Hazardous chemicals found in chilli powder: Kamineni

Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas and Food Safety Commissioner Samuel Anand Kumar demonstrating how to detect adulteration of chilli powder at a press conference in Vijayawada on Friday.
During a major crackdown on adulterated chilli powder in the recent weeks, the Commissionerate of Food Safety (CFS) of Andhra Pradesh found eight out of 10 samples of misbranded packets to be hazardous. The remaining two were substandard.
A total of 3.09 tonnes of misleading or falsely-labelled chilli powder was seized.
A chemical analysis of the samples traced the presence of harmful chemicals Sudan, red oxide and Rhodamine-B, said Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas. Addressing a press conference along with Food Safety Commissioner Samuel Anand Kumar here on Friday, Mr. Srinivas said nearly 683 tonnes of the adulterated chilli powder was seized from 71 storage facilities in the last one month.
The value of these stocks was estimated to be Rs. 25 crore. Cases were booked against 50 companies and sellers that were doing the business, which was not only illegal but also detrimental to health.
Mr. Kumar said chilli stalks were ground and mixed with the actual chilli powder along with various chemicals on a large scale. Such chilli powder was blended with some pickles.
Raids by officials of the CFS, Revenue, Agriculture and Legal Metrology Departments would continue to bust this adulteration racket which posed serious health risk, he added.

Don’t use newspaper to pack food, says FSSAI

CHENNAI: If you are about to squeeze the oil out of a bajji at a roadside stall with a piece of newspaper, stop. Use of newspapers to wrap, pack or serve food is common in India. But the country’s top food safety authority has now drawn public attention to its dangers.
The Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a country-wide advisory, raising an alarm over the harmful effects of the printing ink that may get absorbed in food. The newspapers have harmful pigments and binders. Used papers poses the threat of containing harmful microorganisms too.
“There is an urgent need to discourage the use of newspaper by creating an awareness,” the advisory stated.
While newspapers can harm, even cardboard boxes made of recycled paper are a no-no as it may be contaminated by carcinogens, toxic metals like lead, mineral oils or harmful chemicals such as phthalate which can cause digestive problems.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda tweeted, “I request public to dissuade the vendors from using newspapers in packing and serving food.”
There is yet no ban on use of newspapers and recycled cardboard for packing food. “Right now there is no penalty. The point is to create an awarenes. Eventually a ban maybe imposed,” said Dr B Vasu Kumar, director and additional commissioner of food safety, Chennai. He added that vendors should go back to using leaves for serving food.
Vendors are unhappy. “Leaves are expensive. Round-cut plantain leaf costs Rs 3 a plate. A dhonnai (cup made of dried leaves) is Rs 1.50. For a Rs 5 bonda, we can’t buy a Rs 3 leaf,” said Dhanalaxmi, a street food vendor. She added, “Hotels pack hot food in polythene bags that melt. Sweet shops use cardboard boxes lined with wax. Unless the Government subsidises clean packing material, we can’t run our business

Paper-wrapped food poses health risk’

Citing health hazards, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched a campaign urging vendors of roadside eateries to stop serving food items wrapped in newspaper.

R. Kathiravan, designated officer of the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, Chennai district, pointed to the presence of chemicals including heavy metals in newspapers, which pose serious health risks. “They (vendors) are always in the habit of packaging items like vada and bonda in newspapers since they are cheap and easily available. But such practices cannot be tolerated as they pose a serious health hazard. They could use aluminium foil instead, which is also easily available and quite affordable,” he added.

Initially, the campaign is being conducted in Villivakam, Arumbakkam, Anna Nagar and Koyambedu. Food Safety Officer A. Sathasivam said that the officials were planning to extend the campaign across the city and conclude it by the end of the month. “Apart from newspapers, we have been asking the vendors to stop using plastic sheets too, which are widely used for cooking idlis,” he said.

The awareness programme has covered around 60 shops so far, said Mr. Sathasivam, adding that the officials were also conducting compliance checks.