Apr 25, 2016

மத் திய அர சுக்கு கோர்ட் யோசனை மெல் லும் புகை யி லைக்கு நிரந் தர தடை?

புது டெல்லி, ஏப் 25:
பான் பராக், ஜர்தா பீடா, கெய்னி போன்ற புகை யிலை அடிப் ப டை யி லான போதை பொருட் களை நிரந் த ர மாக தடை செய்ய புகை யி லையை உண வுப் பா து காப்பு சட் டத் தில் ெகாண்டு வர வேண் டும் என்ற யோச னையை மத் திய அர சுக்கு டெல்லி அரசு கூறி யுள் ளது.
புகை யி லைக்கு தடை விதிக்க கூடாது என்று பல நிறு வ னங் கள் போராடி வரு கின் றன. அதி லும், புகை யி லையை தற் கா லத் துக்கு ஏற்ப பான் பராக், கெய்னி, ஜர்தா பீடா என்று பல பொருட் க ளாக விற் பனை செய்து வரு கின் றன.
ஐகோர்ட் டில் டெல்லி அரசு செய்த மனு வில், புகை யி லையை ‘உண வு ’ ஆக பிர க ட னப் ப டுத்த வேண் டும்; அப் போது தான் உணவு பாது காப்பு சட் டத் தின் கீழ் வரும். ‘புகை யி லை யில் நிகோ டின் கலந் துள் ளது அத னால் அதை தடை செய்ய வேண் டும் என்று சட் டத் தில் கூறப் பட் டுள் ளது. அந்த சட் டத் தின் அடிப் ப டை யில் நிரந் த ர மாக புகை யிலை பொருட் களை தடை செய் ய லாம் என்று கூறி யுள் ளது. இது தொடர் பாக மத் திய அர சுக் கும் டெல்லி அரசு கோரிக்ைக வைத் துள் ளது.

DINAMALAR NEWS


தஞ்சை பகு தி யில் ரூ.1.50 லட்சம் மதிப்புள்ள காலாவதி பொருட்கள் பறிமுதல்


தஞ்சை, ஏப். 23:
தஞ்சை பகு தி யில் ரூ.1.50 லட் சம் மதிப் புள்ள காலா வ தி பொருட்களை உணவு பாது காப்பு அதி கா ரி கள் பறி மு தல் செய் த னர்.
தஞ்சை பகு தி யில் உள்ள கடை கள், உண வ கங் கள், மளிகை கடை கள், பழக் க டை கள், குளிர் பான கடை க ளில் மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு மற் றும் மருந்து நிர் வா கத் துறை உணவு பாது காப்பு பிரிவு மாவட்ட நிய மன அலு வ லர் டாக் டர்.ரமேஷ் பாபு தலை மை யில் அதி ரடி ஆய்வு செய் யப் பட் டது. தஞ்சை, திருக் காட் டுப் பள்ளி, பூத லூர் மற் றும் சுற்று பகு தி க ளில் உணவு பாது காப்பு அலு வ லர் கள் ரெங் க நா தன், ராஜ் கு மார், குமார், வடி வேல், கார்த் திக், சந் தி ர மோ கன், ராம நா தன், மகேஷ், கோபா ல கி ருஷ் ணன், கௌத மன், விஜ ய கு மார், கிருஷ் ண மூர்த்தி, மகா தே வன், உமா கே சன் ஆகி யோர் அடங் கிய குழு வி னர் அதி ரடி சோதனை நடத் தி னர். இதில் தயா ரிப்பு தேதி, காலா வதி தேதி குறிப் பி டப் ப டாத 20 லிட் டர் தண் ணீர் கேன் கள், தடை செய் யப் பட்ட குட்கா, பான் ம சாலா, காலா வ தி யான குளிர் பா னங் கள், கலப் பட டீத் தூள் பறி மு தல் செய் யப் பட்டு முறை யாக மாந க ராட்சி குப்பை கிடங் கில் கொட்டி அழிக் கப் பட் டது. அழிக் கப் பட்ட பொருட் க ளின் மதிப்பு ரூ.1.50 லட் ச மா கும்.
இது கு றித்து மாவட்ட நிய மன அலு வ லர் டாக் டர் ரமேஷ் பாபு கூறும் போது, உணவு வணி கர் கள், விற் ப னை யா ளர் கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டும் உணவு பொருள் களை சுகா தார முறை யில் பரா ம ரிக்க வேண் டும். பேக் கிங் செய் யப் பட்ட உணவு பொருள் கள் பயன் பாட்டு காலம் அடங் கிய தக வல் களை தெளி வாக அச் சி டப் பட்ட பொருட் களை வியா பா ரம் செய்ய வேண் டும் என் றார். மேலும் கோடைக் கா லம் என் ப தால் பொது மக் கள் குடி நீர், குளிர் பா னங் கள், உணவு பொருள் கள் வாங் கும் போது தயா ரிப்பு தேதி மற் றும் காலா வ தி யா கும் தேதியை பார்த்து வாங்கி பயன் ப டுத்த வேண் டும் என் றார்.

45 ஆயிரம் மதிப்பிலான புகையிலை பொருட்கள் அழிப்பு



தர் ம புரி, ஏப்.23:
தமி ழ கத் தில் பான் மசாலா பொருட் கள் விற் ப னைக்கு தடை செய் யப் பட் டுள் ளது.
தர் ம புரி நக ரில் போதை வஸ் து கள் அடைக் கப் பட்ட பாக் கெட் டு கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு வ தாக மாவட்ட நிர் வா கத் திற்கு புகார் தெரி விக் கப் பட் டது. இதை ய டுத்து கலெக் டர் விவே கா னந் தன் உத் த ர வின் பே ரில், மாவட்ட உணவு பாது காப்பு நிய மன அலு வ லர் டாக் டர் பிருந்தா மற் றும் உணவு பாது காப்பு அதி கா ரி கள் கோபி நாத், நாக ராஜ், கும ணன், சிவ மணி ஆகி யோர் தர் ம பு ரி யில் உள்ள கடை க ளில் திடீர் சோத னை யில் ஈடு பட் ட னர்.
இதில், சுமார் ரூ.45 ஆயி ரம் மதிப் பி லான தடை செய் யப் பட்ட பான் மசாலா பொருட் களை பறி மு தல் செய் த னர். பின்ன், தடங் கத் தில் உள்ள குப்பை கிடங் கிற்கு கொண்டு சென்று தீ வைத்து அழித் த னர்.

KALAI KATHIR NEWS


காலாவதியான பொருள் விற்பனை: கடைக்கு சீல்

போடி, ஏப். 23:
போடி யில் உணவு பாது காப் புத் துறை அதி கா ரி கள் திடீர் சோதனை செய்து, காலா வ தி யான பொருட் களை விற் பனை செய்த கடைக்கு சீல் வைத் த னர்.
போடி யில் உள்ள பெட் டிக் கடை, பல ச ரக்கு கடை, உண வ கம், தள் ளு வண்டி கடை க ளில் காலா வ தி யான பொருட் கள் விற் பனை செய் யப் ப டு வ தாக உணவு பாது காப் புத் துறைக்கு புகார் கள் வந் தன. இத ன டிப் ப டை யில், உணவு பாது காப் புத் துறை மாவட்ட நிய மன அதி காரி மருத் து வர் சுகுணா, உதவி அலு வ லர் மோகன் தாஸ், பால மு ரு கன் ஆகி யோர் போடி பெரி யாண் ட வர் கோயில் தெரு வில் உள்ள கடை க ளில் நேற்று திடீர் சோதனை நடத் தி னர். அப் போது செல் வக் கு மார் என் ப வ ரின் கடை யில் கலா வ தி யான நெய், தயிர், பால், குளிர் பா னம் மற் றும் தடை விதிக் கப் பட்ட பான் ப ராக், புகை யிலை ஆகி யவை இருந் தன. இவை களை பறி மு தல் செய்த அதி கா ரி கள், அந் தக் கடையை சீல் வைத் த னர். இது குறித்து அதி கா ரி கள் கூறு கை யில், ‘போடி பகு தி யில் கோடை கா லத் தில் காலா வ தி யான குளிர் பா னங் களை விற் பனை செய் வ தாக புகார் வந் துள் ளது. பொது மக் கள் குளிர் பா னங் களை வாங் கும் போது, உற் பத்தி தேதியை பார்த்து வாங்க வேண் டும். கடை க ளில் காலா வ தி யான பொருட் களை விற் பனை செய் வது தெரிந் தால் உட ன டி யாக உணவு பாது காப் புத் துறை அலு வ லர் க ளுக்கு தக வல் தெரி விக்க வேண் டும்’ என் ற னர்.

How can you tell the restaurant you're eating in is clean?

A BBC investigation found bacteria with traces of faeces on the ice served in a branch of a well-known fast food chain. Since most UK restaurants don't have to display their hygiene rating, how can you tell you're not at risk of food poisoning, asks Rob Unsworth.
When you go into a restaurant or a takeaway, you might spot a bright green sticker on the door or the window telling you its food hygiene rating.
It's a very helpful steer on whether or not the standards inside are up to scratch - or at least it should be. But in fact - though you might have assumed otherwise - restaurants are not obliged to display their rating in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In other words, any place that scored particularly badly doesn't have to tell you about it. So short of actually poking your head into the kitchen, how can you tell if a restaurant is clean as a whistle - or no such thing?
Anywhere serving food - from the poshest restaurants, to burger vans, and everything in between - is subject to on-the-spot checks by environmental health officers, with the best standards rewarded with a maximum rating of five.
All scores are available online, on the website of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). But that's little use if you're choosing where to eat on the hoof and don't have a smartphone to hand - when being able to see a restaurant or cafe's hygiene rating may well influence your decision.
On a street in London's Soho with 34 restaurants visited by BBC One's consumer series Rip Off Britain: Food, only nine displayed their hygiene rating.
Not all UK restaurants display their food hygiene rating
In February 2016, there were 14,251 food outlets across the UK scoring a rating of just two or below - that's nearly 9% of all premises inspected.
Worse still - 973 of these scored zero on the rating scale - which means they need "urgent improvement".
Among them will typically be branches of some of the country's most familiar names.
Rip Off Britain inspected branches of five well-known chains that had recently received the lowest possible rating, to see if things had since improved.
Undercover researchers visited a branch of Costa in Loughborough, Leicestershire, the Chicken Cottage in Hampstead, north London, a Cafe Nero in Bath, the Wimpy in Basildon, Essex, and a KFC in Birmingham.
The samples were then sent to a lab at Leeds Beckett University for analysis.
While the results in most cases turned up only low or harmless levels of bacteria, that wasn't the case at the KFC branch in Birmingham's Martineau Place - which, only weeks earlier, had temporarily closed for a deep clean following its zero rating.
Samples from all the public areas tested - such as tables, serving areas and doors - came back clean. But in each establishment visited, the Rip Off Britain team had also asked for a cup of tap water with ice, as that can be an good indicator of standards behind the scenes.
And at KFC, the ice was found to have high levels of what scientists call faecal coliforms - germs showing traces of faeces.
Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada, who examined the results at Leeds Beckett University, says: "We found high levels of bacteria in the ice. The presence of faecal coliform suggests that there's faecal contamination either on the water that made the ice, or the ice itself, and so it increases the risk of getting sick from consuming this ice."
Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada examines bacteria samples at Leeds Beckett University
KFC says it was "extremely disappointed" by the ice test results. It had "immediately launched an investigation", as well as undertaking "a retraining programme with all team members on our standards for touch point cleaning and procedures".
The restaurant chain adds that following a re-inspection - which pre-dated the BBC team's visit - this branch now has "the highest possible mark of five out of five", and it takes "food safety and hygiene extremely seriously".
The other establishments the team visited have also now been re-inspected under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, introduced in England and Wales in 2010 - Scotland already had a similar scheme.
This time, environmental health officers gave them scores of either four, or the maximum five.
In Wales, all businesses must by law display the sticker that shows their hygiene rating in a prominent place.
How clean is your local eatery?
The Food Standards Agency provides ratings for restaurants throughout the UK at its website here
Catriona Stewart, head of the FSA's Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme, says the FSA wants the rest of the UK to follow suit, and it's currently assembling the evidence that it hopes will persuade the government to introduce legislation to that effect.
"We need to be able to show that it doesn't have an additional burden on food businesses, and we'll be putting that case to the government," she says.
In the meantime, how can diners eating on the hoof somewhere that doesn't display its hygiene rating get a sense of how clean it is?
John Thornhill, who owns a tapas restaurant rated five in central London, says fresh flowers are usually a good sign - if owners care enough to put them out "there's still some love there".
How clean are the restaurant toilets?
Also, he suggests: "I would ask your server what their favourite dish is. If you get a response that talks about the latest seasonal changes and how they tried this as a group last week, chances are you're in a good situation. If you get the impression that they never eat there, you probably shouldn't either. "
Food safety and hygiene expert Dr Lisa Ackerley recommends the time-honoured route of checking the loos.
"Go in the toilets, see what it looks like in there, if they can't get that right, I'm sure they won't have got the kitchen right," she says.

FSSAI, food companies bridging trust deficit

Measures include operationalising of standards on food additives for use in various categories
The country's apex food safety regulator and packaged food companies appear to be on a different page than a year before, when the Maggi crisis grabbed headlines.
At that time, regulator and industry stood sharply divided on the issue, with the latter claiming it would impact investments in the business. Now, however, top company executives tell Business Standard, a string of measures in recent months has helped reduce the earlier friction.
The measures include operationalising of standards on food additives for use in various categories. This has marked the entry of an ingredient-based regulatory regime, as opposed to a product-based approval system. The latter was a huge bone of contention between regulator and industry, resulting in massive backlog. The system was eventually scrapped in August 2015 by the Supreme Court, which found the process arbitrary.
The ingredient-based regime saw some 9,000 food additives becoming a part of the food safety regulations (issued in 2011). Earlier, these regulations, which operationalised the Food Safety & Standards Act of 2006, had only 377 food items on its list. This put companies in a spot if ingredients beyond this list were part of their food products. Resulting in ill-will and litigation.
Dev Bajpai, executive director (legal and corporate affairs) at Hindustan Unilever, the country's largest consumer goods company and with a presence in packaged food, describes the shift to an ingredient-based regulatory regime as a progressive step. "It will foster investment and innovation in packaged foods," he says.
He also felt this approach would bring India up to speed with global food standards such as CODEX, the norm abroad.
The other key measure introduced by the food safety regulator was the clarification on proprietary foods, another grey area for food companies. FSSAI in January clarified its position on this, saying it was an article of food that had not been standardised under the regulations - excluding novel foods, food for special dietary use, functional foods, nutraceuticals, health supplements and such other articles of food the Central government had not notified.
This was considered a simpler explanation of proprietary foods in comparison to
Section 22 of the 2006 Act, which had no direct mention of what constituted these. Instead, the section had grouped various categories such as organic foods, genetically modified foods, novel foods and proprietary foods, among others as not notified by the government and, hence, not allowed to be made, sold, distributed or imported.
The January 2016 notification also clarified that the full responsibility for the safety of proprietary foods would be with the manufacturer, implying a breach on their part could invoke penalties.
"We believe in a strong regulatory framework, coupled with predictability which creates a level playing field for all. The regulator in the past one year has been pro-active, engaging stakeholders to create an environment where both the industry and the consumer market can thrive in India," said Chandramouli Venkatesan, managing director of Mondelez India (earlier Cadbury India).
A more recent measure was the March 31 notification by FSSAI on monosodium glutamate (MSG). This states that in the absence of a precise method to determine if it was naturally found or added during the manufacturing process of a food product, prosecution would be launched when a manufacturer added the 'No MSG' or 'No added MSG' label when the food product actually had MSG. Food safety experts have said this will go a long way to regulate usage of MSG, commonly found in food products.
A STRING OF MEASURES IN RECENT MONTHS
  • Measures include operationalising of standards on food additives for use in various categories
  • This marked the entry of an ingredient-based regulatory regime, which saw 9k additives becoming a part of the norms
  • Other key measure started by the food safety regulator was a clarification on proprietary foods
  • This notification clarified that the full responsibility for these would be with the manufacturer, implying a breach on their part could invoke penalties
  • A more recent measure was the March 31 notification on monosodium glutamate

FSDA finds colours in juice at shops near district collectorate

Agra: A Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) team has found that artificial colours were being used in pomegranate and mango juice at two stalls near the district collectorate. 
FSDA designated officer Ram Naresh Yadav told TOI: "The raid was conducted on two shops. Both were found selling adulterated fruit juice. The samples of the juice have been collected and sent to the laboratory for testing. Once the report comes out, suitable action would be taken against the shop owners. Till then these shops will not be allowed to operate." 
FSDA team raided the premises of juice sellers Vaishno and Ashish Juice Corner on Saturday while posing as customers. "They were adding red dilute artificial colour in the pomegranate juice and yellow in the mango juice. Stale fruits, contaminated water and ice were also being used by the shops," claimed Yadav. The owners of the shops have been identified as Raj Kumar and Shiv Kumar.
The FSDA official said, "Additional colours are not permitted in fruit juices, but are often used by street vendors. These are toxic and when consumed over long period can be hazardous to a person's health." 
The water that they use is often not safe for drinking and if contaminated it can cause typhoid, jaundice and diarrhea, Yadav added. "Majority of these roadside juice vendors do not meet FSDA standards and use colour in juice."
"We have planned to run special campaign this summer to tab adulteration in juices. Strict action will be taken against vendors, if samples are found adulterated," said Yadav.

FSSAI SETS IRON LIMIT IN TEA POWDER AT 150 MG A KG

After years of dilly-dallying, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has finally decided to fix the presence of 150 mg per kg as a prescribed limit for iron particles in tea powder.
The top food standard body has approved the draft standard prescribing a limit of not more than 150mg/kg of iron fillings in tea. Comments have been sought in this direction, said the FSSAI in its circular dated April 22.
It further directed the food enforcement officials in the State and Union Territories to implement the said limit in tea powder till the issuance of the final notification in this regard.
A senior official said that a notification is likely to come soon.
Sources said that the FSSAI’s final move came following a report from the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), which also favoured the limit of 150mg/kg in tea powder. It had admitted that zero presence of iron fillings was not possible in tea.
While the tea lobby was keen that the prescribed limit be increased to about 500 mg/kg in tea as in many poor countries, many developed countries have fixed the maximum limit levelof 120 mg/kg for iron fillings in tea. Neighbouring Sri Lanka allows up to 200 mg of iron fillings per kg.
Due to wear and tear in the machinery, iron fillings enter tea dust during manufacturing process. Normally tea manufacturers use huge magnets to remove the iron particles but it is possible that very tiny particles of iron do not get attracted to the magnet and remain in the tea.
Over limit of iron particles are not healthy. According to health experts, “Iron does not easily go out of the body but accumulates and when the concentration of iron reaches a particular level, the body begins to react.
“Though iron is good for health, excess intake may lead to health complications ranging from loose motion to stomach ache, while severe health issues include cancers and cardiac problems. Men require just 8 mg of iron per day. It is 18 mg in case of women,” they added.

Workshop on food processing on Friday

The District Industries Centre (DIC) has invited enterprises involved in food processing and those wanting to set up food processing units to join a day-long workshop on food safety on April 29, being organised at the Center Hotel, Panampally Nagar.
The workshop is being organised taking into consideration the potential for food processing industries, which is considered one of the most important sectors in the country.
A DIC statement said that officials from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and other experts will lead the classes. The workshop is free and those interested in joining may contact the DIC on the phone 0484-2421461.
The Industries Department has also announced that it planned to set up a full-fledged Kerala pavilion at the upcoming Food Hospitality World 2016 exhibition and business-to-business meet being organised in Bangaluru between June 9 and 11.
The show is aimed to bring together various players in the sector. The exhibition will be a platform for buyers and sellers to interact, said a posting on the site of the State Industries Department. Those interested in participating in the fair may contact the department not later than May 5.
The one-time settlement being offered by the Industries Department for those who have taken margin money loans for small-scale industrial units is open till May 10 this year, said a statement issued by the department.
The scheme was opened in February this year. More details can be obtained from the District Industries Centre through offices at the taluk levels at Kanayannur, Kochi, Aluva, Kothamangalam, Moovattupuzha, Kunnathunadu and North Pravur.

'Amend definition of food, label tobacco as food’

Menace:The Additional Director, Health, Delhi, said consumption of chewable tobacco has been increasing due to surrogate advertisements of pan masala , especially by actors
The Health Department has urged the Centre to amend the definition of “Food” and label “tobacco” as a food item in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to tackle the ill-effects of chewable tobacco.
“It is mentionable that no government will allow anything inside the mouth which is a poison or a toxic substance. If we modify the definition of ‘food’ by saying that ‘a substance which is put into the mouth for the purpose of consumption fully or partially, by methods like chewing, sucking or any other method may be labelled as a ‘food item’,” said S. K. Arora, the Additional Director, Health, Delhi, in a letter to the Union Health Ministry.
Referring to the 2011 regulation of Food Safety Act, which prohibits consumption of any substance as food which contains tobacco or nicotine as an additive substance, Mr. Arora said: “Thus, all kinds of chewable tobacco, whether raw, scented, flavoured or any other will automatically get banned permanently through a Central Act, for which no State will have to issue repeated notifications and which usually lands up in Court because of the tobacco industry’s interference.”
He said consumption of chewable tobacco was increasing in Delhi due to surrogate advertisements ofpan masala , especially by actors.
Immediately after coming to power in February 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party government had issued a notification banning chewable tobacco. However, some manufacturing companies filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court on account of which it could not implemented.
“The previous notification lapsed its one-year term, but the Court could not give a concrete decision on the matter. However, the Delhi government, on its commitment to public health, revised the notification on April 13, 2016, after the lapse of the previous notification. But this time also this notification has been challenged in the High Court and is due for hearing on May 3,” he said.
As per Mr. Arora, tobacco manufacturers were creating hurdles in the way of the Delhi government’s efforts to tackle the menace of chewable tobacco products like gutkha, khaini and zarda.
“Moreover, this notification also needs to be repeated on yearly basis. Hence, it is not a permanent solution. The permanent solution lies in the modification of the definition of Food by introducing some provisions in the central Food Safety Act.” Provisions of Section 3(j) of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 clearly states that the Central government may declare, by notification in the Official Gazette, any other article as food for the purposes of this Act having regards to its use, nature, substance or quality.
As per the Act, food means any substance, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, which is intended for human consumption and includes primary food genetically modified or engineered food or food containing such ingredients.
It also includes, infant food, packaged drinking water, alcoholic drinks, chewing gum, and any substance, including water used in the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment but excludes animal feed, live animals unless they are prepared or processed for placing on the market for human consumption, plants, prior to harvesting, drugs and medicinal products, cosmetics, narcotic or psychotropic substances.