Feb 16, 2013

Aavin: Collector serious about adulteration plaints

Is a chemical powder being added to the milk?
Are you sure that the Aavin milk you give your child is safe? Milk producers say it's not.
A chemical powder is being substituted for milk on a large scale by some of the farmers who sell their milk to Aavin, according to complaints made to Collector Anshul Mishra here on Friday. “Despite complaints made against this kind of adulteration, Aavin officials have not taken any concrete steps to prevent it, and also no action has been taken against those involved in it,” said P.S. Muthupandi, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Association. He was supported by K. Devarajan of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam.
Mr. Muthupandi said that after the issue was brought to the Collector’s notice through the public grievance redressal page on Facebook that officials started rejecting such adulterated milk.
“This chemical, said to be brought from Kerala, is being sold to the farmers in Chellampatti union. It costs around Rs. 250 a kg. When half a kilo of powder is mixed in 40 litres of water, the water turns milky. It passes the lactometer tasting tests,” he said.
He said that customers were buying the Aavin milk with great faith in the product. “It was being promoted as a healthy drink for children, the aged and for patients in hospitals,” he said.
When the Collector sought an explanation, an Aavin official said that such milk had been rejected following complaints.
Mr. Devaraj asked the Aavin official, “All that you did was discard the adulterated stuff. But what is the action you have taken against those involved in adulteration.”
“Should not Aavin officials doubt when somebody suddenly supplied abnormally higher quantity of milk to the cooperative societies?” Mr. Muthupandi asked the official.
Not satisfied with the official’s answer, the Collector said that it was a very serious issue. He promised to look into the allegation and take stringent action against the officials, if they had failed to prevent adulteration.

Demand safe food, Naveen tells people

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stressed that the State Government was giving utmost importance to providing safe drinking water to people.
 He was speaking at the 2nd National Seminar on Food Safety, organised by the Institute of Quality and Environment Management Services Pvt ltd (IQEMS) on Friday.
 Naveen stated that since food is a basic necessity, unhygienic practices should be shunned. As food safety was a low priority in developing countries, greater efforts should be given on creating awareness and people should start demanding safe food.
“The food sold by street vendors should be monitored closely for safety standards. People in the food industry should be trained in hygienic practices too,” said Naveen.
 The two-day seminar on ‘Challenges and Opportunities in food Safety in Food Processing Industry’ was attended by people from food safety, processing and manufacturing industries.
 Ministry of Commerce Joint Secretary and Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) Chairman Asit Tripathy spoke on the need for more laboratories, both by private and government institutes to test the standard of food in the State.
In last five years India exported food amounting to `1,65,000 crore. “Food export is disrupted everyday due to high standards expected by the private buyers,” said Tripathy.
Another major concern is the use of pesticide in agriculture. The incidence of cancer due to chemical pesticide residue has been rising. Tourism and Culture Principal Secretary Ashok Tripathy mentioned that food safety was one of their top priorities considering the number of hotels and restaurants that they have to operate.
 Discussion on Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, will take place on the second day. The participants will deliberate on a road map to achieve better food safety standards in the State. IQEMS MD Debabrata Panigrahi, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) member DP Guha and seminar chairman DN Padhi were present.

State to empanel 5 more labs for testing food

The State government will empanel five more laboratories, apart from the food testing labs at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, under the Food Safety wing for testing food samples as part of the proper implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006.
These include the Quality Evaluation lab of Spices Board, and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology’s lab, both at Kochi, the Pesticides Control Lab of Agriculture University, Vellayani, the Microbiology lab of DFRD at Konni, and the laboratory of Cashew Export Promotion Council at Kollam.