Aug 26, 2018
‘Substandard food items being procured for anganwadi centres’
RTI Movement appeals to Governor administration for intervention
The mission directorate of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has been allegedly procuring substandard biscuits from a Kathua-based company which is reportedly facing criminal cases under Food Safety Act in Ganderbal and Kathua.
Besides being of substandard quality, the product has been procured on exorbitant prices.
Details available with Greater Kashmir reveal that the biscuit carrying the brand name “Rattan” has been declared substandard in 2017 under Food Safety & Security Act vide prosecuting authority (designated officer under the act) order no. DO/FSSA/GBL/789-2017 Dated 2.5.2017.
On 14.02.2017, the assistant commissioner Food Safety Ganderbal vide order no. DO/FSSA/GBL-17-2017 issued notice to Rattan Oil Mills, the makers of Rattan biscuits.
The company was informed that sample of their product on analysis was found substandard and misbranded.
“A biscuit company facing prosecution under J&K Food Safety Act and having been declared misbranded and substandard has been allotted order by the ICDS to supply biscuits is a questionable issue,” said Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, chairman RTI Movement.
“These biscuits will be supplied to almost 30,000 Anganwadi centres across the state in the coming weeks and health of around 10 lakh kids will be compromised,” Bhat said, adding that they appealed to the Governor administration to immediately look into the matter and order investigation into it.
Sources in the ICDS alleged that the firm and its products were not registered with the Registrar of Trade Mark of India which, according to them, is a mandatory norm fixed by the Central Vigilance Commission.
“Moreover the biscuits are being purchased for Rs 74/Kg while as registered/branded biscuits can be easily purchased at a lower price,” sources said.
Sources also alleged the Channa for the Anganwadi centres has been procured at exorbitant prices. “The wholesale rate for high quality Channa is Rs 32/Kg whereas ICDS is allegedly purchasing inferior Channa at the rate of Rs 57/kg,” they said.
“If freight component is added to Channa procured from Delhi, the per kg cost won’t exceed Rs 36 in Srinagar,” they said.
Sources alleged that other food items of inferior quality were being supplied to Anganwadi centres across the state.
“We demand that contractor system for supply of nutritional items should be discouraged as per the Supreme Court guidelines. Instead local auqaf committees or women Self Help Groups (SHGs) under SRLM be encouraged to come forward for supplying nutritional items. The centralized purchases made by ICDS directorate is only breeding corruption,” Raja Muzaffar added.
Aug 24, 2018
Labels on fortified food products to carry details of micro-nutrients
NEW DELHI: All fortified food products in the market will now have to carry "+F" logo on their label and comply with the standards set by the food safety authority, as per the new regulations notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The regulations will come into effect from January, 2019.
In a move to enable consumers to identify fortified food easily as well as ensure quality of such products, the food regulator has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018. Apart from the mandatory logo, the gazette notification issued last week, provides for minimum and maximum range for fortification of products like vegetable oil, milk and other products. The standards also include adjusted dosage of the micro-nutrients so that they provide 30% to 50% of the daily requirements.
“Any manufacturer who fortifies any food shall ensure that the level of micro-nutrient in such fortified food does not fall below the minimum level specified in Schedule- I,” the notification said.
Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, and vitamins A and D to staple foods such as rice, wheat, oil, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.
The regulations are aimed at placing food fortification on the national agenda to reduce the high burden of micro-nutrient deficiency in India. Besides, stringent regulations and standards are also essential to ensure fortified food available in the market are quality products.
FSSAI has asked manufacturers and packers of fortified food to give undertaking twice a year on quality assurance and submit evidence of steps taken in this regard to the food authority.
The regulation also mandates all fortified food to be packaged in a manner that takes into consideration the nature of the fortificant added and its effect on the shelf-life of such food.
According to the National Family Health Survey, around 50% of women and children in India suffer from anaemia. While food fortification helps combat malnutrition, the government is trying to introduce such products through government schemes to counter problems stunting, overweight and anaemia – major causes of maternal and child deaths.
“The regulation will also create an enabling environment and encourage food businesses to adopt food fortification,” the regulator said.
Last year, FSSAI had released benchmarks to fortify the nutritional quality of food items used in social sector programmes such as ICDS, PDS and mid-day meals.
Punjab food safety teams sieze spurious milk ahead of Rakshabandhan
LUDHIANA: Continuing with the anti-adulteration drive, Food Safety and Dairy Development Teams jointly conducted raids at midnight in various parts of the State ahead of Rakshabandhan.
In the raid at around 11.30 pm on August 21st at Deep Dairy in Village Khokh of Nabha Tehsil in Patiala, 8 quintals spurious milk, 12 quintal paneer and 130 kg cream were discovered. The foul-smelling milk was destroyed on the spot. The paneer and cream were seized. Samples of milk, paneer and cream were taken.
Similarly, a raid was conducted along with police at about 12.15 am in village Sangatpur Bhonki. 90 kg paneer, 1400 kg milk, 18 empty bags of 25 kg of Skimmed Milk Powder(SMP), 2 full bags of SMP were found. A sample of paneer, milk and SMP were taken. The entire sampling and seizure activity was accomplished around 4:15 a.m.
At Ropar, a joint night raid by food safety and dairy development team along with police started at about 10.30p.m. The raid at Kang Dairy in Boor Majra revealed spurious items to the tune of about 12 quintal paneer, 200-litre milk, cream 125 kg, curd 535 kg, butter 10 kg. Samples were collected and entire stock in a cold room of the dairy and the dairy premises were sealed. The hygiene conditions of the dairy were very poor and the dairy owners did not possess any licence for the sale of the articles to the public.
During early morning inspection of vehicles involved in the supply of milk and milk products, the Jalandhar Food Team intercepted an i20 car No. PB06 5669 delivering paneer at Happy Sweet Shop Adampur. The Car was carrying paneer in rear storage and on the back seat. During the inspection of the material, the car driver eloped from the spot in the car. Efforts were made to follow the car but in vain due to the high speed of the car. An enquiry is afoot about the owner of the car and appropriate action would be taken against the offender.
In Tarntaran a vehicle carrying about 300kgs of spurious Khoya Burfi, Milk Cake, Ladoo, Patisa was intercepted at Jandiala Road, Tarntaran and action were taken as per the Act.
A Chilling Centre at Jandu Singha was also inspected. The Milk was being collected without straining. The Food Business Operator( FBO) was directed to strain the milk and then put it in the tanker.
Under 'tandrust Punjab mission' in District Faridkot store of a khoya barfi supplier at Jaito was inspected. Wherein about 1.5 Quintal of spurious barfi and dhoda sweets were found. The FBO informed that the khoya burfi was brought from Fazilka and dhoda burfi from village Daria in Chandigarh. He was to sell the barfi at Rs. 150 per kg to small shops. Samples of khoya and dhoda burfi were taken and sent for analysis. The stock was seized.
Checking and sampling at Bikaneri Sweet Shop at Garhshankar revealed approximately 100 kg of suspected adulterated khoya. A sample of the same was taken and rest of the khoya was seized. The sample has been sent to lab for analysis.
In Ferozepur under the supervision of ADC (G) samples of khòya, paneer and milk were taken and about 40 kg of synthetic khòya was destroyed.
Sweetshops remain under scanner ahead of Rakhi
Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) food safety officers conducted extensive checking at sweet shops for the second consecutive day to ensure that inferior quality and adulterated sweets are not sold in the market ahead of the Rakshabandhan festival.
Teams of food safety officers checked establishments in Akota, Karelibaug, Jetalpur, Alkapuri, Nizampura, Tarsali and Ajwa Road areas of the city. Nearly nine shops were checked by the teams and 12 weet samples of different varieties were collected from the shops.
The samples will be tested at the food public health laboratory of the civic body. If the samples fail the tests, the civic body will file cases against the shops.
On Tuesday, six shops were checked by the officials and nine samples of sweets were sent to the public health laboratory for testing.
Officials said that the checking also focussed on ensuring that the shops maintained hygienic conditions.
Aug 23, 2018
Soon, packet labels to tell if food is healthy or not: FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal
The biggest challenge before the food regulator today is to "fight the battle of perception. With mass and social media getting aggressive, the general sense today is that what we eat is far more unsafe than it was a few years ago. The reality may not be so," says Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in an interview with Anjul Tomar and Ashish K Tiwari. FSSAI is working to make sure that the food available in the market is safe for consumption by creating awareness, training businesses and enforcement. It has a big task at its hand as it handles around 10,000-12,000 complaints every month and regulates over 28 lakh small, medium and big food businesses in the country.
What are the key measures instituted by FSSAI towards food safety in the last few years?
We have put in place standards for almost all foods. A food must meet a set of criteria if it is suitable for human consumption. While most of the food standards have been notified, the remaining ones will be notified in the near future. Recently, we released standards on antibiotic and veterinary drug residues as there is a huge concern about its presence in poultry and meat. Honey standards have been notified and will take effect from January next year. Organic food standards have come into force from 1 July. Now, our enforcement officials will take samples of the foods and test them for residues. The businesses will be prosecuted in case the samples are found to have adulterants or residues beyond permissible limits. We are also getting 6,000 milk samples from organised as well as unorganised markets across 1,100 cities and towns tested, and will release the report by year-end. There is a perception that milk has antibiotics and pesticide residues. Over 250 food laboratories have been notified by FSSAI for testing food. There are over 3,000 food safety field offices under the state governments to carry out inspections and compliance. Recently, we have got an additional close to 500 positions under FSSAI to help us in better enforcement. Next, we are going to build capacities of food businesses so that they can ensure safety by themselves. We have started Food Safety, Training and Certification (FoSTaC) system. Under this, all food businesses need to have at least one person trained and certified as per our standards. Around 40,000 people, out of a total of 3.5 lakh, have been trained so far under this programme. The focus is largely on restaurants, hotel segment, manufacturing and processing units.
How effective have these measures been in ensuring safe food?
The results of these measures are difficult to quantify but these are steps in the right direction. As a regulator, we need to put in place a system. We can't pick up every sample as the entire food ecosystem is very large. Many of these things will take years to get embedded.
What more needs to be done to make food available in the market in packaged form as well as loose completely safe for consumption?
First and foremost, greater public awareness around food safety is needed. Second, training is required to build capacities around food safety in food businesses. Third is to have more effective enforcement. Since we have a large number of businesses to regulate and have small staff, we expect businesses to ensure food safety by themselves. But we do verify that they are meeting that trust or not through inspections, sampling and testing.
There is a significant shift towards healthy eating even in the packaged snacking category. What initiatives are being taken by FSSAI to promote this trend?
We recently came out with eat right movement on July 10 to nudge food businesses to reformulate their products so that they are healthy. Many companies have come forward and pledged to reformulate.
Labelling is another area of concern across packaged foods. What's been done on this front?
We are in the process of developing regulations for front-of-pack labelling to identify food as healthy and not so healthy. The draft is currently with the government for approval. The proposed packaging labels for food will depict if the food is healthy or not in terms of salt, sugar and saturated fat content. The industry has raised some concerns. The entire issue is about thresholds. The industry wants higher threshold levels, while the medical practitioners who deal with public health, World Health Organisation (WHO), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) define some other thresholds. We are trying to understand the concerns raised by industry and may make minor changes, if required, in the proposed regulation. Traffic light labelling can be used to indicate the status of the contents. Globally, there are many examples. We have not reached a conclusion on this yet.
There is also a major debate on Genetically Modified (GM) foods. How is FSSAI addressing this issue?
We are coming out with regulations on GM foods to regulate this segment. In India, our Food, Safety and Standards Act provides for the role of FSSAI to regulate GM foods. The regulation doesn't mean that we are allowing or disallowing it. Once we have regulations in place, we will be able to take a case-by-case approach. The concerns about GM foods vary across the countries. European Union (EU) has taken a certain view. In North America, a lot of their food is GM food, while Japan imports a lot of GM food.
What's been done on the advent of organic foods and the challenges related to authenticity associated with it? There are loopholes still being exploited by players in the market.
We have created organic food standards based on the existing certification system of National Programme for Organic Production and (NPOP) and Participatory Guaranteed Scheme (PGS). Any food that meets one of these standards gets FSSAI approval. The new standards have become effective from July 1. Organic foods will henceforth carry Jaivik Bharat logo. So with the new standards coming into force, the products can be tested for authenticity and if the products are found to have any pesticide residue above the threshold limits, the manufacturers will be liable to be prosecuted. Earlier standards were not under the law. The punishment for not complying with the food standards varies from six months' imprisonment to life term and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Overall food adulteration is on a rise despite strict norms put down by FSSAI. Why is this happening?
This is a perception issue. We are making more efforts towards better enforcement and compliance so that people have greater confidence in the food available in the marketplace. However, if more people get caught it doesn't necessarily mean that things have gone worse from bad. As far as penal provisions are concerned, the current laws provide for strict punishment for offenders.
While compliance from branded food players is very high, that's not the case with unbranded players that form a significant part of the food market. Is there a way to make them equally compliant, responsible and accountable for products manufactured by such players?
We are moving towards making regulations and their enforcement more effective through large-scale surveillance and monitoring activities. As far as the law is concerned, it does not make any distinction between branded or non-branded players. The whole effort on building capacity in the food business is around making businesses more responsible from the food safety angle. So that unintentional incidents of food safety while manufacturing, transportation or storage could be avoided.
The food delivery business is also changing drastically in the digital age. How is FSSAI prepared to deal with this change?
We have been proactive on this front. We have come out with regulations for e-commerce platforms a few months ago and are now working towards its more effective implementation. We have had a series of meeting with the players. The e-commerce players, which include Swiggy, Zomato, Food Panda, Uber Eats, Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket, are working towards making their platforms fully compliant with FSSAI norms.
The social media platforms are full of posts accusing food and beverage companies of use of ingredients by food companies that are harmful to health. It's very difficult to ascertain the authenticity of such information on various digital platforms. Is FSSAI doing anything on this front to curtail the unnecessary commotion in the general population?
Social media has a lot of fake news, which is a challenge for everyone including us. We monitor social media and take note of any information that requires attention. We do take it up with the companies as well as the local enforcement officials in case any action is warranted. There are these 15-20 posts which are going around and keep repeating. We seek a report from the company involved and advise it to take action if needed. But if the post is generic in nature, it becomes even far more challenging. We have a consumer complaint grievance cell. Ideally, these complaints should come there and we can take proper action. We get around 10,000-12,000 complaints every month. About 70-80% of them are consumer complaints or queries, the rest are licensing related queries from businesses.
Food safety team raids sweet shops in Reasi
Katra, August 22
In wake of the festive season, a team of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India conducted raids at various sweets shops of Reasi on Wednesday.
The team, led by food safety officer Madan Mangotra, conducted a raid on a sweet shop at Vijaypur and took samples of three different products.
Mangotra said: “Right now we cannot comment whether these products are spurious or fit for consumption. We have taken the samples of khoya products for testing. Further action will be taken after we get the reports.” Meanwhile, the owner of the sweet shop complained that the raid would cause a loss to the business. “The very word raid causes a lot of doubt in the minds of people. While merely samples have been collected and the report will not come anytime soon, but the locals will avoid buying products from us,” the owner rued.
1,550 litres of edible oil seized
TIRUPUR: The district food safety and drug administration on Monday seized 1,550 litres of edible oil from an illegal oil packaging unit near Moolanur here.
“Based on a tip-off, officers inspected the unit at Ganesan Pudur and found that sunflower refined oil and groundnut oil were packed in half-litre packs and 15-litre tins under labels like Suguna Gold Sunflower Oil, Jaya Garuda and Tirupathi Groundnut Oils,” said an official. “The address — Alagapuri Nagar in Vellakoil — on the labels was fake. The unit was also functioning without a licence. But it printed false licence number on packets,” the official added.
Aug 22, 2018
FSSAI to limit trans-fats in edible vegetable oils
BENGALURU: THE Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is in the process of notifying the limits of trans-fat in all edible vegetable oil and fats to be not more than 2 per cent by weight in a phased manner by 2022.Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) had written to the Prime Minister, health minister, and law minister to ban trans fats in all restaurants, cafes, hotels, and grocery items in India.
In a response to HCF, FSSAI, in a letter, said, “The Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, prescribe that the trans-fat shall not be more than 5 per cent by weight in some types of vegetable fats. The FSSAI is in the process of notifying the limits of trans-fat in all edible vegetable oils and fats to be not more than 2 per cent by weight in a phased manner by 2022.”
Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned artificial trans fats from American restaurants and grocery store food items. Dr K K Aggarwal, former president of the Indian Medical Association, and president of HCF said, “Trans fats are chemically made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. It increases the shelf life of packaged foods, and restaurants like to use it as oil for deep frying because it doesn’t need to be changed as often as other oils.”
“The FDA’s move should be replicated in India as well. Trans fats boost LDL (bad cholesterol) as much as saturated fats and also lower protective HDL (good cholesterol). Apart from this, they rev-up inflammation and increase formation of blood clots inside blood vessels,” he added.Foods rich in trans fats tend to be high in added sugar and calories. Over time, these can pave way for weight gain and even Type II diabetes, not to mention heart problems.
2,060kg of paneer made with sulphuric acid seized
MOHALI: Your favourite paneer may well be made with detergent and urea and processed with sulphuric acid. That’s how an illegal factory was suspected to be producing the food item till a joint team of the health department, police and Progressive Dairy Farmers Association raided the joint at Ballomajra village in Mohali in the early hours of Tuesday. And, the haul was alarming: 2,060kg of spurious paneer, 120 litres of sulphuric acid, 135 bags each of 25kg of skimmed milk powder, 89kg of butter and 25kg of khoya.
K S Pannu, commissioner, food and drug administration, Punjab, said the factory was producing spurious paneer. The factory was sealed and the owner, Ashok Kumar, arrested on charges of adulteration of food or drink, sale of noxious food or drink and cheating.
TimesView
The detection of illegal units manufacturing synthetic milk and milk products has brought to fore how adulteration has become a big business. The perpetrators are unmindful of how injurious for human consumption their products are, or that they are likely to cause grievous hurt. Their eye is only on profit. People who cause so much harm to people’s health, need to be dealt with a tough hand. The proposed amendments in the food safety act mandating stiff penalty, including life term and heavy fines, for people involved in adulteration should be brought in quickly so that such people can be punished.
District health officer Rajbir Singh Kang said following directions of the minster for animal husbandry and dairy development Balbir Singh Sidhu, the team raided the factory at 4 am.
Samples of desi ghee, skimmed milk powder, paneer, milk and curd suspected to be prepared from adulterants were sent for analysis to a food lab in Kharar. An FIR (first information report) was registered under Sections 272, 273, 336 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused at Balongi police station.
Kang said, “The factory was operating without any licence and the unit was unhygienic. The utensils used to compress paneer slabs were fungusinfected. We have sealed the factory and booked the owner.”
Four of 21 panipuri samples found to be substandard: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
After a food sampling session, the civic authority declared four of 21 samples substandard. After banning the sale of panipuri in Vadodara, the health officials of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation collected panipuri samples randomly across the city.
Two samples of mithi chutney, the watery mix served with panipuris, and ragda were found to be substandard, declared a report complied by the health department. Mithi chutney of Mahalakshmi Panipuri and an unnamed stall located at Lal Darwaja, ragda of Mita Panipuri in Odhav, and the water of an unnamed stall near Apna Bazar were found to be substandard.
Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge, medical officer of health, said, "Taking cognizance of health hazards, we are taking food samples and sending them for laboratory testing. We want to ensure that people eat safe and hygienic food, as per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India."
What does substandard mean?
According to food inspector Rakesh Gamit, the department collects random samples of food items around the year to check for adulteration. "There are food safety norms defined under section 3 (a) of Food Safety & Standard Act, 2006. As per that, a food can be safe, unsafe, substandard, or misbranded," said Gamit.
The samples are categorised as follows:
Unsafe – Food sample that contains non-permitted ingredients, addictive colours and flavours. If insects are found in any sample that is also considered unsafe.
Substandard – Food sample that does not meet standards as laid down by the regulation, but which may not really be unsafe. For example, milk should contain a certain amount of fat; if the sample doesn't have the required amount of fat, it is declared as substandard.
Misbranded – Food sample making false claims on its package labels or for advertisements. If dates are not mentioned or address is not mentioned on a packet, that is also called misbranded.
EATERIES INSPECTED
AMC collected Rs 66,000 in fines from 8 units for not maintaining sanitation standards. Nini’s Kitchen, HK Foods, Shri Marutinandan, Singaporian Hotel, Dakshinayan, Barbecue Nation, and We Deshi were inspected by the health squad.
1,550 litres of edible oil seized
Tirupur: The district food safety and drug administration on Monday seized 1,550 litres of edible oil from an illegal oil packaging unit near Moolanur here.
“Based on a tip-off, officers inspected the unit at Ganesan Pudur and found that sunflower refined oil and groundnut oil were packed in half-litre packs and 15-litre tins under labels like Suguna Gold Sunflower Oil, Jaya Garuda and Tirupathi Groundnut Oils,” said an official. “The address — Alagapuri Nagar in Vellakoil — on the labels was fake. The unit was also functioning without a licence. But it printed false licence number on packets,” the official added.
Sweet shops under scanner ahead of Rakshabandhan
Vadodara: Food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) cracked down upon sweet shops in the city ahead of the Raksha Bandhan festival. The surprise checks were conducted as shops prepare and stock sweets in advance for the festival.
According to VMC officials, the checking was conducted in the Gotri, New VIP Road, Manjalpur, Alkapuri and Rajmahal Road areas of the city. Samples of various sweets made from ‘mava’, dry fruits and other material. Samples of sweets with silver foil were also collected for testing.
Officials said that in all six shops were checked despite the showers on Tuesday. Nine samples of sweets being sold at these shops were sent to the public health laboratory for testing. The officials pointed out that the checking also focussed on ensuring that the shops maintained hygienic conditions in wake of the ongoing monsoon season.
The drive will continue in the coming days till the weekend as Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on Sunday. Cases will be filed in case the samples collected by the officers are found adulterated or substandard.
Major haul of gutkha in Krishnagiri
Police personnel with the seized gutkha in Krishnagiri.
In a major haul, police seized three trucks and a container of gutkha in Krishnagiri and Thoppur toll gates on Tuesday.
The trucks were commissioned to take the tobacco products from Bengaluru to Chidambaram and Nagercoil.
Krishnagiri taluk police were put on alert after the office of the Superintendent of Police was tipped off on the consignment.
Past midnight, three trucks were intercepted near the toll gate. The trucks were found stacked with 50 sacks of gutkha each.
On being questioned, the drivers --Arumugam (30) of Tivannamalai, Arun Kumar (25) of Villupuram, and Mani(30) of Krishnagiri -- revealed that another container truck with a higher stack of contraband substance had already crossed Krishnagiri. Thoppur police were alerted and the truck was intercepted at the toll gate in Thoppur.
The container had 90 sacks of gutka and tobacco, reportedly worth Rs. 15 lakh. The driver of the container truck, Ramesh Babu (40) of Krishnagiri, was arrested by Dharmapuri police.
More seizure
Food Safety officials seized 450 kg of gutkha from a godown at Town Hall here. While inspecting shops and godowns, a food safety team led by designated officer Brinda found the gutkha in one of the godowns. It was said to be worth over Rs. 10 lakh.
Amarinder asks officers to explore ways to strengthen food law
Chandigarh, Aug 21 Taking serious note of the recent seizure of spurious milk and dairy products from a Patiala factory, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today directed officers to explore ways to strengthen the law on food adulteration.
The directive came at a meeting of the state cabinet here, which took serious note of the seizure of adulterated food in Patiala and other places, and mooted stringent punishment for such offences.
Noting that the subject of food adulteration was covered by a central legislation, the chief minister asked the officers concerned to work out best possible ways to deal more strictly with such cases, an official spokesperson said.
The state should find its own ways of ensuring stricter punishment for those playing with the lives of people, especially children, through adulteration of milk, milk products and other food items, the chief minister said during an informal discussion on the issue.
Cabinet members unanimously underlined the need for strong measures to check such offences, the official said.
On Sunday, Punjab Health minister Brahm Mohindra too had warned those indulging in making spurious and adulterated milk and milk products in the state.
He had ordered district health officers and assistant food commissioners to take stern action against the culprits under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
40% Eateries Listed On Food Delivery Apps Don’t Have Licences, FSSAI Asks To Delist Them
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on August 1 had given a two-week deadline to 10 online food delivery companies to delist unlicensed restaurants. According to the regulator, about 30-40% of the restaurants listed on the e-commerce sites had failed to meet FSSAI’s deadline for obtaining a license, despite being told by the regulator to comply with the norms by July-end. The two-week deadline has now come to an end as well.
The regulator had asked Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and seven other e-commerce firms engaged in the food business to ensure that the eateries and restaurants listed on their platforms are duly licensed. Not only that, but FSSAI had also notified them to comply with the norms and submit a detailed report on the “actions taken” and the details of the Food Business Operator (FBOs) listed on their platforms by the end of July. Foodpanda, JusFood, LimeTray, Box8, Faasos, FoodCloud and Foodmingo were the seven other firms that had been ordered to delist non-licensed eateries. In a review meeting which was held on August 1, it was found that in many cases, eateries had recently applied for the licenses and had yet not received it at the time.
As reported by the Financial Express, the regulator said in a statement,“Following a series of complaints related to sub-standard food being supplied by food businesses listed on e-commerce foodservice platforms, FSSAI has directed 10 such platforms to debar the non-FSSAI licensed/registered food operators and ensured compliance of food safety rules and regulations.”
40% listed eateries still without licenses
In a review meeting held on August 1, FSSAI noted that there are leading eateries running their business without a valid licence. Further, It was revealed that around 30-40% of the restaurants listed on food delivery apps are either unregistered or unlicensed. Some of them may have applied for the licenses but they have not been approved yet, FSSAI in a press statement.
According to FSSAI, it is also being advised to eateries to conduct food safety and hygiene training on their listed outlets, displaying the “Food Safety Boards” on their premises. It further stated, “It has also been decided to conduct audit of IT platforms of these e-Commerce food aggregators from the angle of compliances for food safety and hygiene under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 read with Food Safety (Licensing and Registration) Regulations, 2011.”
“(We appeal to) aggregators to begin to use some of their resources in training and capacity building of restaurants for improving food safety and hygiene rather than focusing only on deep discounts and aggressive marketing to build consumer traction to their respective platforms,” Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, said in a statement on August 1.
Working to delist eateries without licenses
“We are working with reputed third-party agencies to set up a support system and help expedite this process for them,” A Swiggy representative told the Business Line. A spokesperson of Zomato told the daily, “While we can’t comment on the number (of such restaurants) since they are changing by the hour, we can assure that we are working with the FSSAI and the restaurant industry actively to make sure that everybody is compliant with the guidelines.”
Not only that, earlier this year in February, FSSAI had also set some new guidelines for e-Commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs). According to which, the listed FBOs on e-commerce platforms must display their licence numbers. An agreement between the e-commerce platforms and FBOs had also been mandated to comply with the Food Safety and Standards ct, Rules and Regulations.
The Logical Indian Take
The birth of e-commerce has revolutionised the manner in which companies are doing their business. Today, consumers can buy almost anything on the internet without having to leave their homes. Food order and delivery platforms, in particular, seem to be one of the most popular and successful businesses on the internet. FSSAI step is appreciable as they want to make sure that the food we are ordering has gone through safety check as per the guidelines of Food Safety Standards notified by the authorities.
However, in this quest of attracting customers, these companies have somehow missed out on quality check. There were innumerable complaints regarding the poor quality of food being supplied by the food businesses listed on these e-commerce platforms.
Food safety officials start investigations on Tetrapak fruit products
IMPHAL | Aug 21 : Office of the Designated Officer (Food Safety Administration), government of Manipur has informed that Food Safety Officials have inspected the retail and wholesale shops selling fruit drinks or juices in Tetrapaks in prominent places of Bishnupur district.
The team led by Food Security Officer (FSO), Dr. M Dinesh Singh and FSO, H. Premkumar Singh under the instruction of designated officer, Y. Surendro Singh inspected shops at Moirang, Ningthoukhong, Bishnupur and Nambol areas, said a report signed by designated officer, FSA, Bishnupur, Y. Surendro Singh. The initiative was taken up after the Food Safety and Standards Enforcement Wing, Bishnupur came across a video clip uploaded on a social media showing fibrous black substances found in fruit drinks or juices packed in tetrapaks especially Frooti and Minute Maid brands, it said.
Irrespective of the brand names, the Food Safety Officers collected surveillance samples from various other brands including Minute Maid, Mango Punch, Real, Frooto, Frooti, Appy and Maaza amongst others, the report stated while adding that the collected samples are to be sent to the State Public Health laboratory for analysis.
It further stated that the food safety officials instructed the food business operators (FBOs) and the public to be aware and immediately report any such incident to the Safety and Standards Enforcement Wing, Bishnupur or to a nearby police station. Instructions were also given to the FBOs to store the food in appropriate conditions mentioned on the food packets, it added.
It might be mentioned that tetrapaks fruit juice products are immensely popular in the state due to the soaring temperatures in Manipur although the packaging material is opaque and the consumers do not have any ideas about the condition of the products.
Aug 21, 2018
Madras High Court notice to Centre on plea challenging food safety rules
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Union government on a petition from a farmer challenging the latest food safety rules which makes certification mandatory to sell organic produce.
The Erode-based farmer, Selvam Ramaswamy, sought from the court to declare the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulation 2017 as unconstitutional and ultra vires of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
According to the petitioner, under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), certification of the organic farming process, which commences from the seeding stage, is mandatory only for those who export their produce and in all other cases it is only voluntary under the Act.
The Central government had, on January 2, notified the regulation which states that even individual farmers who sell their produce in the domestic market must also obtain the certification which, the petitioner said, was a tedious process and financially unviable for small farmers.
Claiming that a regulation introduced under an Act cannot be ultra vires of the Act itself, the petitioner wanted the court to declare it unconstitutional.
Admitting the plea, a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad directed the Centre to file its reply in three weeks.
Chennai organic farmer challenges food safety rules
An organic farmer has moved the Madras High Court with a PIL petition challenging the latest food safety rules, mandating certification to sell organic produce even in domestic market.
CHENNAI: An organic farmer has moved the Madras High Court with a PIL petition challenging the latest food safety rules, mandating certification to sell organic produce even in domestic market.
A division bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, before which the PIL from Selvam Ramaswamy of Erode came up for hearing, ordered notice to the Union government, returnable in three weeks.
Petitioner wanted the bench to declare the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulation, 2017 notified on January 2 last, as ultra vires of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and hence, unconstitutional.
According to petitioner, under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), certification of the organic farming process, which commences from the seeding stage, is mandatory for those who export their produce alone. In all other cases, the requirement is only voluntary.
However, the Centre on January 2 last notified the regulation which states that even individual farmers, who sell their produce in the domestic market, shall also take the certification which is a tedious process and financially unviable for small farmers. Claiming that a regulation introduced under an Act is ultra vires of the Act itself, the petitioner wanted the court to declare it unconstitutional.
Admitting the plea, a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad directed the Centre to file its reply in three weeks.
HC seeks Centre’s response to plea challenging organic food regulations
The Madras High Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre to a writ petition challenging the validity of Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods)Regulations of 2017 on the ground that farmers could not be brought under the purview of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) of 2006.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad ordered notices, returnable by September 10, to Union Ministries of Agriculture as well as Commerce and Industry on the petition filed by Selvam Ramaswamy of Erode district. He urged the court to declare the regulations unconstitutional.
His counsel D. Nagasaila argued that the 2017 Regulations were repugnant to Section 18(3) of the FSSA which categorically states that none of its provisions would apply to any farmer, fisherman, farming operations, crops, livestock, aquaculture, supplies used or produced in farming or products of crops produced by a farmer at farm level or a fisherman in his operations.
When farmers had been specifically excluded from the purview of the FSSA, how could the Centre bring in regulations on organic foods, she wondered. It was also pointed out to the court that the 2017 Regulations state that no person shall manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market, distribute or import organic food in violation of its provisions.
Foul oil: Fried chicken outlet loses licence
Chennai: The food safety department has suspended the licence issued to a KFC outlet near Poonamallee for not paying a fine after it failed an oil sample test.
Oil samples collected from the store were found to be substandard, said M Kavikumar, designated officer for Tiruvallur. The department imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the outlet. The owner did not pay the fine and a divisional revenue officer sent a show-cause notice.
Since there was no response to this, the local food safety officials issued another notice. “As the outlet continued to be unresponsive, we suspended its licence under Section 96 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 1996,” Kavikumar told TOI.
The act states that the defaulters licence shall be suspended till the penalty is paid.
FSSAI to test Dabur, Zandu, Patanjali honey brands
Food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has ordered testing of the popular brands of honey, including Dabur, Zandu and Patanjali, for authenticity.
This comes in the backdrop of growing concern among the public that the honey sold in the market could be adulterated with corn syrup or sugar syrup.
The 'surveillance' report is likely to be made public within a couple of weeks, a senior government official said.
"As part of our surveillance mechanism, we have picked up samples of all the brands of honey sold in the market. The testing is going on. We may release the report in a couple of weeks, though without naming the brands or companies," Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, told DNA Money.
The new standards for honey have recently been approved by the health ministry and are likely to be notified in a few days. The compliance and enforcement will start from January 1. "Whenever we implement new standards, we give time to the industry," the CEO said. However, before taking any penal action against the erring firms, the regulator is conducting surveillance tests so that the companies are careful.
"The general sense is that a lot of honey sold in the market is not real but corn syrup or sugar syrup. Whether the perception is right or wrong, the honey has to be tested," said Agarwal. Earlier, the FSSAI didn't have testing methods and parameters to figure out if the honey was authentic or not.
"Hopefully, those who are doing it (adulteration) will be careful now that the FSSAI has standards and methods of analysis," he said.
The violation of the standards will attract a fine of up to Rs three lakh and imprisonment of a maximum of six months for adulteration under Food Safety & Standards Act.
"Our objective is to ensure that the consumer gets what he or she is paying for. Corn or sugar syrup itself is not unsafe, but by calling it honey when it isn't is like deceiving consumers," the official said, adding that consumers would get genuine honey in the market. While the enforcement of the new regulation will start next year, the surveillance is likely to continue.
Corn syrup, also known as glucose syrup to confectioners, is made from the starch of corn or maize and is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallisation of sugar, and enhance flavour.
"FSSAI has been regularly conducting such tests on all food products. It's a welcome move on the part of the authorities as this ensures that only good quality food products reach the consumers," a Dabur spokesperson said when contacted.
According to an Emami spokesperson, "We would like FSSAI to come up with a policy to control the presence of corn syrup and any other form of added sugar which is widely being used for adulteration of honey. There needs to be a standardisation in place based on the international food standards which deals with these kind of adulteration. These steps if taken would ultimately benefit the consumers."
Patanjali did not respond to e-mailed query till the time of going to press.
A SUGARY SYRUP?
The general sense is that a lot of honey sold in the market is not real but corn syrup or sugar syrup
The 'surveillance' report is likely to be made public within a couple of weeks
SJM alleges FSSAI for allowing flooding of unauthorised and banned GM foods in India Written By: Vinod Kumar Shukla
New Delhi, Aug 20: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate organisation Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has been questioning some of the government policies that have been allowing to compromise interest of people and economy of India as such. In one such matter, the SJM has criticized the issue of fortification of food products, its implication on consumers health and Indian SME sector. The SJM has also come down heavily on Vitamin cartel promoting chemical-based vitamins in India.
SJM co-convener Ashwini Mahajan said that they are organizing a meeting of stakeholders to discuss the implications of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) recent notifications on public health, affordability of foods, Indian SME sector and interference of foreign funded NGOs in Indian food systems.
Indian eating habits are healthy and wholesome and a proper Indian thali provides balanced diet for any individual. Mahajan said that adoption of excessive refined foods based on junk food has created imbalance in Indian food system. The RSS-affiliate body said that another major concern was adulteration in food system. FSSAI was created to ensure that safe and complete food was ensured to citizens. But during various reviews by Parliament and the Supreme Court reminded FSSAI to stick to their mandate and ensure safe and pure food for citizens. However, no improvement is visible.
It alleged that flooding of unauthorised and banned GM foods, adulterated foods, growing imports of junk foods, food quality of school meals, etc. are testimony to the FSSAI functioning which is more keen to please donors and sponsors. The recent notifications of FSSAI on fortification based on 100 per cent imported and synthetic vitamins which are harmful to public health as per medical research reports. Mahajan said, "See the list of partner organisations, they all are foreign funded NGOs which are funded by promoters and shareholders of vitamin companies. Vitamin Cartel is one of the most notorious cartel worldwide and heavily punished by European Commission and even recently President Trump also asked his government to crackdown on Vitamin cartel."
He further alleged that Vitamin Cartel may crack the Indian market with the help of some vested interest in Food Safety Authority in India. It demands CBI inquiry into the entire process and investigate the officers involved in this anti-people agenda. The investigation should also focus on how a few foreign funded NGOs are able to manipulate food safety and standards policy of India. How they could partner with FSSAI on sensitive matters when there is no Indian Institute involved as partner? This is a serious conflict of Interest and attempt to sabotage the entire system to benefit few select MNC and their promotors.
The SJM alleged that the fortification committees were created by hand-picked people which can be manipulated by vested interests. There is no transparent method used because people involved in decision making process have no experience of fortification and no understanding of its implication public health. This will not only hurt public health specially infants, lactating mothers, sensitive consumers groups, patients and many other stake holders but ruin the small and medium food companies and will make way to capture Indian food markets.
SMC raids 10 mava shops
Surat: At least 10 mava makers were raided by officials of the health department of Surat Municipal Corporation in the city on Monday. Around 20 samples were collected and sent for analysis by food safety officials. “We are awaiting report from the laboratory. We will take action against the mava makers on the basis of the report,” an officer said.
More than 1,000kg of mava is used every week during the festive season for making sweets. Most of the sweetmeat m0akers in the city buy mava from wholesalers.
Aug 20, 2018
Desist from making food fortification compulsory: SJM to FSSAI
The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch said today that food safety regulator FSSAI should desist from making food fortification mandatory of packaged food as it will favour only few selected multi-national firms.
The FSSAI is making efforts to make it mandatory that all packaged food should be fortified by Vitamin A and D. It will only help the cartel of international Vitamin companies, SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said.
In place of focusing the fundamental duty as per the FSSAI Act, the authority was now more keen to please the donors and sponsors of their activities which are not directed towards the mandate of the law, he further said.
The SJM alleged that FSSAI is allowing flooding of unauthorised and banned food products in the country.
Parl panel says 90% labs not accredited
- Ministry of Health told panel that food-borne illnesses were a greater health burden in India than malaria, HIV/AIDS or TB
- Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) found food poisoning one of the commonest outbreaks reported in 2017 apart from acute diarrhoeal disease
- More than 200 diseases spread through contaminated food ranging from diarrhoea to cancers, says WHO
New Delhi, August 19
One in four food samples in India failed the quality test over the past two years, while 90 per cent food testing labs were found unaccredited and many food operators were found to be either unregistered or running on expired licences.
These are a few of the damning observations by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, which in its latest report has recommended restructuring of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the apex food regulator. It has said the regulator should be headed by a food scientist rather than a bureaucrat.
The report, “The Functioning of FSSAI”, red-flags food safety lapses, saying people’s fundamental right to pure food was being compromised.
“Existing food laws and policies are inadequate and weakly enforced. This poor implementation has resulted in rampant food adulteration and various food scandals. Substandard quality food has been reaching the market and causing irreparable damage to public health,” notes the panel. Major concerns documented include the presence of unregistered food business operators (FBOs) and FBOs operating with expired licences, lack of accreditation of food-testing labs and high levels of food adulteration coupled with low conviction rates under the FSS Act.
“The Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS) should be updated regularly,” the committee said. It listed audit findings on instances of expired licences and registrations under the FSSAI Act in nine states and six Central offices of FSSAI.
“Of 7,056 licences test-checked in states, 2,616 (37.07 per cent), and out of 2,863 licences test-checked in CLAs, 626 (21.87 per cent) were expired. Out of 2,299 registrations test-checked in states, 698 (30.36 per cent) were expired,” reveals the report.
On food quality, the committee expressed anguish over low conviction rates, noting that one in four food samples failed the quality test in 2016 and 2017.
Even more shocking was the revelation that 65 out of the 72 (90 per cent) state food labs to which FSSAI and state food safety authorities were sending food samples for testing didn’t have the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories accreditation.
60% milk food samples seized in Punjab raids fail quality test
A whopping 60 per cent of milk and milk product (MMP) samples, including paneer (cottage cheese) and ghee, seized during raids across Punjab in the past 10 days have been found unfit for human consumption — 434 of the total 724 samples having failed the quality test.
Alarmed, Health and Family Minister Brahm Mohindra has asked the District Health Officers and Assistant Food Commissioners to take stern action against those violating the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Tested at the government laboratory in Kharar, 20 per cent of the food samples seized have been found to contain spurious or adulterated milk, revealing the dark side of the “white trade” flourishing in a state that leads in per capita milk availability — 1,035 ml of milk per person per day.
According to the Animal Husbandry Department, there are 52 lakh buffaloes and 21 lakh cows in Punjab of which 70 per cent yield milk. The daily milk production is 360 lakh litres. Despite abundant milk, a sizeable number of units are manufacturing spurious milk and milk products. “While low-grade paneer is sold at Rs 170 per kg, poor quality ‘khoya’ is making its way from other states,” a senior officer said.
Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, and Director of Tandrust Punjab Mission, Kahan Singh Pannu, said the authorities needed to be much more vigilant.
DARK SIDE OF THE TRADE
- 434 of the total 724 samples tested by Kharar lab fail the quality test
- 20% of the seized food samples found to contain spurious milk
- This despite Punjab leading other states in per capita milk availability
- With 52 lakh buffaloes and 21 lakh cows, state produces 360 lakh litres milk per day
Minister warns adulterators of food Items
With huge quantities of adulterated dairy products getting recovered from across the state, Punjab’s health and family minister, Brahm Mohindra, on Sunday warned those indulging in making spurious and adulterated milk and milk products in the state.
He ordered the District Health Officers and Assistant Food Commissioners to take stern action against the culprits under the provisions of ‘Food safety and standards Act 2006’ to curb the sale and production of adulterated food.
Giving details in Press communiqué, Mohindra said that during last 10 days, Food Safety Wing of Health Department has been conducted 650 raids with the help of other departments at Patiala, Bathinda, Baghapurana, Moga, Samrala, Kapurthala.
He said that district administrations, Punjab Pollution control board, Dairy Development Department, Police Department, Cooperation Department and Local Government Department have been asked to work in tandem to ensure availability of safe and nutritious food to citizens.
After the police on Saturday claimed that officials of the Patiala district health department’s food safety wing have been taking bribes since 2014 for allowing production of spurious items at a factory, the health minister also warned the officers of the health department and lab staff to work honestly and diligently to ensure the availability of quality food.
He said that no laxity will be tolerated in this regard and strict disciplinary action would be taken against all those conniving with perpetrators of the crime against humanity by compromising with the quality of food items.
Mohindra appreciated the efforts of food safety wing of the Health Department for initiating a campaign against food adulteration and stated that government is very serious to provide pure and nutritious food items to the citizens under ‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’.
He mentioned that all concerned department of the government have jointly embarked upon the campaign to supply pure food to the people of Punjab.
He said that this campaign shall continue till all the black sheeps indulging in such malpractices are brought to the books under ‘Food safety and standards Act 2006’.
Aug 19, 2018
Spurious milk factory ran in nexus with food safety wing, say police
“Officials of state food lab in Kharar also got bribes to clear product samples”
Nearly 7,000 litre spurious milk, 323 bags (50kg each) of skimmed powered milk, 250 litres of chemical used in making adulterated milk, 20 quintal cheese and 12 quintal ghee were seized Singla Milk Chilling Centre.
Three days after adulterated dairy products were recovered in huge quantities from a milk chilling centre near Devigarh town of the district, police on Saturday claimed that officials of the district health department’s food safety wing have been taking bribes since 2014 for allowing production of spurious items at the factory.
Nearly 7,000 litre spurious milk, 323 bags (50kg each) of skimmed powered milk, 250 litres of chemical used in making adulterated milk, 20 quintal cheese and 12 quintal ghee were seized Singla Milk Chilling Centre at Mehon village, 35 kilometers from the district headquarters.
Patiala superintendent of police (SP) Kesar Singh said, “It has emerged following the interrogation of two of the accused, including factory owner Anil Kumar Singla, that a fixed monthly amount of ₹5,000 was paid to the food safety officials besides ₹10,000 each for sample clearance. Officials of the state food laboratory in Kharar are also part of the nexus.”
The police on Friday had arrested Singla’s accomplice Jai Bhagwan of Cheeka in Haryana.
The SP said the accused confessed that they used to send the bribes every month to the food safety officials through owners of Sukhwinder Singh and Baldev Sharma, the owners of Ghuman and Sharma dairies in Patiala.
“We will submit the names of these officials to the state health department and demand stringent action against them,” he said.
The police say the department neither informed them about the goings-on in factory nor initiated the process of sealing it even as samples were collected from there on Tuesday.
Borehole to drain out chemical detected
The police said during an inspection of the factory, they detected an underground borehole to drain the chemicals — used in making of adulterated milk items — directly into underground water.
“We have also written to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to take action against the accused,” an official said.
Patiala civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said, “A written explanation has been sought from district health officer Dr Krishan Singh and food safety officer Puneet Sharma in this regard.”
DHO Krishan Singh rejected the police theory as “completely baseless”. “No such malpractice has come to the fore during my four-month stint as DHO here,” he said.
Commissioner (food and drug administration) KS Pannu said such a nexus between food safety officials and illegal factory owners need to be dealt with seriously. A report will be prepared and action will be taken against those guilty, he said.
Cops release list of 15 bulk buyers
The police have released a list of 15 bulk buyers of adulterated dairy items from the Singla Milk Chilling Centre. They are Shiva Lassi and Dairy, Pammi Poorian Wala, Chawla Dairy, KD Milk Store, Sharma Dairy; Raju Dairy, all in Patiala; Punjab Dairy, Devigarh, Rana Dairy, Chamkaur Sahib; Punjabi Shudh Dairy, Sahnewal; Harish Dairy, Rajpura; Shivalik Food, Kurali; Markanda Dairy, Shahbad; Dharampal Caterers, Ram Sharan Dairy and Arora Dairy, all in Haryana’s Kurukshetra.
“We have sought legal opinion so as to initiate criminal proceeding against these outlets,” the SP said.
Aug 18, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)