Feb 18, 2020
Food delivery apps driving the rise of ‘dark’ kitchens in India
NEW DELHI: First things first. Food in the so-called “dark” kitchens are not cooked with the lights switched off. They are called so primarily because of their delivery-only model.
The growing popularity of food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato has led to a surge of such kitchens in India, which are also called “virtual” or “cloud” kitchens by some.
Some prefer to call them “ghost” kitchens as in many cases, you may not even know that they exist.
Did you know that popular eateries like Haldiram’s, Chaayos, Keventers, Saravana Bhavan and Vasudev Adigas, to name only a few, have set up cloud kitchens in partnership with Zomato?
They have. And that is the reason why you get to order food from these eateries even in areas near where their restaurants may not exist.
“We started this model in March 2018, when we realised that while a lot of budding entrepreneurs are setting up new restaurants and cloud kitchens, the pace of setting up new kitchen infrastructure has been lagging behind the demand for them,” Mohit Sardana, Chief Operating Officer, Food Delivery, at Zomato told IANS.
“We wanted to accelerate the process of investment in kitchen infrastructure in areas facing a supply deficit and therefore, created the Zomato Kitchens model. Today, we are present in 50+ cities with 700+ kitchens that are already operational,” Sardana added.
One factor that has worked in favour of the food delivery platforms is the data they have about consumers’ preferences. Analysing these data allow them to gauge the nature of the demand of food a particular area generates.
Armed with these data, the food aggregators can confidently approach a restaurant business for cloud kitchen partnerships in new areas that are likely to generate handsome profits for both parties, according to people familiar with the way these partnerships tend to forge.
Swiggy launched its cloud kitchen initiative “Swiggy Access” in 2018 and since then it has created over 1,000 kitchens for its restaurant partners.
Through “Access”, restaurant partners can test new markets and expand intra and intercity, with no rent or deposit charged for the premises/infrastructure, Swiggy said.
Swiggy shares valuable insights not only regarding existing customer preferences, but also on unmet food choices with partner restaurants, thereby helping them fulfil the demand-supply gaps.
Restaurant partners are also able to leverage Swiggy’s insights to improve their food quality through consistent customer feedback and optimise their kitchens for factors like stock planning, demand forecasting, preparation time and order edits.
Swiggy said that it is committed to working with the restaurant partner community to bring in the necessary confidence and control to ensure there is no compromise in the safety of food.
The food delivery platform added that it mandates all restaurants and cloud kitchens operating on the platform to possess a valid Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence and additionally conducts hygiene audits across the restaurant partner network with credible third-party audit firms.
Zomato said that one of the biggest advantages of virtual kitchens is the relatively low investment and business risk.
“If you look at our model, we ensure the restaurateur is supported well enough to focus on what he does best — food — instead of being weighed down by compliances and high rentals, among other necessities. That too, with minimum investment. We also draft a customised growth plan with aggressive marketing support, which is unique to their business proposition,” Sardana said.
“These are delivery only dark kitchens and are not usually set up on high streets. However, there will be a few locations which are on high footfall areas and can be easily spotted. On the app, all kitchen restaurants appear in the same manner to a user as any other delivery only outlet on our platform,” he added.
Zomato said that it has set for itself “high safety and hygiene standards”.
“We have invested time and energy in durable engineering to make sure that we deliver quality kitchens for our partners to use and expand into new markets, wherein with our support on compliances, they do not see the basics as a hindrance when opening up a new facility,” Sardana said. (IANS)
Coronavirus: FSSAI to step up efforts to improve hygiene at fish, meat shops
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) believes it is critical to raise the bar for hygiene and food safety practices adopted in meat and fish shops and slaughterhouses in the country, at a time when the world is coping with the novel Coronavirus outbreak, which has reportedly originated from a wholesale animal and seafood market in Wuhan, China.
The food safety authority has stepped up efforts in this direction and will be initiating hygiene-rating certification for meat and fish shops in collaboration with the State governments. In the past year, it conducted third-party audits of municipal slaughterhouses and is in the process of making third-party audits mandatory for private fish and meats shops and slaughterhouses (among other high-risk food categories).
Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI said, “The issue of hygiene and food safety practices adopted in the meat and poultry sector has becomes even more significant, at a time when the world is dealing with the novel coronavirus. We want to focus on further increasing sensitisation among food business operators and consumers regarding the issue of food safety and hygiene in this sector.”
Market surveillance
Elaborating on the steps taken by FSSAI, he added, “We conducted audit of municipal slaughterhouses in the past year and believe they require a lot of hygiene upgradation. Private slaughterhouses are also now getting third-party audits. At the same time, we have initiated hygiene-rating certification at our own cost for meat and fish shops in collaboration with the State governments. Initially we will fund hygiene-rating certification for 50 meat and fish shops to create sensitisation.” FSSAI hopes that hygiene rating scheme will be adopted by all meat and fish product shops in the next one year.
The food safety regulator will also begin a market surveillance exercise to look into the issue of safety and quality in imported packaged food and food supplements in the coming months. “We have received many complaints regarding quality and safety of imported packaged food products and food supplements. So, we will be doing a market surveillance of certain categories of imported products to understand the key problems in this space,” Agarwal said.
Testing facilities at ports
To ensure ports used for food imports are linked with proper testing facilities, FSSAI has already rationalised the number of ports allowed for food imports to 150 from 360. “Further, we may look at putting additional restrictions on import of certain products from certain ports which may not be adequately equipped to conduct proper inspection and testing of those categories of food products, ” he said.
On Monday, FSSAI announced the setting up of six branch offices, four import offices and two food laboratories in the country to strengthen its pan-India presence in the country. With this, FSSAI will have four regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, 12 branch offices and 6 import offices, it stated.
It will also have four national food laboratories in Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai JNPT and Chennai. While it has already upgraded the national food lab in Delhi-NCR (Ghaziabad), work on upgradation of the Kolkata-based national lab is in the advanced stages. “We will set-up two new food labs in Mumbai JNPT and Chennai and the already built-up space will be taken on long-term lease from port authorities to establish these two new food labs,” Agarwal said. He added that laboratory extension centres at Sanauli and Raxaul on Indo-Nepal border will also be expanded into full-fledged food labs.
Feb 14, 2020
Man complains to VMC about synthetic eggs
Vadodara: A resident of Panigate area of the city has approached the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) food safety department with a complaint that he was sold a synthetic egg by a local vendor. While they didn’t buy his claim, the food safety officials may check egg suppliers in the city in the coming days.
The man opened an egg and found a film inside it which was hard to break and looked like plastic. A video, claimed to be of the ‘plastic’ egg also started making rounds in the social media. While the incident is said to be of Wednesday night, VMC officials received a formal complaint from the man only on Thursday evening.
“Our officials will check the quality of eggs that are being sold in the area. The complainant can also get the eggs he bought to be checked in our laboratory,” said an official of the food safety department. The official, however, added that they had not heard of any such incident in the city earlier.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has in the past clarified that it was highly unlikely that such eggs were being sold in the country. FSSAI has also circulated a detailed note in this regard. Sources said that a concern could be the freshness of the eggs that were sold to the complainant.
Feb 11, 2020
PLASTIC IN YOUR SALT Samples From Tuticorin Salt Pans Contain Microplastics, Study Finds
That plastic wrapper you flip or coffee cups you bury in beach sands could be coming back, in a different form, in your table salt.
A study by researchers in Tamil Nadu has triggered concerns that the food on our table could contain microplastics. Researchers found microplastics smaller than 100 micrometre (one micrometre is one thousandth of a millimetre) in 25 samples of salt collected from sea salt pans in Tuticorin, which are sold across the country and exported to China and Japan.
In Tuticorin, salt pans closer to the coast use seawater, stored in ponds and left to crystallise, under controlled methods. Experts said there is no separate technique to remove microplastics during the processing of raw salt.
While 60% of the pollutants studied were microplastics, a majority of them were identified as polymers- polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and cellulose, as researchers traced their sources to domestic waste, fishing nets and textile industry waste, which are routinely dumped into the sea.
“Out of samples we collected in 25 locations, those from salt pans in Tuticorin had microplastic levels higher than those collected outside city limits. This could have a link to plastic waste dumped in Buckle Channel connecting the sea,” said Prof S Selvam, department of geology, V O Chidambaram College, Tuticorin.
So far, studies have shown evidence of microplastics in refined packaged salt. This is the first time a study has been conducted for salt pans, he said. The study was jointly conducted by researchers from various institutions like Bharathidasan University, Presidency College and universities in Vietnam and South Korea.While researchers studied crystallised salt picked up directly from the salt pans, the study did not involve analysing the same samples after processing in refineries.
Two IIT Bombay researchers had found 626 microplastic particles in salt brands in a 2018 study. 63% of microplastic particles were in the form of fragments and 37% were fibres. “As of now there are no technique where microplastics can be removed,” said Prof Amritanshu Shriwastav, one of the researchers of the 2018 study.
Feb 9, 2020
Worrisome stats: Telangana lags way behind in enforcing food safety laws
Telangana was identified as one of the ten poorly performing states in-country in the enforcement of food safety laws by FSSAI.
HYDERABAD: In the last three years penalty was imposed in less than 10 per cent of the cases wherein sub-standard or unsafe food samples were detected by the food safety officials in Telangana, making it one of the top 10 states which are lackadaisical in enforcing food safety laws.
Between 2016-17 to 2018-19, 673 food samples were found to be non-confirming to food safety standards in the State but penalties were imposed in only 54 cases, which is around eight per cent.
Replying to a question in Lok Sabha on Friday regarding enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and cases registered under it, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey presented data according to which in 2018-19 although 168 food samples were found non-conforming to food standards, only in 17 cases penalties were imposed. Similarly in 2017-18, 20 out of 175 cases and in 2016-17, 17 out of 330 cases were penalised.
As per the data, in 2018-19, the food safety authorities in Telangana registered 33 criminal cases and 191 civil cases for violation of food safety laws but convictions were issued in just three cases.
In 2017-18, 25 criminal cases and 15 civil cases were registered whereas only one conviction was achieved and in 2016-17, 103 criminal cases and 85 civil cases were registered but convictions were given in only 15 cases.
Telangana was identified as one of the ten poorly performing states in-country in the enforcement of food safety laws by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in its 2018-19 report on food safety enforcement.
Speaking to Express, a food safety official said, “When offence is related to labelling, penalty is issued immediately but when it comes to food samples not confirming to standards, the process is time consuming. Food safety lab delivers test results within 14 days but the complaint is processed by higher officials including Commissioner of Food Safety, then either Joint Collector or District Collector depending upon the type of case, which takes time.”
Feb 8, 2020
Crackdown on roadside eateries
Three roadside eateries were found to be operating without licences during an inspection carried out by the Food Safety Department on Thursday.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three roadside eateries were found to be operating without licences during an inspection carried out by the Food Safety Department on Thursday. Another food joint that was located near Pattom Junction was found to be using a non-permissible colour in a non-vegetarian dish. “Thirteen establishments including five mobile food stalls were inspected. Athazam, Irani Hotel, Keerthi (Sasthamangalam), food stalls in Manaveeyam Veedhi and near the Secretariat were among the 13 food joints inspected by our night squad. The food stalls found to be operating without a licence have been issued rectification notices,” said Sangeeth S, food safety officer.
However, according to food safety authorities, the number of irregularities found in the food sold by roadside eateries are on the decline. Awareness drives and the raids which were carried out by the Food Safety Department two months ago were the two factors that helped improve the safety standards of roadside eateries. “A majority of the street food outlets have shifted to stainless steel and provide tissues and water dispensers for drinking and washing purposes. The use of synthetic food colours has also decreased,” said Sangeeth. Despite facing a shortage of staff, the Food Safety Department is planning to conduct at least one raid every month to check food safety violations in the city.
The authorities had also conducted raids on major fish markets located in the district over the last few days. “Ten kilograms of stale fish were seized from a vendor at the Kesavadasapuram fish market on Tuesday. A preliminary test is needed to find out if there are any anomalies in the 29 samples that we had collected from the markets,” said a food safety official.
To create awareness on food safety, training for 50 hotel staff will be given by the food safety authorities as part of the Food Safety Training and Certification Programme (FoSTaC) of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on February 28. “We are also planning to organise training regarding food safety for those at roadside food stalls soon. They will be given a food safety certificate after completing the training,” said Alex K Issac, assistant food safety commissioner.
Despite facing a shortage of staff, the Food Safety Department is planning to conduct at least one raid every month to check violations
Labelling regulations: FSSAI goes for nutrient threshold study
Draft norms impractical; mayhurt product quality: industry
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which is in the process of overhauling the labelling regulations for packaged food products, has begun a nutrient threshold study to assess the current market scenario.
The draft regulations propose colour-coded labelling to enable consumers to identify products that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products.
The draft regulations had proposed certain thresholds and packaged products display red-color coding if levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar are higher than the prescribed threshold levels. However, industry had called these nutrient thresholds “impractical”, and had raised concerns that if implemented in the current form, would require majority of products to display red-colour coding on their labels.
The industry associations in their submission said that stringent thresholds will have an adverse impact on product quality and may lead to loss of consumer preference. Minister for State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwani Kumar Choubey informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Friday, “The FSSAI has notified draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2019, on June 25, 2019 for inviting public comments. Around 900 comments were received. In addition, industry associations also raised concerns on the specified thresholds of salt, sugar and fat and requested to contextualise thresholds based on Indian scenario.”
He added that the Ministry of Food Processing has also urged the FSSAI to constitute a working group to review the thresholds.
“The Scientific Panel concerned deliberated upon the comments and recommended to constitute a Working Group and to initiate a study to obtain market-validated, category-wise baseline data for reviewing the thresholds. Accordingly, as per the Scientific Panel’s recommendation, the FSSAI has initiated a nutrient threshold study to assess the current Indian market scenario,” the Minister stated in his reply.
Revised ‘honey’ standards
In a separate reply to a query raised whether reduction in pollen count from 25,000 to 5,000 in the revised standards for Indian honey is disincentivising honeygrowers, the Minister said,
“The FSSAI informed that revision in pollen count requirement has been made based on the inputs received from the experts from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and the Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI), representing the true picture of pollen count in Indian honey.”
Feb 7, 2020
Packaged food items banned
Imphal, February 06 2020: The Directorate of Health Services has banned import of packaged food items made in China, Myanmar and other South East Asian countries which does not comply with the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017 .
A notice issued by Health Director Dr K Rajo also asked all the people to avoid consumption of packaged food items which are made in China, Myanmar and other South East Asian countries which violate the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017 .
It also directed all the designated officers to inspect, seize such packaged food items and keep strict vigilance against them.
Feb 6, 2020
Food Safety Dept asked to ensure jaggery’s quality production
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, after reviewing the status of quality of gur (jaggery) production in the ghulaaries, on Wednesday directed the state Food Safety Department to ensure jaggery’s quality production in the State.
It was observed that few of the units, especially run by migrant labourers, are indulging in the unscrupulous practice of using unapproved chemicals for making gur, said the Minister.
The State’s Food and Drug Administration commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu informed the Minister that there are 617 ghulaaries in Punjab, which are engaged in processing of sugarcane to make gur and jaggery. These are small scale units normally functioning along the major roads, he said.
Pannu said all the unit owners have been provided one day training regarding good practices of making jaggery by Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana. It was also informed that a large number of ghulaaries in Punjab are producing good quality gur or jaggery which is even exported to other countries.
Sidhu asked the FDA Commissioner to conduct a thorough sampling of jaggery producing units.
He further asked the Commissioner to act strictly, including the closure of jaggery units, which are indulging in wrong practices which are harmful for human health.
The Minister directed that joint teams of officers of departments of Agriculture and Health should be constituted to complete the process of inspections of all the units in a period of 15 days.
In December, the jaggery processing tips were imparted to all the stakeholders under the Tandrust Punjab Mission.
Pannu, who is also the Tandrust Punjab Mission director, said that a similar exercise was conducted during the previous year as well wherein about 600 people were imparted training on ‘Sugarcane Juice Processing to Safe Jaggery’ by PAU.
During this season, nearly 200 people have been trained with the primary focus on enhancing the quality and hygiene of the produce, besides teaching them about chemical-free or organic formulation of jaggery.
Manipur raises nearly Rs 7 lakh as penalty for violation of food safety standards
Manipur collected a revenue of Rs 6,89,000 as penalty for violation of food safety standards in as many as 12 cases in the financial year 2018-19.
Manipur has the highest amount raised in the form of penalty for violation of food safety standards in the Northeast. This was reflected in the state-wise report of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on annual public laboratory testing reports 2018-19.
However, the report released through the Press Information Bureau (PIB), revealed that no one was convicted in the 12 cases in which penalties were imposed. It is learnt that 18 cases were taken up by the state government of which most of the cases were civil.
The report further said that the FSSAI received altogether 388 samples from Manipur for analysis of which 56 were found to be non-conforming, 28 found with labelling defects and 28 more substandard ones.
Of all the Northeastern states, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura could not raise any revenues as there was no case in which penalty was imposed as per the report.
Meghalaya raised second highest amount with Rs 1,93,700 in three cases including one criminal case.
While Assam moved seven criminal cases, penalties were imposed on five cases only raising Rs 77,000 only including 14 civil cases. Arunachal Pradesh also moved one criminal and seven civil cases and raised Rs 2,100 .
In terms of non-conforming samples, Manipur has the highest number followed by Nagaland with 202, added the report.
The PIB report stated that the implementation and enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 primarily rests with the state/UT governments. FSSAI has been impressing upon the states/UT the need for strengthening regulatory infrastructure at state/UT level, including the need for addressing shortage of regulatory staff and placement of full-time officers, improvement in sampling and testing facilities among others, through quarterly meetings of central advisory committee, regular video conference with officials of food safety departments of concerned states/UT, it said.
Moreover, it pointed out that the FSSAI has released a sum of Rs 269.69 crore for the upgradation of 38 state food testing labs in 29 states/UTs by way of improvement of physical infrastructure, purchase of high end equipment and setting up of microbiological laboratories.
In addition, 54 mobile food testing laboratories, called Food Safety on Wheel, have also been delivered to 32 states/UTs, it added.
Feb 5, 2020
Adulterated ghee seized
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials seized 100 kg of adulterated ghee, made of palm oil and vanaspati, here on Tuesday.
FSSAI’s designated officer K. Tamilselvan said Tuesday’s raid found eight persons producing adulterated ghee on Mariamman Kovil Street, Vinayagar Kovil Street and Ammainaikar Street on Sundakamuthur Road at Kuniyamuthur.
Adulterated ghee in bottles was being sold even in places like Uzhavar Santhai, and fruit and vegetable markets, he said.
Food safety drive conducted
Feb 4 (DIPR): Food safety authority of Tamenglong with district police conducted food safety drive at the Tamenglong DHQs today.
The drive led by Th Sunilkumar Singh, Designated Officer, visited hotels, food stalls, shops and inspected the food items. Many banned tobacco products and expiry food items/products were also seized during the drive. Food items from the grocery shops found without manufactured dates and batch no, expired items and products not certified by fssai were confiscated and destroyed.
The team also advised meat vendors to maintain hygiene and store the meat covered in glass cases.
All workers engaged in hotels and restaurants should cover their mouths with masks, wear hand gloves and aprons when preparing and serving food, he advised the food business operators. He also advised people to make sure all packaged products they buy bear the trade mark 'FSSAI' (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India).
All shops and food business operators must obtain license from the office of the Food Safety Authority Tamenglong, situated at CMO's Office, said Th Sunilkumar.
Feb 4, 2020
Stale food seized from hospital canteens, notices issued
The raid was conducted in the wake of coronavirus cases reported in the state
Food safety officers inspecting the kitchen of SAT Hospital canteen inside the Government Medical College during the raid conducted in Hospital canteens of the city on Monday
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Stale cream buns and banana fritters were seized from the SAT Hospital canteen, located inside the Government Medical College during a food safety raid on Monday. The canteen which also sells aerated drinks was fined and issued a rectification notice by the Commissionerate of Food Safety for selling old food to the public.
“Rectification notices were also issued by the authority to the Regional Cancer Centre and the main canteen located inside the Government Medical College Hospital and cafes at GG Hospital, Cosmopolitan Hospital, General Hospital and SUT Hospital,” said S Sangeeth, food safety officer, Vattiyoorkavu circle.
“Improper storage of food inside the freezer and water logging in the kitchen were the major anomalies found during the inspection. One canteen was found to be making cutlets in an unhygienic condition,” said Sangeeth.
If the eight hospital canteens fail to rectify the anomalies within two to three days, a re-inspection along with fine will be imposed on the offenders.
According to the food safety officials, the raid was conducted in the wake of coronavirus cases reported in the state. “It was necessary to carry out inspections as the virus is partially food borne. We are also planning to conduct a similar raid on other hospitals of the city by the end of this month,” said Sangeeth.
Food safety officers, Anilkumar N (Nemom circle) and Shini V S (Parassala circle) were also part of the inspection.
“Quality of drinking water, use of synthetic food colours, food additives, reusing of cooking oil, medically fit food handlers and safe and hygienic storage conditions were a few parametres on which the inspection was conducted,” said Alex K Issac, assistant food safety commissioner. The commissionerate is also planning to conduct further raids in markets within the city limits soon.
Restaurant fined for serving substandard food
Adjudicating officer cum District Magistrate Bokaro slapped a fine of Rs one lakh under the Food Safety and Standards Act, to a multicuisine restaurant – ‘Mansarovar’ at City Center, Sector-04 in Bokaro Steel City.
Mansarovar Restaurant has been fined Rs 1 lakh for being found guilty of serving substandard quality food to customers, informed R K Bharti DPRO Bokaro.
On 14 October 2018, during the search conducted by Dr. Anil Kumar, Food Safety Officer, Bokaro, under the Food Safety Standards Act - 2006, necessary samples of food items were collected at Mansarovar multi-cuisine restaurant, Sector-04 in City Center. After analysis, the analyst found that the quality of food samples are substandard and not suitable to eat, informed DPRO.
“The owner of the restaurant was consistently found absent in the court during consecutive hearings even after being given the last chance during the hearing of the ongoing chance in such a serious case. Following which, the said restaurant has been fined Rs one lakh,” he added.
According to the instructions the fine amount has to be deposited through a Demand Draft in the favour of the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate, Bokaro within 15 days from the date of issue of the order. DC also directed to the
Sub-Divisional Officer, Chas to take necessary action in order of cancelling the license of the restaurant, informed DPRO.
Feb 3, 2020
Substandard food served in eateries at Secretariat: customers
Over 5,000 govt. staff and hundreds of outsiders visit them
With inadequate inspections and lack of monitoring, eateries in the Secretariat in the city are serving substandard food to over 5,000 government employees working on the campus and hundreds of visitors.
Staff from various departments, who frequent the eateries, allege that food items served are substandard. In the absence of competitors, they are forced to eat at the eateries. “Many a times, we realised food from the previous day is served the next day. Just because there are no major players on the campus, these eateries are taking us for a ride,” an official said.
The only relief is the cooperative canteen. “At least in the cooperative canteen, our feedback is taken seriously and they rectify if we make a complaint. The private eateries are not under anyone’s control. You can see people urinating near one of the eateries,” said a Section Officer from a department.
Banned 20 years ago
After a G.O. that banned private eateries on the campus 20 years ago, the eateries took refuge in the buildings under the control of the Army on the campus. “One of them got a stay from the court. Presently, a few of them are in State government buildings and others operating from Army buildings. Unless there are regular inspections by the Greater Chennai Corporation’s Health Department and FSSAI, these eateries cannot be controlled,” pointed out an employee.
Only if well-known hotels are allowed to function on the campus, the eateries will be forced to supply quality food, a cross-section of the government staff said. At least about 2,000 people visit the Secretariat during the Assembly session and about 1,000 people visit the campus on other days.
Deputy Commissioner (Health) of the Greater Chennai Corporation P. Madhusudhan Reddy said the inspection for quality of food was by the Food Safety Department. “However, hygiene and public health are our subjects and we will send a team to check the claims. If the complaints are found true, we will take action,” he said.
The Public Department officer in-charge of the Secretariat campus A.R. Rahul Nadh was not available for comment.
FSSAI destroys artificially coloured eggs
Food Safety officials destroying artificially coloured leghorn eggs in the city on Sunday.
3,900 leghorn eggs destroyed
Officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Coimbatore on Sunday destroyed 3,900 leghorn eggs that were artificially coloured to look like eggs of country chicken, which are superior in terms of quality.
They found that the sellers were using colourants, including decoction of tea, to give the brownish tint to the egg shell.
K. Tamilselvan, Designated Officer of the FSSAI in Coimbatore, said that simultaneous checks were conducted at various markets namely the whole sale fish market and retail fish market at Ukkadam, Uzhavar Santhais at Vadavalli, Singanallur and R.S. Puram, and MGR Market Anna Market on Mettupalayam Road.
“The checks were conducted based on a complaint which said that vendors were selling white leghorn eggs as country chicken eggs after colouring them. Food Safety officers found that egg sold by at least 10 vendors were coloured white leghorn eggs. A total of 3,900 coloured eggs were seized and destroyed,” he said.
According to Dr. Tamilselvan, most of these vendors were procuring white leghorn eggs of small size from poultries in Namakkal and Salem and later colouring them to give the effect of country chicken eggs.
“While one leghorn egg is sold for ₹5 to ₹5.50, the vendors were selling coloured eggs for ₹7 and above.
They were selling such coloured eggs as eggs of free-range country chicken which is superior to eggs laid by chicken grown in farm,” he said.
Food Safety officials did spot checks to find the adulteration by soaking suspected eggs in water and the colour was found dissolving in the water. Apart from destroying the 3,900 coloured eggs, officials warned the vendors not to sell adulterated eggs in the future.
Joint action to curb smuggling and sale of banned tobacco products
Banned tobacco products seized during a joint raid by the police and food safety officials.
‘Spot fine will bring down the sale of gutkha in Coimbatore’
The crackdown by the police and Food Safety Department on the sale of banned tobacco products is yet to cut the inflow of the contraband from other States to Coimbatore.
On Friday, the police seized 214.5 kg of banned tobacco products from a resident of P.N. Pudur on Maruthamalai Road. The seized products included multiple brands of gutka, manufacture and sale of which are banned in many States, including Tamil Nadu.
The police and Food Safety officials cite manpower constraints as a hurdle for full-fledged and dedicated action against the smuggling and sale of banned tobacco products. On an average, five to 10 cases are registered by the Coimbatore city and rural police a day under provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA), 2003. The numbers go up on days when special drives are conducted, say officials.
Coimbatore city police alone registered close 1,400 cases under the COTPA in 2019, majority of which were registered against those running petty shops. Sources with the Coimbatore rural police said that around 1,500 cases were registered in the rural limits for the offence in the same period.
In Coimbatore city, Police Commissioner Sumit Sharan has tasked Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) L. Balaji Saravanan to enforce the ban by deploying police personnel attached to the 15 law and order police stations. A senior police officer attached to the city police said that the main challenge in enforcing the ban was manpower constraints. The official admitted that police were also not able to take investigation to the next level to trace the supply chain of the contraband due to the same reason.
Officials with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said they were hopeful of bringing down the sale of banned tobacco products as the Food Safety Department recently empowered Designated Officers in each district to issue spot fine to those found stocking or selling the items.
K. Tamilselvan, Designated Officer of the FSSAI in Coimbatore, said that it booked 50 persons, most of them running petty shops and grocery stores, for stocking and selling prohibited tobacco products.
“We expect that the spot fining will bring down the sale of gutkha in Coimbatore as the fine amount slapped on the offender is high. Fine amount to the tune of ₹2.5 lakh was collected from the offenders during special checks conducted to enforce spot fining in the last one month,” he said.
While first time offender is slapped with a fine of ₹5,000, the fine amount doubles to ₹10,000 when a person is caught selling the products for a second time. A fine of ₹25,000 and cancellation of FSSAI’s registration certificate are the penalty for third-time offender.
District Collector K. Rajamani said that a meeting of officials from the police, FSSAI, Revenue Department and the local bodies will be held soon to discuss modalities to enforce the ban.
Food safety workshop held at CMC
K.S. Devaraj, Food Safety Officer, Ranipet, inspecting food samples at CMC, Vellore on Saturday.
Objective is to create awareness about nutritious food
A workshop on Food Safety—our responsibility to learn and share was organised at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore-Bagayam campus on Saturday. Food Safety Officer, Ranipet, K.S. Devaraj who inaugurated the workshop for Post Graduate and final year students of Department of Dietetics, CMC, Vellore, gave a detailed account of identification of food samples and asked the participants to be cautious on food adulteration.
Food safety lectures by experts were part of the programme, where the eminent speakers shared their knowledge at the discussions held later in the day and panellists discussed issues regarding food safety in current scenario at hospitals as well as at home.
The objective of the workshop was to create awareness and disseminate food safety measures to be followed in a hospital dietary kitchen to deliver safe nutritious food for patients, said B. Manimegalai, senior lecturer from the Department of Dietetics, CMC.
Food street certified by FSSAI at Hitec City
GHMC distributes ID cards to vendors to check authenticity.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a corporation official said even municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao has been impressed by a demonstration arranged by GHMC on hygienic street food.
Hyderabad: After Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Hyderabad will have a food street certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) opposite Shilparamam near Hi-Tec City.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has recently completed a certification programme for street vendors on use of specific cooking oils, preparing vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes at particular temperatures, and keeping the food items covered.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a corporation official said even municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao has been impressed by a demonstration arranged by GHMC on hygienic street food. The minister wanted that food streets be located in all the zones of the corporation for the benefit of people.
Serilingampally zone is slated to have the city’s first green vending street food zone. The food street at Shilparamam will be located near the underpass since it would not interrupt the traffic in the area and be pedestrian friendly.
The initiative for having food streets had been taken following a study conducted by third party agency Ernst & Young (EY) LLP.
When asked about the failure of implementing the street food vending policy in Hyderabad so far, the corporation official claimed that HMRL and traffic police have played spoilsport in this regard. While HMRL disturbed the location of vending zones, traffic police did not agree with remaining locations citing traffic issues.
The GHMC official said the corporation has distributed identity cards to street food vendors so that people could check their authenticity.
Feb 1, 2020
‘Eat Right School Kerala’ begins
Campaign aims at including children in conversations about healthy eating
Nearly 300 students from five city schools signed up to become ambassadors of the Eat Right School Kerala 2020 campaign here on Friday.
Implemented by the Food Safety Department as part of the Aardram mission in the district, Eat Right School Kerala aims at creating healthy food habits among children, helping them identify food with adulterants, and reduce junk food intake so as to grow into a healthy generation.
Eat Right School is a campaign of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to get children to eat food that is safe and right (Safe and Nutritious Food at School). The aim is to engage with children and include them in conversations about healthy eating, especially in the wake of a high burden of lifestyle diseases.
The FSSAI recently released draft regulations on safe food and healthy diet for students.
Food Safety officials said Eat Right School was also connected with other initiatives such as setting hygiene parameters for street vendors such as training and certification. The students ambassadors should make others students aware of the importance of eating safe and right, they said.
As part of the launch of Eat Right School Kerala, yoga, a session on mental health, and walkathon from Kanakakkunnu to Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium’s Bhagyamala auditorium were organised for students.
V.S. Sivakumar, MLA and former Health Minister, who inaugurated the programme, said communicable diseases and lifestyle diseases were the biggest health challenges in these times.
Food safety department launches ‘Eat right’ campaign
A talk on junk food was delivered by nutritional expert, Tara Kumari as part of the function.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Demonstration on importance of safe consumption, talks on adulteration, health hazards of junk food and a walkathon to promote food safety awareness were some of the programmes organised by the Food Safety Department as part of its ‘Eat right’ campaign on Friday. The event which kickedoff with a walkathon from Kanakakunnu Palace saw the participation of over 400 students from five schools.
Government GHSS (Peroorkada), Cotton Hill GHSS (Vazhuthacaud), Carmel GHSS and Sarvodaya Vidyalaya (Nalanchira) participated in the walkathon which finished at Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, Palayam. A session on the importance of avoiding stress in daily life was helmed by Dr Kiran Kumar, psychiatrist at Mental Health Centre, Peroorkada.
A talk on junk food was delivered by nutritional expert, Tara Kumari as part of the function. “Junk food can be made in a healthy manner at home. Children should eat only a small portion of junk food,” said Tara. Students also had the opportunity to taste burgers, pizzas, cookies and snacks made from healthy ingredients during the one and a half hour session.
“Cookery contests need to be conducted at the school level to explore the possibility of making food healthier. This will help students to be more conscious of their food habits and promote better health,” added Tara. A quiz on food safety which saw the participation of 17 teams from various schools of the city was another highlight of the event.
Health Dept collects seven food samples
Patiala, January 31
The Health Department issued notices to five food handlers for not possessing registration certificates today.
The District Health Officer (DHO), Shelly Jetly, served notices for violating the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006.
Dr Shelly said they would continue to issue notices to food handlers who violate the guidelines. The DHO collected seven food samples from various shops located on Patiala-Sirhind Road. The food samples included daal, tea, sugar, eggless mayonnaise, channa and wheat flour. The DHO said the samples would be sent to the state laboratory
Jan 31, 2020
IIFPT signs pact with FSSAI to ensure food safety in preparation, distribution of temple prasadam
THANJAVUR: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has initiated a project to encourage all places of worship to adopt and maintain food safety and hygiene in the preparation and distribution of ‘prasadam’, FSSAI chairperson Rita Teaotia said.
After inaugurating a modern food testing laboratory-cum training centre on the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) campus in Thanjavur on Thursday, Rita said that global food safety has to be ensured in the country by promoting modern food safety practices. It has been a big challenge to cover the population of 1.35 billion people with minimum facility and resources in the country.
While speaking about BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God) project, she said that the places of worship are a very important part of Indian society and food served at these places is regarded as pure and sacred. Food safety measures also need to be implemented at such places.
“FSSAI has initiated a project to encourage all places of worship to adopt and maintain food safety and hygiene in the preparation of prasadam. All the places of worship that distribute prasadam, including vendors are required to obtain FSSAI licence or registration and they also need to follow the sanitary and hygiene practices as per the food safety standards regulations. In this context, IIFPT has signed an MoU with the managements of Brihadeeswarar Temple, Punnainallur Mariamman Temple and Shirdi Saibaba Temple in Thanjavur for ensuring safe distribution of prasadam,” she said.
“It is high time to bring street vendors and restaurants under the regulations of the FSSAI. The testing-cum training centre established by the IIFPT will serve public, farmers, researchers and students in a big way for the production of safe food and would serve as a skill promotion hub for food safety and hygiene,” she said.
The newly-created the centre has essential facilities for testing potential food contaminants such as microbial identification system, genetic analyser, and pathogen screening, director of IIFPT Dr C Anandharamakrishnan said.
“The centre is unique in screening and testing a wide range of pathogens and microbes in food. The MoU signed with the temple managements will enable skill development for personnel handling at temple kitchens, periodical quality check on food safety and hygiene. The IIFPT also plans to join hands with FSSAI local authorities for testing and safe food distribution in the forthcoming consecration at the Big Temple on February 5,” he said.
Earlier, IIFPT officials signed an MoU with temple managements for the safe distribution of prasadam in the presence of FSSAI chairperson Rita Teaotia. Over 700 people participated in an awareness campaign organized during the event on ‘Eat Right India’.
‘Use of chemicals to ripen fruits amounts to poisoning consumers’
Sending culprits to jail will have deterrent effect: HC
The Delhi High Court has observed that use of pesticides and chemicals to ripen fruits amounts to poisoning the consumer, while noting that invoking penal provisions against the culprits would have a deterrent effect.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Sistani and A.J. Bhambani said, “Using chemicals like calcium carbide to ripen mangoes is like poisoning somebody. Why should the Indian Penal Code be not invoked against them?”
“Send such persons to jail, even if for two days and it would have a deterrent effect,” the Bench said while hearing a petition initiated by the court to monitor use of pesticides on fruits and vegetables.
The High Court asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India [FSSAI] if calcium carbide was still being used to ripen fruits, like mangoes and sought the presence of its Chief Executive Officer to assist it on the next date of hearing.
It also asked the Ministry of Agriculture if any kit was available for consumers to test for calcium carbide at home. The Ministry replied that no such kit was available as the presence of calcium carbide can only be tested in laboratories with the help of proper equipment and additional chemicals.
The Delhi government told the High Court that it has been picking up samples from the various markets in the Capital for tests and also carrying out awareness drives. It also told the court that some of the samples were tested and no chemicals were found and the results of other sample tests were awaited.
Apart from the petition initiated by the court on its own, the High Court was also hearing two other pleas by private individuals seeking directions to the authorities to curb the use of pesticides and other chemicals on food products, especially the agricultural produce, coming into the national capital.
An earlier report by amicus curiae Rajul Jain had stated that due to excessive usage of pesticides in fruits and vegetable, “various countries have banned the import of Indian vegetables and fruits and many more were under scrutiny”.
Food business operators fined
Officials from the Food Safety Department conducted a special drive here recently and fined food business operators for various violations under the Food Safety Act.
The drive was conducted on January 24 and 25. The officials checked the premises of bakeries, beeda stalls and other general stores. They raided around 33 places and fined 20 shops to the tune of ₹1 lakh for use of banned products like hans and 13 shops to the tune of ₹26,000 for use of banned plastic items. The officials warned that action would be taken against repeat offenders.
Jan 30, 2020
Rice, plastic items seized
Personnel from the Civil Supplies Department on Tuesday seized 16,000 kg of rice, meant for distribution through the PDS. Officials intercepted a lorry on the K.V. Kuppam-Katpadi Road, and found the rice.
In a separate incident, a surprise raid carried out by Food Safety Officials and Revenue Department officials in Natrampalli on Tuesday, under instructions of the Tirupattur District Collector, and over 2.5 tonnes of banned plastic items were seized.
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to be strict on food safety from February 1
The civic body will also initiate the registration for Subhojanam project that aims at food safety from February 1.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: February is going to be a busy one for Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation. After making it clear that only registered water tankers can ply in the city from February, the civic body will also initiate the registration for Subhojanam project that aims at food safety from February 1. To improve the productivity in the city corporation, punching and CCTV cameras will also start functioning in the main office from February.
The packed schedule is a result of the 100-day action plan which was launched last November on the fourth anniversary of the LDF-led Corporation.
Mayor K Sreekumar promised better meat waste disposal system and stricter implementation of the meat waste collection by corporation as part of the 100 day plan while he addressed the media on Friday at Mascot hotel here.
Subhojanam
The project aims at carving a hygienic food culture and to ensure that food safety standards are met across the corporation limit. A licence will be provided to all associated with food making and distribution after providing them training and a health test.
“The registration is free of cost and the process should be completed within one month. The test and training will be completed within six months. After six months since implementation, we will fix a licence fee. The project is a key in ensuring safe and hygienic food in the city,” said Mayor K Sreekumar.
Jan 29, 2020
9 food handlers issued notices
Officials issue a notice at Kalyan village on Tuesday.
Patiala, January 28
The food wing of the Health Department today issued notices to nine food handlers for not possessing registration certificates. The notices had been issued for violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSAI), 2006.
Issuing a warning to the violators, the department said they would impose fine if the violators failed to get registration certificates in seven days.
The notices were issued during a raid by District Health Officer (DHO) Shelly Jetly. She said no food handlers would be allowed to sell food products without registration.
“We have given seven days’ time window for the violators to get themselves registered as per the Act. If they fail to comply with the notices, they will be slapped fine,” the DHO said.
The Health Department had been conducting several camps to make food handlers aware of registration certificates. However, a majority of the food handlers have been reportedly selling food products without licence.
The department collected as many as six food samples from various villages. The DHO said the samples were sent to the state lab.
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