Sep 12, 2016

Centre's notification on liquor: Kerala to abide

The notification has been issued by the Centre after dismissing strong opposition from the liquor producers.
The central food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has issued stringent guidelines to ensure the quality of liquor produced in the country.T
he notification dated September 9 lists out the quality criteria for production and storage of alcoholic beverages. Once the regulation comes into force, the Food Safety Authorities in the states have to conduct regular checks and raids at distilleries.
The notification has been issued by the Centre after dismissing strong opposition from the liquor producers.
The document states regulations for all types of alcoholic beverages including beer and wine.

Even freshly prepared food, if left uncovered, can have flies & bugs settling on it. Make sure you always keep the food covered with a lid after preparation!


Food or poison? Ten food items you need to stop eating!

Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan
New Delhi: We often tend to consume certain foods without thinking whether they are good for our health or not.
Especially in present times, when adulteration is at an all-time high, it becomes important to know what is hazardous to consume and what isn't.
Packaged food sometimes gives us the advantage of providing information on the ingredients that have been used to produce the edible goods, however, there are a few big food manufacturers who are also introducing new hazards in our food supply.
Unfortunately, there are certain food stuffs that contain harmful compounds and ingredients, which actually act as poison for the body and can have a bad effect in the long term.
These are the ones that need an immediate ouster from your everyday diet, irrespective of whether you're following a strict regime or not.
You'll be surprised to learn, when you do, about the following ten food items. Have a look!
1. Margarine:
Similar to butter, many people choose margarine over the former. The truth, however, is slowly beginning to reveal itself. Now, most people have readily begun to swap their margarine with butter, since margarine is full of cholesterol increasing compounds like trans-fats, artificial flavors, artificial colors and most importantly, calories, which makes it more dangerous than butter and you prone to many health-related issues.
2. Artificial sweeteners:
Artificial sweeteners undoubtedly provide you with the satisfaction of consuming less calories, but is it really safe? Saccharine as a low-calorie substitute for sugar surely gives consumers a ray of hope where weight loss is concerned, which now has been introduced as a part of many foods and beverages and advertised as 'diet' food. However, the fact is that these sweeteners actually promote and encourage weight gain and not the reverse. There’s also the issue of the potential damage they can do to your health, such as increasing the risk of diabetes or damage to the kidneys.
3. Tomato sauce:
We can literally sense the shock with this. Unfortunately, it's true. Your good old tomato sauce can also be harmful, unless you have purchased organic tomato sauce or one made of 'real' tomatoes or made it at home. The store-bought tomato sauce that we normally consume on a daily basis with eggs or sandwiches or fast food, etc., contains all sorts of additives like artificial colour, refined sugar, corn syrup, sodium, et al, which promote health issues like hypertension or high blood pressure, obesity and also increase risk of heart disease.
4. Frosting:
Your love of cakes and pastries could be making you lose out on your health, specially because of the frosting. Of course, it has sugar, which means calories, which means weight gain – it's a never-ending cycle. But were you aware that frosting, especially the canned ones use ingredients sugar, trans-fats, corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial flavors and preservatives? In fact, some of the food coloring used in these products is actually banned in other countries!
5. Strawberries:
No, this is not a mistake. It's terrifying, actually, how something that's naturally grown could be harmful. Don't get us wrong, though. We're talking only about non-organic strawberries. Those that are produced by big agricultural businesses are most likely contaminated with pesticides. As per thinkingabouthealth.com, a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that some strawberries contained residue from as many as 13 different pesticides. Buying certified organic strawberries or growing your own is the only way to avoid those potentially dangerous pesticides.
6. Sprouts:
Another healthy food item makes the list. Of course, many dieticians swear by them and a research has also stated that it helps wash out toxins from the body. However, that is not the case with commercially-produced sprouts, which are very prone to contamination by germs and bacteria. The best option is to grow your own at home, which is probably easier than you think.
7. Packaged cookies:

They're delicious, they make your mouth water, they're melt-in-your-mouth yummy and they're also loaded with hydrogenated oils, which are one of the worst things you can eat if you value your health. Of course, butter and sugar are evident ingredients, but they also contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives and bleached white flour. We suggest baking your own cookies at home. They'll be much healthier even if you burn them.
8. Frozen pizza:
Don't we all just love pizza? Be it a party or a I'm-home-alone movie marathon, pizza has always saved the day. But, if we talk about frozen pizza, which makes life simpler by a huge margin, is it safe? Well, going by the high levels of sugar, salt, MSG and nitrates, we don't think so. Oh and we can't overlook the calories, can we? Say hello to kilos!
9. Soda:

Whether it's diet soda or the normal soda, both are equally harmful. Why? They're basically liquid sugar. You'll only be piling on the kilos, not to forget making yourself prone to many diseases in the future. Many soda brands contain sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners like aspartame as a substitute for sugar. It also contains phosphoric acid, which inhibits your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
10. Fast food:
You were wondering when this would come, weren't you? This addition is pretty obvious for various reasons, which we're sure you're already aware of. They may taste amazingly good, however, they have the opposite effect on our health. Including high levels of sodium, MSG, sugar, and trans-fats, fast food does nothing to improve one's health and also contains all sorts of food colorings, artificial sweeteners and preservatives, which are an invitation to long term diseases and conditions.

New handheld device can tell if fruit is ripe


DINAMANI NEWS


Adulterated food products worth Rs 36 lakh seized

In an ongoing drive against the shops selling sub-standard sweets and adulterated food products, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs administration (FDA) have seized barfi and other raw materials used for preparing mithai (Indian sweets), worth nearly Rs 36 lakh from Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai since the outset of Ganesh Chaturthi. 
''Ten flying squads, deployed specifically on the occasion of festive season, raided different shops and factories, drew samples of different types of mithai and in doubtful cases seized the stock of sweets. Some of the samples are being tested in our laboratory at Bandra in Mumbai, while some samples have been sent to our laboratory in Pune," Chandrashekhar Salunkhe, Joint Commissioner (Food) told the media here. 
"The seized items are being tested to find out whether they are in conformity with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The "food safety" means assurance that food is acceptable for human consumption according to its intended use," Salunkhe said. 
Under the act, 'food business operator' means a person by whom the business is carried on or owned, is responsible for ensuring the compliance of this Act, rules and regulations, Salunkhe added. By and large, raw material like mawa is being brought at cheaper rate from outside Maharashtra in large quantities, since it is in much demand in the cities and towns including Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune. 
"Our officers will also be visiting Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav mandals to carry out random checks of the Prasad and food served. The intention is to avoid any untoward incident due to the inadvertent mistake by the sweet/food supplier or the organisers," Salunkhe said adding that the drive will continue till January, since many festivals including Navratri, Dussera, Diwali will be celebrated by people on massive scale in the coming months



Eating food off the floor is not safe at all

Sep 11 (IANS) Food, once dropped on the floor, is not safe to eat, however quickly you pick it up, warns a new study that debunks the widely accepted notion that it is all right to scoop up food and eat it within a "safe" five-second window.
Moisture, type of surface and contact-time all contribute to cross-contamination. In some instances, the transfer begins in less than one second, the study said.
"The popular notion of the 'five-second rule' is that food dropped on the floor, but picked up quickly, is safe to eat because bacteria need time to transfer," said Donald Schaffner, Professor at the Rutgers University at New Jersey, in the US.
"We decided to look into this because the practice is so widespread. The topic might appear 'light' but we wanted our results backed by solid science," Schaffner noted.
The researchers tested four surfaces -- stainless steel, ceramic tile, wood and carpet -- and four different foods -- watermelon, bread, bread and butter, and gummy candy.
They also looked at four different contact times -- less than one second, five, 30 and 300 seconds.
They used two media -- tryptic soy broth or peptone buffer -- to grow Enterobacter aerogenes, a nonpathogenic "cousin" of Salmonella naturally occurring in the human digestive system.
Transfer scenarios were evaluated for each surface type, food type, contact time and bacterial prep; surfaces were inoculated with bacteria and allowed to completely dry before food samples were dropped and left to remain for specified periods.
All totalled 128 scenarios were replicated 20 times each, yielding 2,560 measurements. Post-transfer surface and food samples were analysed for contamination.
Not surprisingly, watermelon had the most contamination, gummy candy the least, showed the findings published online in the American Society for Microbiology's journal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
"Transfer of bacteria from surfaces to food appears to be affected most by moisture," Schaffner said.
"Bacteria don't have legs, they move with the moisture, and the wetter the food, the higher the risk of transfer," Schaffner explained.
"Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously," Schaffner warned.