Food safety panels visits NGO kitchen, takes mid-day meal samples for testing

You see how clean and hygienic our working conditions are. All workers wear glovesand caps, said Veer Singh, owner of the NGO.

SUMMARY

Denying theallegations, Singh said, We use branded rajma and dals, besan, and spices and oil.

In the kitchen run by NGO Bharat Ratan Dr Bheem Rao Ambedkar Dalit Utthan Evom Shiksha Samiti in East Delhi, huge machines cut out dough for puris, while workers serve rice from aluminium pans. Watching them are officials from the Food Safety Department, who are there to collect samples.

“You see how clean and hygienic our working conditions are. All workers wear gloves and caps. All the food is machine-cooked. It is packed andsealed here, and then dispatched to schools. We do not know how our food could have had insects in them,” Veer Singh, owner of the NGO which supplies mid-day meals to four schools in Patparganj, said.

On Thursday, 22 girls from Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, agovernment school in Patparganj, fell ill after allegedly consuming midday meals prepared by the NGO kitchen. The Directorate of Education said no complaints had come in from any other school.

Denying the allegations, Singh said, “We use branded rajma and dals, besan, and spices and oil. It is surprising that only 22 of the 560 students who ate the food fell ill. We received no complaints from other schools.”

Food Safety Department officer (East) Bhaskar said four samples of different food items — rajma beans, rajma curry, refined soyabean oil and wheat — had been collected for testing.

When Newsline went to Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya on Friday, food from the NGO kitchen had just been brought in. The woman in charge of distributing the meal said, “I had also eaten the food yesterday. I do not know why only 22 girls fell ill. There were hundred others who ate the food, but no one else fell ill.”

She said the food is inspected by a mid-day meal committee — comprising the principal, two teachers, two parents and two members of Vidyalaya Kalyan Samiti — before it is served to students.

DINAMALAR NEWS

Ensure quality of noon meal: official

Workers at noon meal centres, and anganwadi were asked to maintain quality by strictly following rules. T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department told The Hindu that there were more than 2,200 noon meal centres, and 1,700 anganwadi in the district.

The cooking staff were already trained on the method of preparing food, and ways to ensure cleanliness at the centres.

She said that the first-in first-out method should be followed in using the ingredients so that products that have passed the expiry date were not used.

Workers should check the manufacturing date, and expiry date of each product they used to prepare food. They should purchase only fresh vegetables.

“Eggs should tested for quality by dipping in cold water. Egg that floats in water is rotten and it should not be used,” she added.

Samples of all food items should be preserved for a day. Workers should not have any skin diseases, and they should wash their hands before cooking.

They should get a certificate from the department, she added.

On Friday, Food Safety Officers inspected a noon meal centre at Guhai. Workers were given instruction on handling food, and serving it to students.

FDA tests milk samples, finds most substandard

PUNE: More than half the milk samples collected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pune, officials from milk containers being transported to the city from adjoining districts are of poor quality.

FDA officials conducted a surprise inspection drive recently at Moshi check post on Pune-Nashikhighway to crack down on carriers transporting adulterated milk to the city. They took sample of milk packets and found that the quality of six of the eleven samples was substandard.

"We had drawn 11 samples from different brands of milk fromtransporting vehicles at Moshi check post during a two-day drive on June 16 and June 17. The samples were sent for tests. Six of the eleven samples have been found of poor quality as they lacked in standards of fat and solids not fat' (SNF) as set by the law. That means the quality was diluted, may be by mixing water," said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune.

The six samples that failed on the parameters of quality and standard were from milk suppliers from Junnar (Pune district), Sangamner (Ahmednagar), Rahuri (Ahmednagar) and Khed (Pune). They were selling milk in packers under various brand names. "The erring supplier will have to pay the fine as fixed by the law. Besides, they will be warned not to indulge in malpractices," Kekare said.

A recent study conducted by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) across 33 states found that milk in the country is adulterated with detergent, fat and even urea, as well as diluting with water. Across the country, 68.4% of the samples were found to be contaminated.

The most common adulteration was that of fat and solid not food (SNF), found in 574 (46.8%) of the non-conforming samples. The second highest parameter of non-conformity was skimmed milk powder in 548 samples (44.69%), which includes the presence of glucose in 477 samples. Glucose could have been added to milk, probably to enhance SNF.

"Milk is a primary source of nutrition. Therefore, it is even more important to keep a strict vigil on adulteration," said office bearers of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

What the law says?

As per the provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, which was in force earlier, any sample that fails to conform to the provisions of the Act were considered adulterated. The FDA would file a case against a supplier in the court of law even if the sample had less amount of fat and SNF.

Now, with the new Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the FDA officials can only file a case against a supplier when the sample is found unsafe for consumption.

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which came into effect on August 5, 2011, looks at various aspects of milk adulteration and divides them into various segments like safe food, food not of the nature or substance or quality demanded, extraneous but harmless matter, misbranded items and unsafe for consumption.

According to this Act, unsafe food means an article of food whose name, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health.

Panel formed for FSSA execution

Srinagar: The state government on Friday constituted ‘Steering Committee’ for effective and smooth implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

According to a government order, the 8-member panel will be headed by Chief Secretary and comprises Administrative Secretaries of Health and Medical Education, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Controller Drug and Food Control Organization J&K, and Deputy Commissioner of Food Safety Kashmir/Jammu respectively.

APIL is pending in the High Court which seeks implementation of the FSSA “in letter and spirit.” A number of directions have been passed by the court in this regard.

Banned tobacco worth Rs 27,000 seized

NAGPUR: Food and Drug Administration carried out a raid on Padmavati Kirana Store at Juna Babukheda on Friday, and seized banned scented tobacco worth Rs 27,000. Shop owner Shantilal Jain was booked under relevant IPCs at Ajni police station. This was conducted by additional commissioner, food, NR Wakhode with a team including food safety officers, AP Deshpande and PA Umap. The FDA has requested to be informed about any sale of tobacco products banned in Maharashtra.