Squads to check price rise

V.S. Sivakumar reviews Sabarimala arrangements
The government will step up market-intervention activities to contain the prices of fruits and vegetables during the Mandalam and Makaravilakku festivals, Minister Devaswom V.S. Sivakumar has said.
Special squads comprising the police, Revenue, Civil Supplies, Health, and Legal Metrology Departments would be constituted to arrest prices and ensure the quality of commodities during the festival season, the Minister said during a video conference with District Collectors here on Tuesday.

Civil Supplies Corporation, Consumerfed, and Horticorp would open outlets. Food Safety officials would intensify inspections. Road maintenance was being completed in a time-bound manner. More medical facilities would be in place. KSRTC would operate more services. The police would take steps to ensure the safety of pilgrims and prevent their exploitation at the hands of traders, he said.
Devaswom Secretary K.R. Jyothilal and Travancore Devaswom Board Commissioner P. Venugopal were present.

Sample taken from sago factories in Salem

70 samples sent to laboratory in Chennai  - Food safety officials inspect factories

Officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India inspected sago factories across the district and took samples on Tuesday.
This comes following samples drawn from six companies manufacturing sago in the district were found to be adulterated. On Tuesday, four teams inspected companies in Attur, Panamarathupatti and Pethanaickenpalayam and took samples.
A team led by T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, inspected a company on the Salem – Bangalore National Highway and took samples. Samples would be sent to Food Analysis Laboratory in Chennai to check for possible adulteration in the food samples .

DINAMALAR NEWS

FDA to check 100 samples of Diwali sweets

PUNE: Officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have drawn over 100 samples of sweets and milk products such as khoya, besides other ingredients used in making sweets such as rawa, maida and other flours between October 24 and November 2 to check for adulteration during the Diwali festival.
The officials also seized ghee, vanaspati (hydrogented vegetable oil) and edible oil worth Rs 3.85 lakh, suspecting they were adulterated, during this period.
"We have drawn a total of 117 samples of sweets containing silver foil, khoya, chocolate and ingredients such as rawa, maida, besan and vegetable oil, that are commonly used to make homemade sweets during Diwali. We have sent the samples for testing to the State Public Health Laboratory. The reports are awaited," said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune.
Officials said the checks were important as adulteration can cause serious health problems. Presence of harmful starch, urea-mixed milk, caustic soda, artificial sweetening chemicals, non-approved colored sweets (such as heavy metals incorporated malachite green) and unhygienic conditions in the kitchen can cause acute gastritis, serious diarrhoea, dysentery, dehydration and kidney inflammation. Silver foil ('varakh') used for decorating sweets and tobacco is not always silver foil, but could also be aluminum, the consumption of which can pose serious health problems.
"We have drawn total 27 samples of sweets containing silver foil and eight samples of silver foil only to rule out adulteration," said Dilip Sangat, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Pune
According to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, silver foil should be 99.9% pure to be used in edible form. Aluminium foil is whitish gray and is readily soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid while silver foil is not. "Knowing this simple thing can avert unhealthy impact on body," an official said.
Test your food
* Ghee or butter: Vanaspati, if adulterated, would turn red when sugar and hydrochloric acid is mixed with it
* Edible oil: If adulterated with argemone oil, it will turn red when treated with nitric acid
* 'Pithi' sugar: Adulteration with washing soda can be detected if there is effervescence when a few drops of hydrochloric acid is added to it
* Honey: A cotton wick dipped in pure honey would burn when lit with a match stick. If adulterated with sugar solution, the presence of water will not let it burn. If it does, it will produce a cracking sound
* Silver foil: Aluminium foil is whitish gray in colour and is readily soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid while pure silver foil is not
Protection from adulteration
The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 makes adulteration punishable by fine and imprisonment. In Maharashtra, food safety officials collect samples of various foods from time to time. These are analysed in government public health laboratories. If the samples are found to be adulterated, legal action is taken against the vendors
Dial FDA
Consumers who suspect that a food article is adulterated, can inform the assistant commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, in their area who will at once look into their complaint. For assistance, call FDA office on 020-24470276

Adulteration test results declaration likely in 2 days

Sweets shop owners are anxiously waiting for the results of adulteration test which is likely to be declared after two days. Sources reveal that looking at the present scenario authorities are expecting majority of sweet-makers to be found guilty.

To ensure selling of healthy sweets during festive season Food and Drug testing laboratory authorities had collected food samples from all across the State few days back. As many as 211 food samples were collected from the entire Jharkhand, out of which 51 food samples, were from Ranchi.

Director-in chief of Food and Drug testing laboratory TP Barnwal said, “Provision gives the authorities two weeks time to present the result of adulteration test but we are trying to produce it within two days. The concerned officers are trying their best to present it on the decided time.”

The testing work is being carried out in the laboratory situated at Namkom.  Ranchi Additional chief manager Officer (ACMO) of Food and Drug testing laboratory MM Sengupta said, “We are finding that adulteration in Besan (gram flour) and Arhar dal is prevalent. Khesari dal is found mixed with gram flour in large quantity which is considered harmful for human digestive system and a lead based, carcinogenic dye called metanil yellow are been found in Arhar dal, harmful for brain and kidney.”

According to Sengupta if any sweet-maker is found guilty, he will be punished under provisions of Food Safety and Standard Act 2006. Under this act guilty have to pay fine upto Rs one lakh and one’s license can also be cancelled. He further added that in case of minor adulteration the file is forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Guilty sweet-makers get bail after paying fine. If the case is major then after seeking permission from Food Safety Commissioner the file is forwarded to Chief Judicial Magistrate. In this process, the guilty gets life time imprisonment.  The guilty has the provision of filing his petition in upper court or in food tribunal. If the decision remains same there they have to obey the punishment.

Meanwhile, Sweet-makers whose food samples have been collected are keeping their fingers crossed. Owner of Sweet India Pawan Tekhriwal said, “At this point of time we are just waiting for the results and hope that we come out clean as we have adhered to all safety measures.”

Will monitor langars in holy city: SGPC Perneet Singh

Amritsar, November 5

 The death of a devotee, Amarjit Singh of Jabalpur (MP), after consuming langar near Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai here on Diwali has brought to the fore the SGPC's failure to have a mechanism in place to keep a check on the food being served near gurdwaras.
A number of stalls are put up near historic gurdwaras or on approach roads, serving langar to thousands of devotees thronging the holy city on auspicious occasions. But neither the SGPC nor the local administration cares to monitor these stalls.
The SGPC seems to have woken up to the issue and has ordered an inquiry into the incident, besides deciding to monitor langars and chhabeels set up around the Golden Temple complex on various occasions.
The SGPC has directed assistant secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhurakohna to probe the incident. SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said it was a serious incident and appeared to be a conspiracy as others who also partook of langar from the same spot were fine. He said once the probe was over they would initiate a legal action.
No private organisation seeks permission from the MC authorities before holding langar, which is a violation of the norms. Admitting to this, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said he would direct the authorities to implement the norm and ensure that a medical team was sent for sampling as well.
Meanwhile, the police is investigating the matter and the officials say the exact reason behind Amarjit Singh's death will be ascertained only after receiving his viscera examination report.
Registration a must
As per the law, it is mandatory for all langar committees to get themselves registered under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. The Act has become operational in the state with effect from August 8, 2011.
Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, District Health Officer, said: "The deadline for getting registered under the Act has been extended to February 2014. We will approach all religious and social organisations organising langars to get themselves registered."
He said: "We had sent our team to collect the samples yesterday after the incident was reported. But by the time the team reached there, the organisers had left the spot".
Waking up to reality
A number of stalls are put up near historic gurdwaras to serve langar to devotees on auspicious occasions
The SGPC has so far failed to keep a check on food being served near gurdwaras run by it
On Sunday, Amarjit Singh of Jabalpur (MP) died after consuming langar near Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai
The SGPC, which has ordered a probe into the incident, says it could be a conspiracy as not all who ate langar fell ill
Officialspeak

It is mandatory for all langar committees to get themselves registered under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. Not a single body has been registered so far — SS Kahlon, Health Officer

Gutka seized from train at Ernakulam Junction Station

Thirty kg of gutka was seized from the Millennium Express on Monday at the Ernakulam Junction Station. According to officials of Food Safety Department, the gutka was found in an unidentified baggage inside a train compartment.
“Since there were no claims made to the bag, we destroyed the gutka packets,” an official said.The Railway Protection Force (RPF) had found the baggage lying unattended inside the train. When they examined it, they discovered the gutka packets.Food Safety officers added that they have begun state-wide raids to trace the flow of gutka packets. On Sunday,over 50 kilos of gutka were discovered from Alappuzha railway station.Though gutka and pan masala have been banned in the state, RPF officials said the packets keep arriving in trains. Most of them arrive from northern parts of the country. The RPF is taking strict measures to counter this, they said.

Govt may rope in NSS volunteers to streamline mid-day meal scheme

HRD ministry exploring possibility to involve National Service Scheme volunteers to monitor welfare programme 

After the Bihar incident, parents, administrators and experts have blamed poor monitoring mechanisms, not enough kitchens and a huge shortage of cooks for repeated irregularities.

New Delhi: After 23 children died of eating pesticide-laced lunch in a Bihar school on 16 July, the human resource development (HRD) ministry is scrambling to streamline its mid-day meal scheme.
The ministry may involve volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS), run by the youth affairs ministry, to monitor the welfare programme aimed at ending classroom hunger and lowering dropout rates.
“We should explore the possibility of involving the youth in the mid-day meal scheme,” HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju said. The NSS has more than 3.2 million volunteers from 298 educational institutions.
Raju on Thursday held a meeting with officials from the ministries of health and family welfare, rural development, tribal affairs, youth affairs, minorities affairs, and drinking water and sanitation departments to discuss ways to smoothly operate the mid-day meal scheme and prevent incidents such as the one in Dharmasati Gandaman village of Saran district in Bihar.
The health ministry suggested involving accredited social health activists (Asha) to monitor the nutrition and hygiene aspects of the food scheme.
“A mechanism should be explored to utilize over 800,000 Asha workers in villages to get their support for monitoring the quality and hygiene of the meal,” health secretary K. Desiraju suggested in the meeting. Ashas are the foot soldiers of the National Rural Health Mission, a welfare programme to provide access to healthcare in rural India.
Nearly half the students enrolling in class I drop out before reaching class X, owing mostly to poverty and hunger. There are more than 133 million students in primary schools. The mid-day meal programme is largely funded by a 2% education cess on income tax payers. In the 2013-14 national budget, the central government allocated Rs.13,215 crore for the scheme.
After the Bihar incident, parents, administrators and experts have blamed poor monitoring mechanisms, not enough kitchens and a huge shortage of cooks for repeated irregularities. In the past two years, 116 cases of students falling ill after eating lunch in schools have been reported from across the country, official data show.
There have been recent demands for a dedicated cadre to oversee the school lunch programme.
“I think the government needs to rope in external monitors and relieve teachers from the mid-day meal scheme,” Raghavendra Prasad Singh, a teacher in a government school in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. “Once you have a dedicated cadre, it will help both education and the scheme.”
The key concerns for the mid-day meal programme are its poor supply chain and supply of poor quality cereals, according to N.C. Saxena, a Supreme Court-appointed commissioner who monitors programmes that seek to eliminate hunger.
Saxena, who is a member of the National Advisory Committee that sets the social agenda of the United Progressive Alliance government, pointed out that late payments to school management committees also impede the scheme.
Reacting to the observation, school education secretary R. Bhattacharya said his ministry might make electronic payments to cut down the time lag, a method already used in Kerala.
On the monitoring of quality and hygiene, K. Chandramouli, chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, suggested in the meeting that the HRD ministry could utilize its 300 accredited labs to periodically test the food served to the children.
The anger and apprehension of parents over the welfare scheme may have negative implications for the ruling coalition in New Delhi.
“When you spend over Rs.13,000 crore on a scheme, you expect a better result, but the situation indicates otherwise,” an independent education consultant said, requesting anonymity.

FSSAI labeling issue hits packaged food imports hard

Categories across the board from chocolate to cheese, olive oil to biscuits have been impacted as a result of stand off between importers, food safety regulator

It is not just your favourite imported chocolate that went missing from shop shelves this festive season. Crispies such as Pringles, gourmet cheese, olive oil, biscuits, noodles, pasta, jams, honey, oats, sauces... you name it... were hardly to be found this Diwali as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex regulator, came down heavily on importers over labeling issues.
Government sources indicate that packaged foods worth over Rs 750-1,000 crore were stuck at various ports and airports across the country as the food safety regulator insisted that importers desist from using stickers on food products to indicate crucial details such as the product type, price and nutritional value.
What's worse? The stand-off, on for the last three months, shows no signs of abating, as FSSAI refuses to budge from its position. “FSSAI’s move is in line with the law, and all companies – be it Indian or foreign – should comply with it. Stickers are temporary measures. When our norms are clearly laid out, companies must print them on the packs that are to be shipped to India,” an FSSAI official when contacted said. He declined to be quoted given the sensitivity of the matter.
But importers, irked by the lacklustre Diwali sales, say that if the issue is not sorted out soon enough could impact business during Christmas and New Year too. Almost 50-55% of packaged food imports in India happen during the festive season, since it is utilised mainly for gifting purposes besides consumption.
Amit Lohani, convenor, Forum of Indian Food Importers, a body of food importers in the country, says FIFI has already made numerous representations to FSSAI in a bid to resolve the issue. "On October 31, FSSAI came out with a notification agreeing to one of our demands, which is to allow the food safety logo on a sticker. This is with immediate effect," Lohani, who imports Danish cookies, meats, beer and coffee among other products, said.
Lohani points to other issues worrying importers. "Such as 100% sampling of containers coming into the country," he says. "Earlier sampling was to the extent of 5-10% not more. This was to give an idea of what the consignment was made up of. With 100% sampling of each and every container now, this is obviously leading to a huge delay. Containers are hardly getting cleared," says Lohani.
Slower product approvals are another issue bogging importers for a while now. Lohani says there are almost 11,000 applications pending approval from the FSSAI, with the body clearing just about 8-10 applications a day. "At this rate, the regulator will take about two to three years to clear the backlog," he says.
However, there are voices that speak in favour of the food safety regulator's recent moves. Says Saloni Nangia, president, Technopak Advisors; "The FSSAI's move to enforce labeling standards is a step in the right direction. India for long has been a dumping ground for products that are well past their sell-by-date. At least now there will be some accountability. Product quality is compromised with the use of stickers. FSSAI is attempting to stop that."