition of water, the paste gets the density similar to that of milk. Sodium sulphate, glucose, maltose, detergent are then dissolved in hot water.
Recent raids elsewhere in UP have revealed use of different chemicals like titanium oxide to manufacture synthetic milk.
Experts in the field said the ingredients that go in the making of synthetic milk are calculated to match fat and SNF (solids not fat). This way it passes the tests. This kind of sophistication involves scientific knowhow. Chemicals are evolving every four to five years. Such rapid changes mean that these artificial products fail the fairly elementary tests conducted in the smaller centres. Newer chemicals that have the ability to defy researches and tests conducted at village level dairy cooperative societies are added to the synthetic milk.
FSDA plans crackdown on adulterated food items this festive season
Meerut: With Diwali around the corner, the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) has started working on ensuring that city residents do not fall prey to adulterated sweets and other food items consumed during the festive season. Officials said that from Monday, FSDA teams will conduct surprise inspections at shops in rural and urban areas to crack down on food adulteration. The drive will continue till October 21.
“A six-member food department team will be raiding sweet shops and sending suspicious food items to laboratory for testing. People selling substandard stuff will have to face action,” said Archana Dheeran, designated food officer.
Samples of suspicious food items will be sent to the food testing laboratory in Lucknow to rule out the possibility of any wrongdoing at the city-based lab. In case if a food item looks too suspicious, it will be sent to the city lab and an immediate report, which arrives within 48 hours, will be sought. The reports of samples sent to Lucknow take at least 20 days.
Officials said that some of the main items under scanner include milk, ghee, paneer and milk-based sweets. “Since our objective is to break the supply chain of adulterated food, efforts are being made to take samples from the factories which supply items to retail stores in the city,” said Sarvesh Mishra, chief food safety officer.
Customers can file complaints related to food adulteration with the department anonymously. If any resident is apprehensive about a certain food item that he has already purchased, he can send it for testing to the food department personally. The sample can be submitted by depositing Rs 1,000 and if found adulterated, a complaint can be filed with FSDA officials. One can even test the food items at home as directed in the manual available at the FSDA office.
Twelve booked for food adulteration in city
In other raids, licences of 8 medical shops were cancelled
Krishna district Collector B. Lakshmikantham on Sunday warned traders against sale of adulterated food items and said stringent action would be initiated against those found guilty.
He said cases were booked against 12 persons following raids by officials of the food safety wing and food samples were sent to the lab for verification of their quality.
He said samples of the ingredients used in the laddu given as prasadam to the devotees visiting the Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri hill such as ghee, dry fruits like raisins, cardamom, almonds, nutmeg and sugar were sent for lab testing.
He said based on the report, action would be initiated against those found guilty.
Penalties
Mr. Lakshmikantham said for malpractices, cases were booked against 20 traders and a sum of ₹2.88 lakh was collected from them towards stamping fees and ₹1.17 lakh towards compound fee in addition to seizing 404.93 quintals of rice worth over ₹9 lakh from fair price shops.
He said in separate raids conducted by the Drug Control wing officials, licences of eight medical shops were cancelled for selling medicines that had crossed expiry dates and for other violations.
They were Om Sivasai Medical and General Stores in Chittinagar, Mehbub Medical and Fancy Stores at Lambadipet, Apollo Pharmacy at Bhavanipuram, Srisai Diabetic Medical Stores at Gandhinagar, Sri Venkateswara Medical and Fancy Stores at Giripuram, Lakshmi Medical and Fancy Stores at Patamata, Sri Krishna Medical and Home Needs at Kamayathopu Centre and Srinivasa Medical and Fancy stores at Nandigama.
Spurious food threat to public health
Severe manpower crunch in Food Safety branch of Health Department hinders monitoring of food quality
Guwahati, Oct 8: At a time when incidences of food adulteration in the State are on the rise, the Health Department’s Food Safety branch tasked with monitoring food quality in the market is ill-equipped to handle the situation.
Owing to severe manpower shortage, the Food Safety branch has been almost rendered redundant even as its skeletal staff are hard-pressed to discharge their duties.
Of the total sanctioned posts of 59, as many as 21 posts are currently lying vacant.
In fact, sources pointed out that the actual requirement for sanctioned posts is much higher considering the State’s burgeoning population. “Our actual district-wise staff requirement is much more. But, now even many existing sanctioned posts are lying vacant,” a source said.
And not without reason. As per rules, a designated officer of rank not below Sub-divisional Officer should be appointed in each district. But the State’s 33 districts have only 5 sanctioned posts of Designated Officers, of which 4ur are currently vacant.
Requirement for officials in each district is much more than the current sanctioned strength. For instance, Kamrup (Metro) district does not have any sanctioned post of Senior Food Safety Officer. And there are only two sanctioned posts of Food Safety Officers in the district, which is considered “insufficient” by the sources.
Even the existing strength has not been filled up for some years now, the sources confirmed. Of the total sanctioned posts of 18 Senior Food Safety Officers, 7 are vacant. Similarly, out of 36 sanctioned posts of Food Safety Officers, 10 are vacant.
The Food Safety branch is tasked with conducting periodic checks of food quality like whether these conform to safety norms set by the government from time to time. Its staff is mandated to conduct tests of food samples collected from the market. But with severe manpower shortage, it is anybody’s guess as to how things are currently functioning in the State, though the branch claims of doing its best under severe constraints.
And the information definitely does not augur well for a State as it comes at a time when reports of substandard and spurious food often emanate from different areas.
Sources fear public health may be compromised to greater degree in coming days as chemicals proven to be carcinogenic like calcium carbide are rampantly being used in fruits and vegetables, while those tasked with monitoring food quality are hamstrung to discharge their duties.
FSW Peren destroys unsafe food items
Food Safety Wing (FSW) Peren district under the aegis of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Food Safety Officer (FSO) in collaboration with the Peren district Administration, Sanitary Inspector, dobashi and youth representative Jalukie town conducted inspection of food businesses at Jalukie town under section 38 (1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006 on August 9.
In a press note by District Media Officer, CMO office Peren, Pezanguno Celine Secii stated that, altogether six food items had been seized from four shops for selling the products beyond “best before dates”.
In this connection, in exercise of section 38 clause 4 of the FSSA, the seized items had been destroyed on September 8 at the Chief Medical Office premises, new Headquarter, Peren.
State to act tough on using printed paper to pack food
Food for thought: Officials are empowered to penalise fines ranging from ₹200 for street vendors to ₹1,000 for hotels.
In 2016, FSSAI called printed paper a food hazard that could lead to toxicity
Whether it is churumuri given in a neat cone of crisp paper at Cubbon Park or fried snacks from the neighbourhood food stall given on textbook sheets, cut squares of newspapers and other printed papers are near ubiquitous as packaging material.
However, a crackdown on this is set to begin as the Food Safety Commissionerate, Karnataka, is gearing up to enforce a ban on the use of newspapers for packing or serving food.
Around two months ago, the Commissionerate issued an order to “prohibit the storage, distribution or sale of food article wrapped or packed in newspaper and other printed material” in city municipal limits, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad, among others.
The order, passed on July 18, follows a directive by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which in 2016 called printed paper as a “food hazard” that could lead to cancer-related health complications and toxicity.
“The concern is the entry of these inks and chemicals into the body over a long period of time,” said Harshavardhan B., Joint Commissioner, Food Safety Commissionerate.
A challenge
As the experience of banning plastic packaging shows, implementation is a daunting challenge. The Commissionerate has around 20 food safety officers for the whole city, where there are an estimated 1.5 lakh street vendors with tens of thousands of restaurants too.
“For the first year, we want to create awareness. There is no point slapping fine when people do not know the harmful effects of using newspapers. Thereafter, we plan to start an awareness intensive drive where issues around newspaper, use of colourants and cheap chemical-laden sauces are told to street vendors,” said Dr. Harshavardhan. That said, the Commissionerate is empowered to penalise — if the vendor is found to be repeatedly violating notices given — fines that range from ₹200 (for street vendors) to more than ₹1,000 for hotels.
“The key is to offer vendors an alternative. Banana leaves are a viable healthier, environmentally-friendly alternative to newspapers. It is not expensive,” he added.
The change in serving style will happen over time, said Rangaswamy C.E. of Beedi Badi Vyapari Sanghatane, who welcomed the move. “Street vendors will cooperate as they do not want to get a bad name in selling unsafe food. We are currently doing a survey of street vendors and we will educate them on this too,” he said.
Bring a ban on serving oily foodstuff on newspaper, demands Sena corporator Chemburkar
Mumbai: Shiv Sena corporator Ashish Chemburkar has requested Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban serving oily and fried foodstuff on newspapers. He made this demand on the basis of scientific evidence that the ink used in the newspapers can be poisonous.
FSSAI (Food, Safety and Standard Authority of India) has also warned people against consuming fried food that is served on newspapers. This is mainly because this ink is made up of graphite which can be poisonous for human consumption. An advisory from FSSAI on the topic goes on to say, “Printing inks may also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives, and preservatives. Besides chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic micro organisms in used newspapers also poses potential risk to human health.”
As the practice is harming the health of Mumbaikars, Chemburkar has sought to have it banned. He has also suggested milk paper or tissue paper as the alternative serving medium for these foods.
Oct 8, 2017
தீபாவளி பலகாரம் தயாரிப்பு: கண்காணிக்க வலியுறுத்தல்
பள்ளிபாளையம்: 'தீபாவளிக்கு தயாரிக்கப்படும் இனிப்பு, கார வகைகளை, உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் கண்காணிக்க வேண்டும்' என, கோரிக்கை எழுந்துள்ளது. தீபாவளியை முன்னிட்டு, இனிப்பு மற்றும் கார வகைகள் தயாரிப்பு பணி தீவிரமாக நடந்து வருகிறது. உணவு பொருட்கள் தயாரிக்கும்போது, பின்பற்ற வேண்டிய நடைமுறைகள் ஏராளமாக உள்ளன. குமாரபாளையம் தாலுகாவில், தனியார் மண்டபம், கடை, பேக்கரிகளில் தீபாவளி இனிப்பு, காரம் ஆகியவற்றை தயாரித்து விற்பனை செய்வர். இனிப்பு தயாரிக்கும்போது, செயற்கை நிற வண்ணங்களை கலக்கின்றனர். தற்காலிமாக தீபாவளிக்கு மட்டும் இனிப்பு, காரம் தயாரிப்பவர்கள், பெரும்பாலானோர் உணவு பாதுகாப்பு விதிமுறையை சரியாக கடைப்பிடிப்பதில்லை.
எனவே, உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் ஆய்வு செய்து நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும் என, கோரிக்கை எழுந்துள்ளது. இதுகுறித்து, உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் கூறுகையில், 'இனிப்பு, காரம் உள்பட உணவு பொருட்கள் தயாரிக்க, உணவு பாதுகாப்பு துறையில் அனுமதி வாங்க வேண்டும். தீபாவளி சமயத்தில் தயாரித்தாலும் அனுமதி வாங்க வேண்டும். அரசு அனுமதி பெற்ற, அளவுள்ள செயற்கை வண்ணம் மட்டும் பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும்' என்றனர்.
KFC launches ‘Clean Street Food’ program
Coimbatore Oct 8:
In a pioneering initiative for the QSR industry, KFC India launched a street food vendor training program.
This is based on the framework of“Clean Street Food” campaign of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Food Safety Authority of Tamil Nadu.
As part of KFC’s Social Commitment, this initiative is aimed at capability building amongst the unorganized sector which will disseminate content of FSSAI’s “Clean Street Food” campaign, available in public domain.
Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug administration P Amudha inaugurated the training for street food vendors by lighting the traditional lamp.
In the first phase of the project, KFC will be training 500 street food vendors in Chennai, as part of KFC’s training initiatives in Food Safety over the next 5 months.
Talking about the initiative Rahul Shinde, Managing Director, KFCIndia said,“We consider food safety as a shared responsibility amongst food regulators and industry players. Through this initiative we hope to contribute to the larger objective of ensuring health, hygiene and safety standards for consumers.
As part of the first phase of the initiative, we are looking at training 500 street vendors in Chennai over the next 5 months.”
Chennai: Sweet making units under food safety scanner
Food safety department is all set to ensure hygienic and safe manufacture of food items as per the food safety standards, ahead of Deepavali.
CHENNAI: Food safety department is all set to ensure hygienic and safe manufacture of food items as per the food safety standards, ahead of Deepavali. Food safety officer is to grant advisory to sweets manufacturing units on the standards of food to be maintained during the festive season. The advisory will be followed by an inspection at all sweets manufacturing units to check for adulteration and hygiene maintenance, said officials. Sensitive areas that witness temporary sweet manufacturing establishments in North Chennai are under special scanner this year.
“An advisory for all sweet manufacturers in the city, to maintain the food safety standards will be issued next week. It is mostly temporary sweet manufacturing units that mushroom during festive season and do not maintain the quality of food, which leads to food poisoning and other diseases. Several areas in North Chennai like Sowcarpet, Royapettah, Avadi and also T Nagar have been identified to conduct special check at all units ahead of Deepavali,” said Dr R. Kathiravan, designated officer, food safety department.
Besides regular check on adulteration of raw materials such as milk, ghee, oil and flours, personal hygiene of the workers will also be inspected. “Last year, it was found during the inspection that working in high temperatures, workers fail to maintain proper hygiene and clean working environment. Such issues will be kept under inspection this year,” he added.
Officials from the food safety department said that advisory shall focus on usage of colours in sweets. Manufacturers should only use approved colours less than 100 ppm along with good quality of raw materials, milk, ghee and oil for preparing sweets. The packaging of milk sweets should be done separately from other sweets, as they do not last longer.
Ravindra Jadeja’s restaurant in Rajkot raided, inedible and stale food found
This is the second time that Jaddu's Food Field has faced action from the RMC.
The health department of Rajkot Municipal Corporation conducted a raid on a restaurant (Jaddu’s Food Field) run by cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s sister Naynaba in the city on Friday.
Led by Pankaj Rathod, medical officer of the RMC, a team of health officials from the civic body raided the restaurant located on Kalavad Road and went on a thorough inspection of its kitchen, storeroom, and other areas. Post inspection, the team found stale food, rotten vegetables, and other items in the restaurant and destroyed it.
“We found that they had stored the stale food on which fungus had grown in the freezer. Some vegetable were also found rotten and the raw food items were not stored as per standards mandated by Food Safety and Standards Act. Therefore, we destroyed some item on the spot,” Rathod told The Indian Express.
The health officers destroyed 17 kilograms of rotten vegetables, seven kilograms of pasta, 14 kg of bakery products like bread etc, nine kilograms of dough, four kilograms of stale chutneys, four kilograms of boiled but stale potatoes and poori, 1.5 kg of edible colours and 500 grams of noodles.
“We have issued the restaurant a notice asking it to take corrective measures and file a report with the RMC in four days. If they don’t reply to the notice in due time, the RMC has the power to cancel the license of the restaurant,” Rathod further added.
This is the second time that Jaddu’s Food Field has faced action from the RMC. Around three years ago, the health department of the civic body had collected samples of food items from the restaurant after receiving complaints. But no punitive action was taken at that time.
Spurious products on the rise
Ludhiana: Be careful of spurious food products in this festive season.
Eight samples of food items and ingredients, collected by the health department in September, were found to be of substandard quality and using fake brands.
The department had collected 160 food samples last month, out of which it has received results of only 30 samples so far.
Out of the failed samples, products including edible salt, mustard oil, cassia, milk cake, dal mungi were found to be using labels of popular brands illegally. Samples of chutney, curd and dhesi ghee were found to be of substandard quality.
Dr Andesh Kang, district health officer, said, "We will send notice where the samples failed. They have to apply for rechecking within a month. And in case they don't reply to our notice, we file a court case."
She said, "We keep shops under scanner and conduct surprise rechecks in the future too."
Food safety officer Yogesh Goal said, "At least 35% of samples fail in the district. Ahead of festive season, adulteration cases increase which is why we go strict in our checking."
Oct 7, 2017
லட்டு, ஜிலேபி, ரஸகுல்லாவுக்கும் எக்ஸ்பையரி தேதி உண்டு தெரியுமா? #HealthAlert
ஸ்வீட் இல்லாத கொண்டாட்டங்கள் இனிப்பதில்லை. மற்றவர்களுடன் மகிழ்ச்சியைப் பகிர்ந்துகொள்ளவும், அன்பை வெளிப்படுத்தவுமான உணர்வுபூர்வமான நிகழ்வுகளில் தவிர்க்க இயலாத ஒன்று ஸ்வீட். யாரையாவது பார்க்கக் கிளம்புவோம், `ஒரு அரைகிலோ இனிப்பு வாங்கிட்டுப் போவோம்’ என ஸ்வீட் கடைப் பக்கம் ஒதுங்குவோம். லட்டு, ஜிலேபி, ரஸகுல்லா... என நமக்குப் பிடித்த இனிப்புகளை வாங்கிக்கொண்டு போவோம். உறவினர்கள், நண்பர்களைப் பார்க்கப் போவது மட்டுமல்ல, சாதாரணமாகவே ஏதோ ஒரு மகிழ்ச்சியான சம்பவத்தைக் கொண்டாடக்கூட உதவுவது இந்த இனிப்பு வகைகள்தான்.
சாலைகளில் செல்லும்போது, நம் கவனத்தை பல ஸ்வீட் ஸ்டால்கள் ஈர்ப்பதுண்டு. பல வண்ணங்களில், விதவிதமான டிசைன்களில், இனிப்புகளை ஒன்றன்மீது ஒன்றாக அழகாக அடுக்கிவைத்திருப்பார்கள். பார்க்கும்போதே, இதை வாங்கலாமா, அதை வாங்கலாமா, சமயத்தில், அத்தனையையும் வாங்கி விடலாமா என்றுகூடத் தோன்றும். அப்படி வாங்கும் `இனிப்புப் பலகாரங்களோடு ஆபத்தும் சேர்ந்தே வரலாம்’ என்கிறார்கள் மருத்துவர்கள்.
`தரமான எண்ணெய் அல்லது நெய், சர்க்கரை, மாவு, நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்ட வண்ணம் ஆகியவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தித்தான் ஸ்வீட் தயாரிக்க வேண்டும்’ என்கிறது உணவு தரக்கட்டுப்பாட்டு நிறுவனம். ஆனால், பெரும்பாலான பேக்கரி மற்றும் ஸ்வீட் ஸ்டால்களில் தரமற்ற எண்ணெய், தரமற்ற மூலப்பொருள்களைக் கொண்டு, வாடிக்கையாளர்களைக் கவர்ந்திழுக்க கண்ணைப் பறிக்கும் நிறங்களில் ஸ்வீட் தயாரித்து விற்பனை செய்கிறார்கள். இவற்றைச் சாப்பிடுபவர்கள் பல்வேறு உடல் உபாதைகளுக்கு ஆளாக நேரிடலாம்.
சோப்பு, ஷாம்பூ, எண்ணெய்... என நாம் பயன்படுத்தும் அத்தியாவசியப் பொருள்கள் அனைத்திலும் அவை கலாவதியாகும் நாள் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டிருக்கும். அதைப் பயன்படுத்தலாமா எனப் பார்த்து வாங்கலாம். ஆனால், ஸ்வீட் ஸ்டால்கள், பேக்கரிகளில் விற்பனையாகும் இனிப்புகள் என்றைக்குத் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டவை என்பது கடைகாரர்களுக்கே வெளிச்சம். அதேபோல, எத்தனை நாளைக்குள் அவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தலாம் என்பதும் நம்மில் பலருக்குத் தெரிவதில்லை. சில நேரங்களில் வீட்டுக்கு வந்து, வாங்கிவந்த ஊசிப்போன வாடையடிக்கும் முறுக்கையோ, ஸ்வீட்டையோ சாப்பிட்டுவிட்டு முகம் சுளிப்போம். அதிகபட்சமாக அந்தக் கடையில் போய் திரும்ப பலகாரம் வாங்கக் கூடாது என முடிவெடுப்போம். அதே இனிப்பை நாம் யாருக்காவது கொடுத்திருந்தால், அவர் நம்மைப் பற்றி என்ன நினைப்பார் என்று எண்ணிப் பாருங்கள்! ஆக, இனிப்புகளுக்கும் காலாவதி உண்டு. அதை அறிந்துகொள்ள வேண்டியது அவசியம்.
சரி... இனிப்புகளுக்கான காலவதி தேதியை அறிவது எப்படி? மூத்த உணவியல் நிபுணர் தாரணி கிருஷ்ணனிடம் கேட்டோம்.
"எந்த உணவுப் பொருளுக்குமே காலவதியாகும் தேதி என்ற ஒன்று உண்டு. அந்த நாளுக்குள் அதைப் பயன்படுத்திவிடுவதுதான் நல்லது. மற்ற உணவுகளைப்போல ஸ்வீட்டுக்கும் இது பொருந்தும்.
எப்படிக் கண்டறிவது?
ஸ்வீட் வாங்கும்போது, முதலில் அதில் வெள்ளையாக பூஞ்சைத் தொற்று உள்ளதா என்பதைக் கவனிக்க வேண்டும். அது, ஸ்வீட்டைக் கையில் எடுத்துப் பார்த்தாலே தெரிந்துவிடும். அதேபோல ஓர் இனிப்புப் பலகாரம், நாம் வழக்கமாகப் பார்க்கும் நிறத்தைவிட அதிகளவு ஈர்க்கக்கூடிய நிறத்தில் இருக்கக் கூடாது. ஸ்வீட் கெட்டுப்போய்விட்டதா என்பதை அதன் சுவையே உணர்த்திவிடும். அப்படி கெட்டுப்போயிருக்கும் எனச் சந்தேகப்பட்டால், சிறிதளவு சாம்பிள் வாங்கிக் கடையிலேயே சாப்பிட்டுப் பார்த்துவிட்டு, பிறகு வாங்குவது நல்லது.
ஸ்வீட் ஈக்கள் மொய்த்தபடி சுகாதரமற்ற நிலையில் இருந்தால், வாங்கக் கூடாது. சூரிய ஒளி பலகாரங்களின் மேல் நேரடியாகப் படாதவாறு பராமரிக்கப்படுகிறதா என்பதையும் சரிபார்த்துவிட்டுப் பிறகு வாங்க வேண்டும்.
இனிப்பு பொருள்களில் பால், ஜீரா (சர்க்கரை நீர்) சேர்க்கப்படும் அளவைப் பொறுத்து அவை கெட்டுப்போகும். எண்ணெய்களால் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட இனிப்புகளைவிட, நெய்யால் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டவை அதிக நாள் கெடாமல் இருக்கும்.
பொதுவாக, எந்த இனிப்பையும், அது தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட நான்கு நாள்களில் சாப்பிட்டுவிடுவது நல்லது. பாக்கெட்டில் அடைத்து விற்பனை செய்ப்படும் ஸ்வீட்ஸில் காலாவதி தேதியைச் சரிபார்த்துத்தான் வாங்க வேண்டும். மில்க் ஸ்வீட்கள் சாதாரணமாக இரண்டு நாள்கள் வரை கெட்டுபோகாமல் இருக்கும். கெட்டுப்போன இனிப்புகள் வயிற்றுப்போக்கை உண்டாக்கும். சில நேரங்களில் வயிற்றில் பாக்டீரியா உள்ளிட்ட தொற்று வரலாம்" என்கிறார் தாரணி கிருஷ்ணன்.
இதுதொடர்பாக அரசு என்ன செய்கிறது... கெட்டுப்போன பலகாரங்களை விற்கும் கடைக்காரர்கள் மேல் நடவடிக்கை எடுப்பார்களா? உணவு பாதுகாப்புத் துறை அலுவலகத்தைத் தொடர்புகொண்டு இதுபற்றி விசாரித்தோம். அங்கிருந்த அதிகாரி ஒருவர் நம்மிடம் பேசினார்... ``உணவு பாதுகாப்புத் துறை சார்பில் அமைக்கப்பட்ட குழுவினர் தங்கள் பகுதியில் உள்ள பேக்கரி மற்றும் ஸ்டால்களில் திடீர் ஆய்வு செய்வார்கள். ஒவ்வொரு குழுவிலும் நான்கு அதிகாரிகள் இருப்பார்கள். இவர்கள் அடிக்கடி ஆய்வுமேற்கொண்டு சந்தேகத்துக்குரிய ஸ்வீட்களில் சிறிதளவு எடுத்து ஆய்வுக்கு அனுப்புவார்கள். மற்றபடி, புகார் வந்தாலும் ஸ்வீட் ஸ்டாலுக்கு நேரில் சென்று ஆய்வுசெய்வார்கள். இந்த ஆய்வுகளின்போது, இனிப்பு வகைகளில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்ட கலரைவிட கூடுதலாக கலர் சேர்க்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறதா, தண்ணீர், எண்ணெய், மைதா மாவு, சர்க்கரை உள்பட ஸ்வீட் தயாரிக்கப் பயன்படும் பொருள்கள் தரமானவையாக இருக்கின்றனவா போன்றவற்றையெல்லாம் ஆய்வின்போது கவனிப்பார்கள்.
இனிப்பு வகைகளில் ஏதாவது கலப்படம் கலக்கப்பட்டு இருப்பது தெரியவந்தால், அந்த உரிமையாளருக்கு நோட்டீஸ் அனுப்பப்படும். மேலும் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட இனிப்புகள் சுகாதாரமற்றவையாக இருந்தால், பறிமுதல் செய்யப்படும். ஆய்வில் தரமற்ற பொருள்களை கொண்டு ஸ்வீட்ஸ் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டது தெரியவந்தால், சம்பந்தப்பட்ட ஸ்டால் உரிமையாளர் மீது உணவு பாதுகாப்புச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும். குறிப்பாக, தீபாவளி, பொங்கல் போன்ற பண்டிகை தினங்களில்தான் இதுபோன்ற தரமில்லாத பொருள்கள் அதிகளவு கைப்பற்றப்படுகின்றன.
மேலும், பொருளில் கலப்படம் இருப்பதாகச் சந்தேகம் வந்தால், அந்தப் பொருளோடு உங்கள் பகுதியின் சுகாதார அலுவலரைத் தொடர்புகொள்ளலாம். உணவு பாதுகாப்பு மற்றும் தர நிர்ணய ஆணைய அலுவலகத்தின் எண்களில் தொடர்பு கொண்டும் புகார் அளிக்கலாம்" என்றவர் தொடர்புகொள்ள வேண்டிய அந்த எண்களையும் நமக்குக் கொடுத்தார்.
FSSAI makes food safety supervisors mandatory for all businesses
The supervisors would be responsible for ensuring that food quality is maintained, however, legally the owners would be responsible for lapses.
All food businesses – caterers, manufacturers, companies transporting food items and retail outlets – with 25 or more people handling food will have to have a trained food safety supervisor.
The national food regulator on Friday issued an order making it mandatory for all food businesses – caterers, manufacturers, companies transporting food items and retail outlets – with 25 or more people handling food to have at least one trained ‘food safety supervisor’.
The supervisor would have to be trained under the Food Safety Training and Certification Programme (FoSTaC), designed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The supervisors would be responsible for ensuring that food quality is maintained, however, legally the owners would be responsible for lapses.
“It would be mandatory for all food businesses having Central Licence or State License to have at least one trained and certified Food Safety Supervisor for every 25 food handlers or part thereof on all their premises,” the order read.
“Currently, we have written to the state food safety officers to gauge how much time it will take to train the food safety supervisors. Once done, we will make it mandatory for the big licensed food businesses to have these trained supervisors,” said Pawan Agarwal, chief executive officer of FSSAI.
It would be made mandatory for even the small food business operators (FBOs) in a year or two after the ‘required number of supervisors is trained and a proper framework is in place, he added.
The order says, “All the states/ union territories are now advised to initiate a special drive to take up and facilitate FoSTaC for licensed FBOs under their respective jurisdiction immediately. The above training is too be made mandatory in phases over the next two years.”
The training will be provided by large food business operators that have partnered with the FSSAI, academic and vocational institutes, training partners approved under the Skill Development Councils and Missions, scientific and technology associations and civil society organisations.
FSSAI asks States to appoint nodal officers for food safety training
Designs the content for training in Hindi and 10 regional languages
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 6:
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked all States and Union territories to initiate a special drive to implement its Food Safety and Certification Programme (FoSTac) for all licensed food business operators. It has also asked them to appoint a nodal officer to implement this initiative.Trained supervisor
This FSSAI dictat to States comes after it had made training and certification mandatory for all food businesses that have Central or State licenses.
“It has been decided that all food businesses with Central and State license need to have at least one trained and certified food safety supervisor for every 25 food handlers or part thereof on all their premises,” it stated in its order. These food safety supervisors will need to carry out periodic on site training of all food handlers on a quarterly basis and need to maintain a record for all food safety audit and inspections.
“State and UTs need to designate a senior officer as a nodal officer for FoSTac to implement the policy,” the order stated.
For the implementation of this policy, FSSAI has designed the curriculum and content for training for food businesses across the value chain in Hindi and 10 regional languages.
The training will be delivered through training partners, which include large food businesses, industry associations, academic and vocational institutions, other partners approved under Skill Development Councils among others. It has now even set up a website managing these training programmes, certification and assessment.Action plan
Besides appointing nodal officers, States will now need to develop an action plan for training of food safety supervisors and food handlers on a mandatory basis. They will also need to identify and facilitate empanelment of training partners to implement FoSTac.
New study shows that groundnut immunity to aflatoxin could be within reach thanks to a double-defence approach
Aflatoxin-immune groundnut (<1 ppb after 3 days fungus inoculation) compared to heavily contaminated seeds (over 3,000 ppb)
Aflatoxin infected groundnuts in Malawi. Aflatoxin affects 5 billion people globally with severe impacts on health and livelihoods
Aflatoxin is a hidden burden. It is spread by a deadly pathogen affecting five billion people across the world, but rarely making headlines. It is not carried by birds or mosquitoes, but hidden in staple foods like maize and groundnut. Common moulds, Aspergillus fungi growing naturally on food crops, can produce poisons called aflatoxins, which have serious effects on health, suppressing immune systems, hindering child growth and even causing liver cancer. Taming this fungal threat with a biotechnological double-defence line offers hope to controlling this toxin.
Using innovative biotechnology approaches, researchers have developed groundnuts free from aflatoxins thanks to a double-defence line. By producing small proteins called defensins, these groundnuts can stop the deadly fungus from propagating and infecting. At the same time, the groundnut seeds also emit gene-silencing RNA molecules to help shut down the synthesis of aflatoxin by the fungus. When exposed to the aflatoxin-producing moulds Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus over three days, the double defence groundnut seeds remain untouched, unlike the green and mouldy petri plates of other tested groundnut varieties.
This breakthrough research from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), part of the CGIAR, and their US partners (US Department of Agriculture, Louisiana State University and Donald Danforth Plant Science Center) has just been published in Plant Biotechnology Journal (doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12846). In the coming years, this could lead to significant reduction of aflatoxin contamination in farmers’ fields. This revolutionary approach applies not only to groundnut but also for other important crops like maize, cotton seed, chilli, almond, pistachio etc.
This will radically improve food safety and security especially in Africa and Asia, and avoid thousands of tons of fungi-affected crops being discarded every year or being consumed with unacceptable levels of the toxin.
Aflatoxin impacts the health and livelihoods of billions
Aflatoxin is a very acute public health issue, with five billion people exposed to this toxin across the world. The toxin-producing moulds thrive in poor soils, droughts and damp storage conditions, which means many communities in the drylands are at high risk.
When food contaminated by aflatoxins is ingested in large quantities, it can lead to deadly poisoning with dramatic cases reported in the last 50 years, affecting both humans and livestock. For instance, in Kenya in 2004, a drought year, more than one hundred people died after consuming toxic homegrown maize.
The exact annual death toll due to aflatoxins is however largely underestimated as they have a more insidious long-term impact on health and nutrition. Small amounts ingested daily cause chronic poisoning. Aflatoxin reduces immunity and stunts child growth. High levels of aflatoxin ingestion could lead to numerous cancers, including the deadly liver cirrhosis which is on the rise and kills over 600,000 people every year. Public health experts say that one liver cancer out of four could be due to aflatoxin exposure. A WHO study on estimated disability adjusted life year (DALY) losses from major foodborne illnesses put aflatoxin as top threat, with a societal cost six times higher than peanut allergy [food allergies in the US cost over $20 billion a year].
Developed markets like the USA or Europe have set up stringent food safety norms. In USA, food containing more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of aflatoxin cannot be sold or exported. For the EU market, it is ten times lesser (2 ppb). This has had tremendous impact on trade, with traditional groundnut-exporting countries like Senegal or Malawi being shut out, resulting in millions of smallholder farmers losing their livelihoods.
Unfortunately, peanuts rejected for export find their way into the less-regulated local markets in Africa and Asia, exposing local populations to acute contamination. A recent study, conducted over three years, on aflatoxin levels in peanut butter sold in Zambia, found that 50-80% brands were highly contaminated, way over the US limit, reaching up to 10,740 µg/kg.
Aflatoxin is a very serious concern in India too. An ICRISAT study recently revealed that in southern India, aflatoxin levels in peanuts may be 40 times higher than allowed by Indian food safety limits. The Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore, also found that all samples of UHT packaged milk tested were contaminated with aflatoxin, with 38% having levels above the food safety limit. This shows that the poison finds its way through the food chain, for instance, if dairy cattle are fed with contaminated feed.
Where to start to prevent aflatoxin contamination
The fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, can stay dormant in the soil for years and infect many important food crops in the fields, such as maize and groundnuts, especially during drought and heat stresses and insect damage. Contamination also happens post-harvest when the grain is stored in unsuitable conditions (hot, humid and not well aired) that encourage fungi to produce the toxin.
Farmers and scientists have tried to reduce aflatoxins in many ways, trying to develop aflatoxin-resistant varieties, improve quality control and post-harvest handling or biocontrol applications with harmless Aspergillus strains to compete with toxic ones in the soil. But these strategies have had very limited success in poor countries, especially for groundnut.
ICRISAT researchers suggest that ideally, the fungal infection should be halted right at the field.
Dr. Pooja Bhatnagar-Mathur, lead author and ICRISAT senior scientist, explains, “We have analysed the way the fungus propagates through the pods in groundnut. By looking at what exists in nature, we then devised biotechnology tools to develop groundnuts that are immune to pre-harvest Aspergillus infection, and are also able to block aflatoxin production in the field as well as under post-harvest storage. ”
Dr. Kiran Sharma, Principal Scientist and co-author of the publication says, “I have been working on aflatoxin mitigation for years and could not see much progress until now. Recent advances in biotechnologies like RNAi technology and genetic transformation offer great potential in developing crops that can resist the infection and growth of the aflatoxin-producing fungus in the field and stop the production of aflatoxin itself.”
The co-author Dr. Deepak Bhatnagar, Director of the USDA South Regional Research Center and a renowned aflatoxin biosynthesis codebreaker fifteen years ago adds, “The strength of this research has been to tap into previous research to create a double-defence line against aflatoxin: first to stop seeds being infected by the fungus and then prevent the fungus from producing aflatoxins.”
Proof of concept to develop aflatoxin-immune groundnut
To boost the groundnut’s immunity against the fungus, researchers developed peanut lines able to produce small peptides known as defensins, that are often produced as immune responses to pathogens by some plants (but not usually groundnut), animals and humans (our eyes produce such immunity molecules). Working together with Dr. Dilip Shah from Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, defensin genes from alfalfa (a protein-rich fodder legume) and the Mediterranean clover were transferred into the DNA of an Aspergillus-susceptible peanut variety (named JL24) widely grown in India and Africa. These new groundnut lines could then have a robust innate immune response against different strains of Aspergillus flavus.
The second approach, called Host-Induced Gene Silencing or HIGS, uses a naturally occurring biological mechanism where plants and pathogens often exchange small nucleic acid molecules, RNAi, during the infection process. It is somewhat like a vaccine where we inject bits of the pathogen in our body to later initiate a strong immune response. In collaboration with researchers from the USDA’s Food and Feed Safety Research Unit and Louisiana State University, ICRISAT researchers were able to transfer into the groundnut, specific small RNA molecules from Aspergillus fungus that are involved in the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway, so that the groundnut seeds produce these RNA molecules during fungus attacks. This would inactivate the target genes in the fungus that are responsible for aflatoxin synthesis.
Both approaches show great heritability (tested for over three generations) and remarkable levels of aflatoxin resistance. Using a highly sensitive detection tool (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography), researchers could detect hardly any trace of aflatoxin (below 1 ppb) after three days of fungus inoculation, compared to the control seeds that accumulated over 3000 ppb.
This study shows that groundnut lines infected with the fungus, in conditions well above the field reality, were able to suppress toxin levels to below detectable limits. In a near future, ICRISAT researchers plan some extensive field tests with partners from Asian and African breeding programmes to cross these very promising aflatoxin-resistant lines and validate their agronomic performance according to biosafety regulations.
The innovative research demonstrates a very tangible proof of concept to incorporate high aflatoxin resistance within groundnut breeding programmes. Further study of these aflatoxin-free lines will also help better understand the molecular mechanisms involved, which can be transferred to other crops. This creates a clear roadmap to tame these very harmful food contaminants at their source.
Hard selling of fad diets and vegetable juice: Why are we replacing the fun and happiness in food with fear?
The release of a video called ‘What the Health’ and the general panic in its wake about how we are all eating ourselves into cancer, diabetes and early death has gone viral. It has also spawned a few dietary cousins including one that compels you to drink only vegetable juice and all this effort will make your insides squeaky clean.
What’s bad for you? Everything. We are told that bread (the staff of life), salt (of the earth and worth it), sugar (hi honey) and milk (of human kindness) are foisted upon us by a gigantic conspiracy of the pharmaceutical industry, the egg and dairy industry and the meat and poultry mafias in conjunction with government connivance so that it is a win-win for all … except the consumer who is designated to keel over and become a statistic.
We are all going to die. Right. There is no running away from that solitary reaper. And food is a happy element in our lives. But we are being so easily robbed of that joy.
We are not stupid. Just as we know that smoking is bad for us we also know that processed meats cannot be good. We also know through sheer logic that taking in marbled red meats and oil soaked fast foods will supersize us. Nothing surprising there. If we overdo fried foods and alcohol and eat cream in its many wondrous forms it will clog our arteries.
The scaremongers have based their findings, though, on American portions. The rest of the world eats sparingly in comparison. You know how much you need so if you ignore that simple factor there will be a price to pay. The mountain of French fries, the dozen bacon rashers, salami, pastrami, etc in one serving are about the same as what we would consume as mere mortals in a week. Ergo, the 18% risk is whittled down to a little over 2%.
By the same token it is impossible to scientifically evaluate how a single food damages the human body. No one has done any authoritative study with a dedicated group of volunteers eating only, shall we say, cheese and figured out how it affects them as compared to a group being given placebos. Therefore the premise itself is flawed.
The 2% risk factor is further reduced by the difference between a daily rational intake and an infrequent devouring of any of these dining table adversaries. If i eat a few rashers on a holiday morning or fry an egg or two on toast to go with them, the skies will not fall. The odds would fall to half which is 1%.
There is no gainsaying the fact that spurious foodstuffs and lack of a common yardstick for quality and safety contribute to the illnesses listed in these current denouncements. If you stop eating plump chickens which are hormonally enhanced that makes sense. If you scratch off dyed fruits and vegetable or animal products treated with antibiotics to be made meatier and go organic no one would accuse you of being a ‘fraidy’ cat.
The same measure can be applied to anything that is suspect. Add to this protective decision an up in hygiene so that your cast-iron stomach is not tested because you are avoiding contaminated roadside foods, stale edibles and post sell-by products and you reduce your risk to 0.5%. Add to that an awareness of spurious colourings, injected fruits and other imaginative food adulterations and the risk dwindles even more.
Add to the fraction of the percentage the grimness and joylessness of life without your culinary delights and what is left to enjoy. For years fad diets wrecked happiness and tossed us on this sea of misery. Now, it is being fine tuned with very little scientific fact to make us wallow in calorific guilt. The stress of denial is tangible.
In ‘What the Health’ the visuals compare eggs to smoking five cigarettes and milk and dairy to pure poison. The trick lies not in scare stories and clever manipulations of the mind but in moderate and judicious consumption.
You will live longer and be happier for it.
Food Safety Administration, a joint team of Food Safety Officers was constituted for conducting special raid in the area of Daria
Chandigarh, 6th October, 2017:
As per the orders of Designated Officer, Food Safety Administration, a joint team of Food Safety Officers was constituted for conducting special raid in the area of Daria and Sector 30 of UT, Chandigarh. In view of the reports of illegal and unauthorized sweets shops mushroomed due to the coming festive season, a special drive was conducted in the said area. The team inspected various shops in Daria and Sector 30 of UT Chandigarh and five samples of sweets consisting of three samples of Khoya Burfi, one of Kalakand and one sample of Gurpara sweet were lifted for analysis & examination. In addition to this about 5 quintals of sweets were destroyed under Epidemic Act as they were being prepared under highly unhygienic and unsanitary conditions and were using prohibited food colours. Along with this three challans were issued to the vendors who were operating without having food licence and were working in un-hygienic conditions. The Food Business Operators were also instructed to keep hygiene and quality standards as per Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 and were advised not to use any prohibited colours in preparation of sweets and keep the food articles covered.
Oct 6, 2017
Private lens on Diwali mithai- Tupudana lab wins food police badge
Here's some great news to sweeten your Diwali.
A private laboratory in suburban Ranchi has been granted accreditation by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which will allow it to put all those festive mithaiunder the adulteration scanner, besides testing routine agricultural produce.
Sun-Tech Laboratory in Tupudana, around 15km from the heart of the capital, will offer the authorities, individuals and organisations an alternative platform to screen the quality of edible items. It is arguably the only private lab in the state to earn the FSSAI tag and is expected to unburden the lone state-owned facility in Namkum.
On Mahashtami last month, civil contractor Rahul Kumar had found worms in a packet of figpedas bought from a prominent confectionery shop, Rajasthan Kalewalaya, in Kutchery. The sweets were priced at Rs 1,000 a kilo.
The district administration acted after Kumar complained to deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar. Food inspector K.P. Singh on Thursday collected samples for testing.
The report is expected in a few days.
Now, with Diwali round the corner, adulterated sweets and other food items in the market cannot be ruled out. Unfortunately, the decade-old state lab is mired in problems, including inadequate infrastructure and acute manpower crunch. This is where Sun-Tech hopes to step in.
Preeti Varma, quality manager and in-charge of the Tupudana-based lab, said they were recognised by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) since 2008 and also the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), but an FSSAI tag was a matter of pride.
"The gazette of our accreditation was published by FSSAI on September 14. However, we received an intimation on email only in last week of last month. The accreditation has to be renewed every two years," she said, adding that Sun-Tech would be the first private lab in the state to conduct food testing.
So long, the Tupudana facility had been screening building and road construction materials, and minerals in water and soil, among other things.
"Earlier, even if we tested food, the report wouldn't have had legal sanctity. Now, that problem is over. If someone is launching a new edible product, our report can be used for quality labelling. We shall further be able to test samples of food for suspected adulteration," Varma said.
The quality manager informed that they currently had six food analysts on board and testing charges would depend on the nature of profiling one required.
"An adulteration test can start at Rs 500 and go up to over Rs 10,000 if the range of verification includes bio-profiling, component test, nutrition test, label claim, shelf life, inorganic contaminants, animal tissue content and so on," Varma said, stressing that they were empanelled to conduct quality check on all products being sold through the military canteen stores department.
Namkum food lab analyst Chaturbhuj Meena confirmed that Sun-Tech had indeed won FSSAI accreditation, but couldn't say if it was a first in the state.
"We are yet to understand all the parameters under which the private agency is empowered to conduct tests," Meena said when asked if the accreditation would lessen the burden on the state lab.
Things to keep in mind while buying fresh meat
Meat is a rich source of proteins. Apart from proteins, it also contains an abundant amount of Vitamin B-complex (Vitamin B1 to B12), Vitamin C, iron, calcium, phosphorous and Omega 3 fatty acids that are required to maintain the nutrition balance in our body.
Here are tips to help you buy the right stuff:
Check the colour:
- The colour of the meat says a lot about its freshness.
- Poultry meat must be white or light pink.
- Check that the meat does not have a green tinge, especially under the wings.
- There should not be any bruises or blood clots on the surface.
- In the case of red meat, it must be bright red in appearance.
- If the meat is vacuum packed, it may appear slightly brown.
- This is also good quality meat and will last longer in the refrigerator.
Check the odour:
- Poultry meat is generally odour-free but may have a slightly meaty odour on rare occasions.
- The smell of red meat is very specific to the type of meat and there should not be any variance from the typical smell of a goat or lamb.
- One should make sure there is no foul or pungent odour to any kind of fresh meat being purchased.
Check the texture:
- For poultry, the texture should be firm and the muscle fibres must be clearly visible.
- Furthermore, the meat must not be slimy and if you touch it, the fingers should be dry rather than sticky.
- The meat should not appear translucent and watery when it is cut.
- In addition,in the case of red meat, it should not fall off easily when it is being cut.
- The fat should not be yellow in colour, as it indicates that the meat is not fresh.
Prefer skinless:
- The skin of the meat has saturated fatty acids, which are high on calories and can potentially increase the risk of cardiac ailments.
- Hence, it is always recommended that meat is consumed after removing the skin.
Ensure food safety standards:
- It is absolutely essential that every packaged meat product has a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certified label on it to ensure that all food safety standards are met.
- This is also the primary reason why you should avoid buying meat from a butcher shop, since there is no guarantee of food safety.
Adulteration of food: Three dists named as sensitive
Jaipur: Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur have been identified as sensitive areas in terms of sale of adulterated food. The health authorities will conduct strict surveillance in the three districts for preventing sale of adulteration food ahead of Diwali.
In an order issued by the health department, health director Dr VK Mathur mentioned that the three districts need more intense monitoring for preventing sale of adulterated food such as mawa and other milk products.
Besides, this Diwali, the health authorities will take help of the police to intercept vehicles coming towards Jaipur suspected to be carrying adulterated mawa, milk and other food items.
Health department issued directions to food safety authorities and officers to ensure strict surveillance on roads and highways.
During festive season, the city witnesses increased demand of mawa and other milk products. Since, the city has limited supply of such milk items, the traders bring it from nearby areas of the city. But, it is suspected that adulterated mawa and other food products also been supplied to the city to meet the increased demand. Aiming to check influx of adulterated milk products to the city, the health department has directed its officials in the city to conduct strict surveillance of such vehicles coming to city.
In an order issued by health department, Dr Mathur mentioned that the officials take help of the police to intercept such vehicles.
The health department has launched a campaign against adulterated food which will continue till October 18.
Besides, focus will also be on cleanliness of sweet shops, restaurants and also on the employees working in such shops and hotels. Health department's officials will inspect sweet shops and restaurants for cleanliness. The officials ask owners for maintaining basic hygiene practices in sweet shops and restaurants.
Every year, health department launch a campaign against adulterated food. Under the campaign, the health authorities collected samples of food items and send it for test in government-run laboratories. If samples fail quality test, they present the case before local court against the accused trader.
Your cream biscuit is a sugar & fat bowl
The sugar content in the cream biscuits that you and your child often relish may have more than the recommended quantity. Similar could be the case of the fat content as well, revealed an in-house study by city-based consumer body, Çonsumer Education and Research Centre (CERC).
The content details on biscuit packets were also found inaccurate.
Experts say despite a rule that the content in food products should be standardised, national food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has not come up with any such norms so far.
CERC tested samples of 10 brands of cream biscuits that were filled and/or coated. In filled biscuits, cream, jam or chocolate is sandwiched. Coated ones may be covered with chocolate or caramel.
In six of the 10 brands tested, the fat content was above 20g per 100g of biscuit. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Indian Council of Medical Research, has recommended desirable visible fat intake per day of 20g for both men and women. Similarly, all the 10 brands contained more than 25g sugar per 100g biscuit.
It was also found that the actual fat content in at least three brands of biscuits was significantly higher than what their labels claimed. Another fact that came to the fore was that higher price did not ensure better quality — the two least expensive brands fared the best on the health parameters of the rating, according to the study.
HOW MUCH IS PERFECT
NIN prescribes 20g per day fat intake for both men and women
WHO prescribes 25g, or 6 teaspoons, per day sugar for men and women
ADULTERATION : HC directs govt to appoint Food Safety Commissioner in 6 weeks
The High Court on Friday directed the government that Food Safety Commissioner should be in place within six weeks.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation against food-adulteration, a division bench of Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Alok Aradhe held that the whole affairs of the commissioner’s post shall be completed within six weeks.
The direction came after Amicus curie, Bashir Ahmed Bashir submitted that in keeping with earlier court order, the government couldn’t create a post in 37 days.“ What kind of mockery is this? How are they working?,” he said.
Additional Advocate General MI Dar stated that the proposal for the creation of post has been cleared by Finance Department but the department has not cleared the proposal of additional staff.
The court directed Finance Department to clear the proposal of additional staff within a week. Expressing its dismay as to why the Food Safety Commissioner was not appointed yet, the court said: “How the government is working without its staff. “The proposal be placed before cabinet for final approval and be processed immediately,” it said.
The state counsel informed the court that before an application could be made for accreditation under National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for state’s two food testing labs, imparting of training to food analysts was a must.
He said application for accreditation was sent to the board and two food analysts were deputed for training, one for Kashmir and another for Jammu. He also said that for checking the labeling of the products, special drives have been undertaken in accordance with Food Safety and Standard Act.
The state counsel further told the court that there are seven mobile labs-- three for Kashmir, three for Jammu and one for Leh. The court however sought a fresh status report on functioning of these labs.
Oct 5, 2017
Beware! Fortified foods not for all
Hyderabad: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) plans to introduce doubly fortified wheat flour and salt.
Such fortified foods are not intended to be consumed by everyone; they are meant only for those who suffer from deficiencies of iron and calcium. Fortified foods are recommended to individuals whose deficiency is not managed by dietary supplementation due to the insufficient absorption of minerals.
The food industry, however, is resisting the FSSAI’s latest move because companies will have to appoint specialised personnel and procure additional raw materials and standardised chemicals for the fortification process. According to an internal audit conducted by FSSAI officials, the response received from the food industry is not encouraging.
Nutritionist Sujatha Stephen says, “Fortification is recommended because medical supplementation has low compliance levels. 50 percent of pregnant women are anaemic and highly deficient in vitamin D, and so the government is keen on fortification.” She says that fortified foods are not meant for people who have a balanced diet consisting of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, green leafy vegetables, lean meat, fish and dairy products. “Fortified foods are only meant for those who have been diagnosed with deficiencies, and whose deficiencies have not been controlled despite supplementation by natural foods.”
Fortification is carried out by adding chemicals to food products. Some nutritionists believe that fortification does not provide any real benefit. A senior nutritionist, on condition of anonymity, says, “Chemicals are used for fortification. It has yet to be studied whether the iron and other minerals are absorbed by the body. These foods have side-effects such as weight gain and an increase in the content of minerals which are already adequate in the diet. It is important to restrict the distribution of fortified foods to only those who have deficiencies.”
At present, there is much confusion, even among government officials, whether double fortification will be implemented or not. A senior official from Telangana says, “Government orders have been issued but it is not clear how they are to be implemented and which categories of food actually require fortification. There is a lot of confusion regarding the people who need fortified foods. Identification will require coordination between healthcare workers and the food industry.”
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