HC asks FSSAI stand on carbide

Hyderabad: Justice T Vinod Kumar of the Telangana high court on Tuesday sought to the stand of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on a petition that charged the police with creating obstacles in the sale of ethylene sachets for artificially ripening fruits like mangos. Following the furore over usage of calcium carbide for the purpose, the FSSAI had banned the use of carbide because it was proved to be harmful.

In its place, it suggested the use of ethylene to ripen the fruits. Stating that though had obtained permission to sell ethylene sachets, police in Telangana are creating hurdles in its sale, SGS International firm approached the high court. We are selling FSSAI approved Ethylene ripening sachets in India for ripening mangos because it was approved by the FSSAI to ripen mango, banana and papaya fruits, the firm’s partner Rajesh Selarkar said in his plea. Though the police booked a case against us in 2018, later they closed it after they received a report from the forensic lab that our sachets are not harmful, he said.

Now the Government of Telangana appears to be supporting a dealer who is selling a similar product with a brand name En-ripe, the petitioner said. In order to support and promote the En-ripe dealer, the Hyderabad Police are publishing banners to not to use the product of SGS International and to use only the product of En-ripe. Now they have again booked cases against the small mango traders, he said. As a similar plea by another firm too was pending with the court, the judge directed the registry to tag it along with the current plea and posted both of them to Wednesday.

New online portal to simplify food licencing norms

Panaji: A new online platform has been introduced for food operators to apply for and renew registrations under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched a cloud-based, upgraded food safety licencing and compliance online platform called the Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCos), replacing the Food Licencing and Registration System (FLRS) which was used for applying and renewing licenses and registrations under FSSA.

The new online platform is conceptualised to provide a one-point stop for all engagements with food business operators with the regulatory department for matters relating to licencing, renewals, modification, and inspection, as well as with provisions to file annual returns.

For food operators in the manufacturing business, the system offers a paradigm change in the shift of methodology of licencing.

This is expected to help manufacturers endorse their products as per the list of standardised products under FSSA, in the licence product category

According to the old FLRS system, for a manufacturer of a particular product like “carbonated water”, the FLRS system would ask to endorse a general beverage category to your license. This new system allows endorsement of exact product in case of all standardised products, and in case of non-standards products, manufacturers will have to opt for proprietary foods category.

The existing manufacturers, re-packers and relabelers will have to make the necessary change to their existing licence by logging in to the new system using the existing user credentials, same user Id and password as used in FLRS, and make the necessary endorsement and modification to their existing license for product category before December 31, 2020, without paying any licence fee.

DINAKARAN NEWS

Eating out in times of Covid-19: Hygiene, social distancing norms in focus as restaurants, retailers gear up to reopen in India

Restaurant operators and retailers are now looking forward to resume business activities after the government on Saturday allowed them to re-open from June 8.23 IST

Customers sit inside an Indian restaurant amidst the easing of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in the Parramatta suburb of western Sydney, Australia, May 29, 2020. 

Restaurant operators and retailers are now looking forward to resume business activities after the government on Saturday allowed them to re-open from June 8.

Several Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) operators have redesigned and reorganised layouts of their dining facilities to adhere social distancing norms along with additional hygiene features, while some have also introduced home delivery and take-away.

While most of the players welcomed government’s order to reopen restaurants and shopping malls in a phased manner from June 8, saying that it would help the economy to recover; others have also cautioned pointing out that more clarity on guidelines is required as respective state governments and the local administration would have a wider say in this.

QSR chain operator KFC India said the new guidelines would help people to resume their regular life. Assuring safety and well being of its customers, the company has modified the restaurant designs to reinforce social distancing, and trained team members according to the new norms.

“We have planned for ways in which consumers can enjoy their favourite KFC food with friends and family when they come to the restaurants, while being assured of their safety.

“We have modified the restaurant designs to reinforce social distancing, trained team members according to new norms and are implementing measures like distanced seating arrangements, demarcated waiting spots in the queues, controlled customer inflow,” KFC India CMO Moksh Chopra said.

Burman Hospitality, which is the Master Franchise Partner in India for Taco Bell’s, said it would re-open its restaurants with additional hygiene and safety measures, following social distancing norms both on the restaurant floors as well as in the kitchens.

“Restaurant brands like ours have been working diligently on creating and testing new ways of operations designed for the post COVID-19 world.

“To reinforce this, we have been gaining knowledge from what other Taco Bell franchisees have been adopting globally and have already started introducing a number of features that will make us the safest restaurants in India,” Burman Hospitality VP - Operations Mandeep Singh Sethi said.

Some examples are re-organising restaurant layouts, creating an end-to-end contactless dining experience for consumers, as well as introducing new business models which have a greater focus on delivery and take-away, he added.

McDonald’s India (North and East) also said it has implemented safety measures at its restaurant.

“We are studying best practices which are followed globally as well as understanding the local guidelines, basis which we are preparing to ensure a safe and hygienic environment for our customers as well as for our employees,” said McDonald’s India (North and East) in a statement.

Expressing similar sentiments, a spokesperson of Burger King India said: “We welcome the government’s announcement about opening up of restaurants. We are delighted to offer safe, hygienic and tasty food to consumers in these tough times”.

National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) though has welcomed the government relaxation guidelines, but said it failed to understand the logic of keeping out bars from the purview of permitted activities and the same must be permitted as well.

“We now await to engage with various state governments to put together stringent safeguards to ensure safe environment for our consumers and employees. As a responsible industry body, we had voluntarily closed down our business in larger health risks to our guests and employees and we will like all safeguards to be in place before we open our restaurants again,” NRAI President Anurag Katriar.

It must also not be forgotten that the current permitted hours of business is also very limited and needs to be extended further in due course, he added.

Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI) ) has said that the move would help ease pressure from the industry and start the process of revival.

“The relaxation is certainly going to help ease an unimaginable amount of pressure that was put on the industry following the lockdown. Revival and resurgence is a long process, which has just about begun. We will await further information from MOHFW to ensure the guidelines are followed in letter and spirit,” said SCAI Chairman Amitabh Taneja.

Retailers Association of India (RAI) said opening of malls and all categories of retail “is important to save millions of jobs and revive the economy”.

“Retailers and malls have to ensure standard operating procedures so that citizens are safe and the people working in these places are also safe. We have been in touch with various government officials since lockdown and we believe that the government is satisfied that the malls would follow the SOPs as is required,” RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said.

Arun Singhal Appointed CEO of Food Regulator FSSAI

Senior bureaucrat Arun Singhal has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of India’s apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). He will succeed GSG Ayyangar.

A 1987-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Mr Singhal, is at present Special Secretary in the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The FSSAI comes under the purview of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It is responsible for setting up standards for the food industry and regulate the manufacturing, storage, distribution, sale, and import of foods.