Sep 15, 2014

DINAMALAR NEWS



Better jalandhar Milk: Adulteration—I Tag of prosperous state slowly slipping away

Jalandhar, September 14
Punjab might have been known for the purity of its milk and ghee, which flowed in its prosperous villages. But those who have seen the changes in the past few years would know the vision of a prosperous state has long been slipping away.
With a dramatic rise in the number of failed milk samples being churned out every month, concerns over adulterated milk in the district are increasing with each passing day.
There are about 400 dairies in Jalandhar. The total milk production in the district is about 8 to 10 lakh litres per day. While the Dairy Department says 80 per cent of this is consumed in homes, only about 20 per cent of the milk goes out into the market. So, the commercial produce is officially pegged at just 1.5 lakh litres per day.
The largest concentration of commercial dairies in the district lies at the Jamsher Dairy Complex which has 300 to 250 dairies. And while substantial dairy contributions are also made by Bulandpur, Sekhe and Nala villages, in total these three villages have about 50 to 60 dairies. Insiders say almost half the milk, which comes out of the dairies is adulterated and it has only intensified over time — the months before Diwali witness the most adulteration activity.
Other large scale commercial milk producing agencies in the city produce about 65,000 to 80,000 litres of milk per day.
As far as adulteration goes — there are various means, ingredients and techniques, which are there to adulterate milk. Various ingredients, including urea, are mixed up to create concoctions which go into bulk quantities of milk. Sources say the quantity of the milk mixed is subject to the intentions of the dairy owners. Some one third quantities, others half yet others even lesser.
However, the results are similar. Owing to consumption of urea in large quantities, there are deeply adverse affects on the health of the consumers. Even as the practice has been opposed by consumers and cases against various dairy owners have been pending from time to time, eventually they have all been let off. So far, except challaning, there hasn't been any concrete action on any of the establishments selling adulterated milk.
How it is done
Across the district (dairies) the practice of mixing synthetic milk into milk is rampant. The concoction prepared for synthetic milk usually comprises of ingredients like - refined oil, Urea, washing powder (some even allege shampoo is mixed), water caltrop (singhara) oil, water.
Many dairy owners, it is said, mix the concoction using contaminated water and some prepare it right in the water or food troughs of the animals in their dairies.
There have been some complaints of milk tasting acidic in the district as well. In those cases, the health department says the samples are sent to be tested at the Bacteriology lab at Kharar.
It is said almost majority of the milk consumed by dhabas and cheap roadside vends is prepared in this way.
Barring synthetic milk, injecting cattle with banned injections to increase their produce is another illegal way to extract milk or make a shortcut to increased milk production which causes various health hazards for the cattle and for the people consuming that milk. Unhealthy cattle with diminished milk produce are often injected with banned vaccines for artificial lactation or to increase the amount of their milk produce. The procedure often results in increased milk produce for about six to seven months but is illegal and punishable.
Health hazards
Speaking on the side effects of putting urea in milk, veterinary expert Dr Jatinder Bedi said, "This sort of milk is not safe for humans. But many of us are consum,ing it and actually paying for it too. Increased urea is causing increased amounts of uric acid in our bodies and is also causing a plethora of kidney problems in us. Especially surprising is the rate at the children are getting increased uric acid and kidney troubles these days. Most of us might not even know we have been consuming adulterated milk for years."
Failed samples
While the frequency of sampling has slightly increased in the past few years, the number of failed samples has also dramatically risen.
While from 2010 to 2012 only 37 samples failed, in the past three this year months alone, 26 samples failed. In the run up to Diwali, many more samples shall be collected from all sorts of establishments.
In the month of June this year 18 samples failed, in July 13 samples failed and in August 15 samples failed. The report of the samples taken in September is yet to arrive.
Notably, until July this year, about 97 samples had been taken out of which 56 failed.
Previously, of the 101 samples taken in the district from 2010 to 2012, 37 failed. Of the total 20 milk samples taken from both urban and rural milk vendors by the Health Department in 2012 (January to September), five failed. In 2011, the Health Department took a total of 62 milk samples, out of which 22 failed.
In 2010 (between March 15, 2010, and August 18, 2010), 19 samples were taken by the health and dairy development board food inspectors, out of which 10 failed.
Punitive action
There are two kinds of categories in which failed samples are categorised - substandard and unsafe. The unsafe ones are those which are unfit for human consumption and have foreign particles which might even be fatal to human beings if consumed.
Owners whose milk samples have been unsafe got to court for a trial. Punishment to them might range from 6 months to 5 years in jail depending upon the degree of adulteration.
The substandard ones are those which are low fat or comprise relatively lesser adulteration - like mixing of benign substances which dilute the milk but do not make it harmful. The owners of the substandard samples are fine, again, according to the degree of adulteration in the milk. Fine might range from 10,000 to 50,000.
Until July this year, so far the health department has collected 2 and a half lakh in fines from various owners for milk adulteration.
FSSA and samples under Health Dept purview
While the Health Department has been operating as per the Food Safety Standard Act (FSSA), 2006, (implemented in Punjab in August 2011), before the implementation of the FSSA, the Dairy Department was working in tandem with the Health Department under the Food Adulteration Act, 1954. After FSSA implementation powers to conduct sampling now lie only with the health department.
Sources say since the implementation of the FSSA, the law is being soft on offenders and most samples which are even unfit for human consumption are let off by being labeled merely substandard. Blaming the Health Department-dairy owners' nexus for rampant milk adulteration in the district, the sources say under the FSSA, the DC or the SDM delegates a food inspector to look into the matter and offenders are simply challaned even when they should be taken to court.
A case in point is nine milk vendors (seven from Jamsher Dairy Complex and the rest from the city) who were taken to court few years ago by the Dairy Development Board after their samples failed. Sources say the law was later tweaked to facilitate the dairy owners. "A complaint was registered against the erring milk vendors by food inspectors of the Health and Dairy Departments in the Sessions Court in 2010, but ironically, some dairy owners got their samples rechecked later and they were mysteriously declared passed," said sources.
Offenders enjoy impunity
Sources say the Health Department's sampling or punitive drives lack steam and actions against dairy owners is not as strict as it should be.
The ideal solution for the situation, it is said, is the government stepping up pressure on health department to punish erring dairy owners but that is not being done.
Sources allege trucks full of skimmed milk or milk powder have entered dairy complexes in the city many times but they have never been intercepted. Meanwhile, with passing years, the dosage of banned injections to cattle has also seen dramatic increase which is fatal for both humans and the animal. While formerly owners only permitted 5 to 10 ml of vials being injected to animals, now cans full of banned medicines are being empties into animals via big vaccines but no one does a thing about it, allege sources. They also say it is not known from where such big quantity of banned vaccines is being procured.
Meanwhile, in general the rate of water and skimmed milk adulteration in milk is said to be highest.
Dairies Department
With the department no more doing sampling, it is conducting awareness workshops for various people and consumers and sellers of milk in rural as well as urban areas. Development officer, Dairies Department, Wariam Singh says, "For people to buy healthy milk, they need to be aware about the sort of milk they should consume. We conduct regular awareness camps in various areas and union, locality improvement committees which want us to hold camps in their areas are free to contact us."
People can contact the Dairies Department at 0181-2233441.
Health view
District Health Officer Dr Balwinder Singh said, "It's been one year and four months since I took charge in Jalandhar and we have only been ensuring that no establishment indulging in milk adulteration is spared. We are not making any consideration for any establishment - big or small - and sampling is regularly being done every month to make sure that adulterated milk is not in circulation in the district. Moreover, the frequency of sampling has only increased recently and it indicates we have got strict."
Speaking about rare punitive action against offenders, and only fines being common, the DHO says, "The Act (FSSA) has recently been implemented and strict punitive action is invited only if the the milk is totally unsafe for consumption. Milk adulteration is mostly of the sub-standard category. And for the coming festive season, our target is to aim at maximum reforms and sampling to ensure that people consume proper milk and milk products, which do not pose any danger to their health."

Tonnes of Fake Bodybuilding Supplements seized by Police in Delhi

This is another incident where the police has caught fake supplements. These company puts your health at risk just to make some quick money. The Uttar Pradesh special task force ( UP- STF) and food and drugs department on Saturday seized over 36 tonnes of food supplements after raids were conducted in the city.
Team started after they received a tipoff from an anonymous person, the team raided two localities in Murad Nagar and Hindon Vihar and seized food and bodybuilding supplements prepared and packaged without any license from the Food and Safety Standards of India (FSSI).
The packaged supplements were being sold under the names of reputed international brands and were being distributed to sellers in Chandni Chowk, Delhi.Optimum Nutrition, Muscle Blaze, Muscle Tech, Universal Nurition few of these brands of which they we making duplicate supplements. Below is a picture of police team catching these people red handed.

The major haul of around 28 tonnes was seized from Murad Nagar, where a former gym operator and a businessman had setup a unit in Mainapur Industrial Area. He was allegedly involved in mixing various ingredients to prepare health and bodybuilding supplements. These supplements were later packed into high quality packets which makes the bottle and boxes look-a-like of the originals which makes it very difficult to detect. Another haul of around 8.5 tonnes was seized by officials from Hindon Vihar area.
Officials from the food and drug department at Ghaziabad said that the accused Sandeep Malik was running the unit without any license. The material seized from his factory has been sent to Lucknow for testing at a government laboratory.

“As per norms, the accused had not procured any approval from FSSI to prepare supplements. We have sent the items for testing and it is feared that these may contain steroids,” Vinit Kumar, the designated officer of food and drugs department said. “The accused will be booked under relevant IPC sections and also under provisions of Food and Safety Standards Act,” Kumar added.
Fake supplements industry is growing very fast. Its a quick way for some of these people to make quick money by putting innocent people’s health at risk. Please read our article on how to detect duplicate suppplements

5 Rules to detect fake bodybuilding supplement
Fake bodybuilding supplements products are on the rise these days. Its a major concern for all of us because its not only money wasted, but it also puts our health at risk. You can read about this in detail here . We suggest that you buy bodybuilding protein supplement from genuine dealers of reputed brands. You can also buy bodybuilding supplement online from trusted websites.


FAKE
Now you have done a lot of research on bodybuilding supplements and zeroed in on a particular brand. You have read lots of good reviews about this product and you are really excited about buying it. You find out who is giving you most discount and finally you buy this supplement from your hard earned money. Now as expected you are looking for some good results in your physic, but to your surprise you do not see any improvements, then you doubt your self whether you are working hard enough which leads to confusion and demoralization. But the actual cause may be the supplement that you are taking is fake. Read on further on how to detect a fake supplement and save your hard earned money.
Rule # 1 Check the Seal
Rule No 1 is to check the seal properly. If there is no seal, then its definitely fake! If the seal is there then on close observation we can make out the difference between original and fake
a) The seal on the inner side of the lid should be checked carefully, The duplicate ones are loosely attached and are of poor quality.

Fake Supplement
b) Actual seal on the bottle should have proper edges and should be uniformly attached. It should not be open or loose from any side.


Fake Supplement
c) Seal usually have name of the brand endorsed on it, If the seal is plain and of low quality then its probably fake.

Fake Supplement
Rule # 2 Hologram / Logo
Rule no 2 is to check the logo of the brand and hologram, Most of the popular brand have a hologram mark which is difficult to forge.
Below is an example of Hologram on Optimum Nutrition brand.

Fake Supplement
Examples of fake Logo of Optimum Nutrition

Fake Logo
Rule # 3 MRP Sticker
Another easy way to detect fake is to check the MRP Sticker, Fake product usually paste another sticker for the MRP on the container. The Sticker on the genuine products are as shown below.

MRP sticker hologram
Rule # 4 LOT No Verification
We can verify genuine product by looking at the LOT No, Some companies provide online
service to validate LOT no of their product. For others you can call the customer care and confirm the lot no of bodybuilding supplements. Fake Supplements will have invalid LOT No.

Fake LOT No

In spite of ban, tobacco vendors openly selling tobacco products at rly station

Even after the ban on the sale of tobacco products like gutkha and pan masala by the state government, vendors are openly selling these products at the entry gate of the city rail railway station.
“Thousands of people and tourists visit the railway station every day. Authorities are setting a wrong example by allowing these vendors to sell tobacco products here. It's pathetic as people who chew these products generally spit here and there,” said a local.
“In absence of checks, these vendors have not even installed statutory warning on signboards,” he added.Anuj Joshi, a visitor at the railway station, said, “In addition to flouting the norms, they are also responsible for polluting environment. Authorities should take strict action against them.”
It is worth mentioning the state government had in August 2012 banned the sale, storage, manufacture and distribution of chewing tobacco products, including gutkha and pan masala, under regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations of 2011, under the Food Safety and Standard Act.
At present, gutkha products have been banned in 23 states and five union territories in India.
Ravinder Sharma, superintendent at railway station, said, “The sale of tobacco products has been banned in the state. We will take strict action against vendors who will be found flouting norms.”
Bad effects on our health
Consuming tobacco products can have bad effects on our health and can cause bad breath, stained teeth, ulcers, cavities, high blood pressure and oral cancer.
Tobacco ruins sense of taste and smell, sores our mouth, decreases athletic ability and can cause dizziness and nausea.
People having tobacco products for long time can suffer from leukoplakia, a mouth disease characterised by white patches and oral lesions on the cheeks, gums or tongue, cancer of the mouth, heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

Zero to reduce Coke's calorie count

Till Coca-cola introduces its products with stevia to reduce the sugar content, Coke Zero will help reduce the calories burden
It has been a nine-year-long wait for consumers who swear by diet carbonated drinks. If everything goes as planned, Coca-cola will launch Coke Zero in India in October this year. The zero-calorie drink will be available both in 330-ml cans as well as in plastic bottles. It is expected to be priced on a par with Diet Coke.
Coke Zero, of course, won't change anything radically for the beverage giant that already has such winners as Thums Up - the largest beverage drink in the country. Even in the US, where diet carbonated drinks have caught the fancy of the consumers, it is, according to "Beverage Digest", the 10th in the pecking order in 2013. In the US, however, Diet Coke constitutes 9 per cent of the total carbonated drinks market, and is the second-most popular drink after regular Coke. Coke Zero had a market share of 1.9 per cent, just a little behind its orange drink, Fanta.
Of course, India is not a mature market. The per capita consumption of soft drinks is pegged at 14 bottles, in contrast to a global average of 90. But in India, Coke Zero could give a fillip to the nascent carbonated diet drinks market, which is miniscule. According to industry sources, diet beverages constitute only 1-2 per cent of total volumes. And, they are mainly limited to the metros, and that also, to the modern trade outlets. So, why should consumers shift from Diet Coke to Coke Zero. Those associated with the industry say that just like in other global markets, Coke Zero has two advantages. For one, it is clearly positioned as an alternative for young adult males who have always perceived Diet Coke as a women's drink to stay fit . Even globally that is the positioning for the drink that was launched in 2005. The same positioning will be done in India.
In terms of formulation, Coke Zero tastes more like the regular Coke than Diet Coke. In contrast, Diet Coke has its independent flavour profile that is different from the regular Coke. However, both use the same sweetener, which is a blend of aspartame and acesulfame-K. Experts say that in India, many consumers eschew having the diet product because they feel it has a bitter after-taste. With Zero that complain will be resolved.
The move to launch Coke Zero is also part of Coca-cola's larger strategy to offer more choices to consumers - especially those looking for products that are healthier and with lower calories.
Also it addresses the growing clamour in the government, which has been pushing for more healthy products. The Food Processing ministry recently told PepsiCo chairman Indra Nooyi, who was in India, that beverage giants should make their soft drinks healthier by reducing the sweet content in them.
Coca-cola, for instance, has been trying to do just that and expand its diet carbonated beverage category for a while now. It had applied and got permission from the government to utilise 'stevia', a natural sweetener extracted from a plant, and has no calories. However, the notification by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, is still awaited for the last two years as a result of which Coca-cola has not been able to introduce a range of other products. .
Coca-cola has already introduced products which combine the natural sweetener with sugar to reduce overall calories in the drink, in global markets, thus catering to a growing demand in many countries, including India. Coca-cola has products in its stable such as Coke Life - a specially-packed green can - in markets like Argentina, Chile and the UK and is also planning its launch in the US.
In the UK, for instance, a 330-ml can of Coke Life, which uses a combination of 4-gram of sugar with stevia, has only 89 calories, a 39 per cent reduction compared to the almost 145 calories in a regular cola with only sugar (there is about 44 calories in 100-ml of Coke).
However the launch of any of these products would eventually depend on the government's green signal.
Till then Coke Zero could make some difference.

FSSAI Launched an Online Food Product Approval System (FPAS)



Flavoured Water Drinks
In order to streamline the Food Product Approval, where a different application form is required for each stated category, the FSSAI has designed and implemented an Online Food Product Approval System (FPAS) which can be accessed at http://fpas.fssai.gov.in
FSSAI, from time to time has issued advisories on the procedures for obtaining Product Approval. Product approval is required for food products including food ingredients or food additives for which there are no standards defined under Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006. Product approval from FSSAI before licensing is required for products where
Standards have not been specified under FSS Act, Rules & Regulations
Are different from the food products category stated in the Regulations
The FSSAI advisory No P. 15025/01/2013-PA/FSSAI dated 11.05.2013 had stated that any new or existing product that is a proprietary food, functional food, Health Supplement, Nutraceutical etc. will need to go through the ‘Product Approval’ process. FSSAI feels that this is in accordance with the FSS Act 2006 which authorizes FSSAI to “ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and also to lay down science based standards”.
Food products where the safety of its ingredients present in the product are known and are permitted under FSS Regulations, 2011/Codex and other regulatory bodies like EU/FSANZ/ USFDA etc.
Will be granted product approval if food product does not contain plants or botanicals or substances from animal origin.
Will be considered for Product approval/NOC if the food product contains ingredients including plants or botanicals or substances from animal origin.
PA will be given only after safety assessment is completed
NOC will be granted to food products in market where license has been granted under previous Act/Orders
Will be referred to respective Scientific Panels prima facie where safety of the ingredients is insufficient to make a safety determination, product approval shall be granted/ denied on the basis of risk assessment.
Only authorization of ingredients will be required for products
if safety of its ingredients and their conditions of use as stated therein and published by FSSAI
if ingredients are standardized or permitted under FSSR 2011 will not require further safety assessment
Through FPAS, FBOs will now be able to
Check online, to see if they require to get Product Approval of their products
Apply online
Pay relevant fee
Provide required clarifications
Track status
Receive NOC/Product Approval as relevant
FSSAI feels this move will bring consistency, transparency and ease of use to the otherwise complex process of scientific risk assessment of new food products being introduced into the Indian market. The FPAS has been developed by
National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) under the aegis of the Product Approval and Screening Committee.

Farmers seize 6 tonnes of adulterated jaggery


A group of farmers and manufacturers of jaggery based at Karuppur on Saturday seized two vehicles carrying 150 bags of the adulterated product while being transported to a godown here.
They have lodged a complaint with T. Anuradha, District Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department.
They said action should be taken against adulterators.
Later, a team of officials took samples from the vehicles, and from the godown. The manufacturer was asked to keep the jaggery bags in the godown under their own custody. Only after the laboratory reports are available, further action would be taken, officials said. Officials took a total of ten samples from various godowns in the area too.
Production and auction of jaggery has been stopped for the last 10 days. Hence no tender was taking place in the market at Shevapet. Officials said that farmers, manufactures, and merchants have promised that only non-adulterated products would be available in the market.
Adulteration of jaggery by mixing of white sugar, and chemicals had led to officials initiating action.