Health risks in roadside chill pill

RANCHI: As the heat gets unbearable, Ranchiites put health concerns to rest and flock to roadside refreshment stalls to quench their thirst.

With mercury levels rising, several fruit juice and local ice-cream stalls have sprung up at several points in the city. From college students, office-goers to daily wage earners, people of all ages can be seen queuing up near roadside vendors, especially during the afternoon. Manisha Kumari, a college student, said, "When college is over and I am on my way back home, I always stop by the refreshment stalls either to drink fruit juice or have an ice cream. It reenergizes me and prevents heat stroke too."

These roadside vendors provide a variety of choices to their customers. Wood apple juice and sattu drink are popular. Arvind Goyel, a salesman ,said, "I live alone here and usually do not get time to prepare breakfast before I leave for work. In such a situation, drinking sattu is the best alternative."

However, popularity of these stalls does not rule out the fact that these fruit drinks are unhygienic. Flies can be seen swarming around these stalls as most of them are situated near drains for convenience of vendors to dispose waste. The vendors do not wash their utensils or machines properly which only aggravate possibilities water-bourne diseases.

On being questioned about the hygiene of the lemon juice he sells, Chhotu Kumar, a vendor, said, "There is a tap nearby from which all the local people drink water. I get water from the same place. It is hygienic."

Despite the claims of these vendors, there have been reports of people falling ill after drinking these roadside drinks. Mahesh Prasad, who is suffering from food poisoning said, "As fruits are good for health, I used to drink fruit juice from a roadside vendor near my office. But I fell ill recently and my doctor said I had developed infection from regularly drinking roadside fruit juices."

The food safety department is conducting raids and collecting samples from these roadside stalls. Additional chief medical officer, Dr N N Sengupta, who is heading the raids said, "We are collecting samples from various stalls and sending them for tests. Once the results are out, those selling unhygienic fruit drinks will be asked to shut down. We are conducting raids even when we are getting complaints from public."

Dinakaran

TNFS Dept. - Nagai District & Other District News

 

TNFS Dept. - Dharmapuri District News

TNFS Dept. - Salem District News

Health officials inspect ice manufacturing units

Consuming sugarcane juice and fruit juice from roadside vendors may be dangerous as the industrial ice cubes mixed with these juices are said to be prepared in an unhygienic way.
This may cause diarrhea and other water-borne diseases.
Led by T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, Salem, the health team inspected six ice manufacturing units in the district on Friday and found contaminated water, unhygienic ice slabs and ammonium gas being used to prepare the bars.
The bars are broken and used for mixing with fruit juices, sugarcane and lassi that may cause viral fever and gastro-intestinal diseases.
Though the manufacturer said that the ice bars were used for refrigerating fish and other products, health officials found road side vendors buying in large numbers to mix with juices.
As mercury hovers around 40 degree Celsius in the district, consumers prefer to add more ice cubes to the juices for a chill.
But roadside shops and shops functioning without valid license use these ice cubs, said the health official. These cubes are the source of danger, the official said.
Ms. Anuradha told The Hindu that the manufacturers were warned against the use of such ice.
Samples have been taken to be sent to laboratory in Chennai.
After obtaining the results, notices would be served on such ice manufacturers under The Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, she said.

Ice-makers call off plant lockdown

The Kerala State Ice Manufacturers’ Association has called off its two-day old lockdown of ice plants that began on Thursday protesting against food safety authorities’ order of closure of 15 ice plants in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.

But for the 15 ordered to be closed, all the ice plants—which mainly served fishing industry—reopened late Friday afternoon. This followed the association’s talks with Health Minister V.S. Shivkumar and Joint Food Safety Commissioner K. Anilkumar.

Food safety officials had found traces of formalin and ammonia in samples taken from 13 of the 15, and traces of ammonia in the other two. Officials said a part of the ice blocks found their way to cool-drink shops and fruit-juice vendors, thus posing huge health risks. The ice blocks were mainly used to increase the shelf life of fish, thus putting the health of a majority of Keralites at risk.

Had the strike continued, the shortage of ice would have deeply hurt the fishing industry as ice is the main preservative used in the industry. It would also have hurt seafood exports.

K. Uthaman, general secretary of the association, said that they were calling off the strike on the assurance that ice plants would not be ‘arbitrarily’ force-closed without giving them time to take corrective steps.

The association had agreed that all the plants would secure licence from the Food Safety Authority and that they would abide by the norms stipulated by the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The Joint Commissioner of Food Safety, K. Anil Kumar, said the samples taken from the ice plants were sent to the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi, for tests. The closed plants would only be allowed to reopen after getting the test results and the plants took corrective steps.

Food Safety Commissioner Biju Prabhakar, who is currently away at Mussorie, told The Hindu that all the ice plants in the State would be constantly under the authorities’ scanner.

Mr. Prabhakar rejected ice makers’ contention that ice was not a food item and that it did not warrant the safety standards stipulated for food stuff.

Since ice was being used as a preservative of fish, which the majority of Keralites ate, there was no question of lowering the norms for the plants, he said.

File Compliance Report on Gutkha Ban: SC to States

Sending a stern message to states and Union Territories, the Supreme Court today warned them to file compliance report on gutkha ban in their areas within six weeks or face its contempt proceedings.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and Ranjana Desai pulled up the governments for their failure to file report within the stipulated time and said they will have to face consequences if they do not comply with its order within six weeks.

"We are giving clear warning to the governments. We would initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against them if they fail to file report on compliance of banning gutkha products in their states. Those who do not file report shall do at their own peril," the bench said.

The bench had on April 3, had directed 23 states and 5 UTs, which have banned sale and manufacture of gutkha products, to file compliance reports on the implementation of the ban. It had also sought response from other states as why they have not banned such products.

Granting last opportunity to state to file their report, the bench said, "We would make state counsel stand in the court for entire day if they fail to comply with our order."

Gutkha, zarda, pan masala, bajjar and such other toxic and addictive forms of chewing tobacco are mandated to be banned by various states, as per Rules under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations of 2011, made under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The apex court was hearing a petition seeking ban on tobacco product in the country and preventing use of plastic sachet for any product.

China busts ring selling rat meat as mutton

BEIJING: Chinese police have broken a crime ring that passed off more than $1 million in rat and small mammal meat as mutton, authorities said, in a food safety crackdown that coincides with a bird flu outbreak and other environmental pressures.
Authorities have arrested 904 suspects since the end of January for selling and producing fake or tainted meat products, the ministry of public security said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday. During the crackdown, police discovered one suspect surnamed Wei who had used additives to spice up and sell rat, fox and mink meat at markets in Shanghai and Jiangsu province.
Police arrested 63 suspects connected to the crime ring in a case valued at more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in sales since 2009. Despite persistent efforts by police, "food safety crimes are still prominent, and new situations are emerging with new characteristics", the ministry's statement said, citing "responsible officials". Police confiscated over 20,000 tonnes of fake meat products after breaking up illegal food plants during the nationwide operation, the ministry said.