Mar 26, 2017
Lucknow goes veg as chicken, mutton sellers go on strikeUrooj Khan
- 5,000 shops selling mutton and chicken went on strike protesting the Yogi government's crackdown on unlicensed abattoirs and meat outlets.
- The strike is now threatening to spread with Meat Murga Vyapar Kalyan Samiti, UP giving a call for a statewide strike from Sunday.
Tunday Kababi shop in Lucknow.
LUCKNOW: The city of Nawabs, known for its mouthwatering Awadhi delicacies, was forced to turn vegetarian on Saturday when over 5,000 shops selling mutton and chicken went on strike protesting the Yogi government's crackdown on unlicensed abattoirs and meat outlets. Famous eateries of Lucknow like Tunday's and Mubeen's showed solidarity by downing their shutters.
The strike is now threatening to spread with Meat Murga Vyapar Kalyan Samiti, UP giving a call for a statewide strike from Sunday. Murga Vypar Mandal of Kanpur has already announced it will join the strike from Sunday.
In Noida and Ghaziabad, roadside meat shops, including those selling chicken, have disappeared overnight. However, the licenced shops have decided not to join the strike. But even among operators in these shops, there is wariness about the current situation, leading to a general downturn in business.
In Bareilly, while 60-odd licensed mutton shops were open on Friday, roadside outlets remained closed fearing a crackdown.
In Agra, mutton supply was very low while chicken was available.
In the state capital, Lucknow Murga Mandi Samiti (LMMS) and MMVKS held a meeting in the morning and decided to shut the supply. LMMS represents more than 50 wholesalers who supply chicken to about 5,000 retailers, besides restaurants, hotels and small food joints in the city. MMVKS represents about 600 dealers.
LMMS representative Sanjay Saxena said applications for licences of many dealers were gathering dust at Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) since 2010. "We were forced to work without licence because LMC is neither issuing fresh licences nor renewing old ones for three years. Our legal business turned illegal because of apathy of the authorities and now the crackdown has hit our livelihood," said Saxena.
Refuting the allegations, LMC veterinary officer AK Rao said, "Of all 602 licences, 340 have been renewed and approximately 130 cancelled because they were flouting the Supreme Court guidelines, according to which no butcher shop should be adjacent to religious places and educational institutions. The rest were for shops that sell buffalo meat. We cannot issue a licence to them because there is no legitimate slaughterhouse in the city. So, as of now, there is no pendency." MMVKS chief said there should be a designated market for meat sellers outside the city limits. "The government must give us place where it is legally correct. We are ready to hire or buy the premises so that our business is not affected," added Qureshi.
Other demands of the association include setting up of a modern 'murga mandi', a centralised market for broilers. Members of LMMS and MMVKS argued that most roadside dhabas, fast food vends, paan shops and vegetable/fruit vendors in the city are in business without a licence, but no action has been taken against them.
Their goose is cooked: Roadside meat shops vanish in Noida, GhaziabadShikha Salaria & Ayaskant Das
- Most roadside vendors or butchers working from their jhuggi-jhopdis have either closed the shops or are in panic
- Many areas like Harola Murga Mandi in Sector 8, known for its meat market, now wear a deserted look
When contacted, DM N P Singh told TOI that the exact number of licence issued will be available with the FSDA department.
NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: With the Noida Authority starting a drive against meat shops in Sector 62 and other areas, most roadside vendors or butchers working from their jhuggi-jhopdis have either closed the shops or are in panic. In neighbouring Ghaziabad too, a recce of markets in Trans-Hindon areas which had stalls of meat, fish and poultry products showed that many shops had suddenly vanished.
According to Noida Authority's department of public health, no licence has been issued to any meat shops within its jurisdiction. They have issued licence to only one slaughterhouse and one meat processing unit in Greater Noida -- suggesting that the over thousand shops and other outlets are illegal.
The designated officer for FSDA (food safety and drug administration) in the district, Mahendra Srivastava said that meat shops are running in the district without any licence and they have formed teams to regulate them. However, when TOI did a reality check, many shops were found to have a registration certificate from the food safety department of the district administration.
"We have heard about the drives being carried out by the Noida Authority in areas like Sector 62. The police have sealed some shops in Sector 8 while others on their own downed the shutters. There is no clarity on what will happen. We have a certificate from the government but I got to know that the officials have now asked the owners not to cut the animals inside the shop and bring the already cut meat or chicken from outside Noida. We are getting it from New Ashok Nagar ever since the formation of the new government," said a meat shop owner in Sector 12.
Many areas like Harola Murga Mandi in Sector 8, known for its meat market, now wear a deserted look.
"I went to get some mutton for my family friends last evening. However, where at least 25 makeshift shops used to operate, the street suprisingly looked deserted. Some shopkeepers told me that I will have to go inside the villages if I need mutton or chicken," said Darul Khan, an empl-oyee working in an office in Sector 16.
When contacted, DM N P Singh told TOI that the exact number of licence issued will be available with the FSDA department. "We will seek the exact number from the department on Monday," he said.
Asked about the lack of a proper policy to issue licences to meat shops in Noida, authority CEO Deepak Agarwal said, "We will study how the meat shops are given licences in municipalities in other places. Subsequently, a policy will be formed and it will be placed in the authority meeting ."
In Ghaziabad, poultry stalls that dotted the arterial CISF Road of Indirapuram have vanished while there are no shops either of fish or poultry products in Bihari Market. Meat shops set up in open areas of Ahimsa Khand 2 have also vanished while the poultry and fish market in Sector 3 of Vaishali wears a deserted look. Some shopkeepers, however, said poultry can be arranged upon order. "Over 95% shops that did not have licences have been shut down after an order was issued by the mayor," said GMC health officer Dr RK Yadav.
Health Dept. to rope in RWAs to check food quality
The next time you spot a pani puri wala using unhygienic water or find that the food in your school canteen is not fresh, the solution to your problem is at your fingertips, literally. All you have to do is take a photograph or a video of the food safety violation and send it on WhatsApp to the Department of Health and Family Welfare and your complaint is as good as registered.
The department has decided to work with resident welfare associations (RWAs) in the city to spread awareness about safe and unsafe food and also look into complaints pertaining to food safety. Subodh Yadav, Commissioner of the department, said active volunteers will also be given an identity card so that they are taken seriously. The department’s local officials will be given a three day deadline to attend to the complaint. Apart from flagging off the department about these complaints, citizens can also raise awareness about food safety practices among others.
The intention behind introducing the measure is to raise awareness about food safety. Mr. Yadav said that although the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act began in 2011, they had received very few complaints. “Currently, there is no feedback channel and the number of complaints we get are very few. The monitoring mechanism needs to be improved,” he said.
The department is also currently grappling with shortage of food inspectors in the State and has roped in taluk health officers for this task. Mr. Yadav also said letters have been written to the Deputy Commissioners asking them to take the lead in issues pertaining to food safety. They would be educated on what constitutes adulterated food, sub-standard food, unsafe food, and also educated on misleading advertisements.
RWAs have welcomed the move. Nitya Reddy, vice-president, Richmond and Langford Town Residents’ Welfare Association, termed it a much needed one. “It will be great if the Health Department ropes in RWAs as we will be able to point out to unhygienic neighbourhood eateries, restaurants, and roadside vendors. We can be in constant touch with them and help them monitor food quality.”
Kerala keeps tabs on bulk food buyers
It was decided that since several trucks are coming from the neighbouring states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, there is an urgent need to keep a tab on them which are carrying variety of food items other than fruits and vegetables
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After keeping a periodic check at various checkposts in the state to seize pesticide-laden vegetables that come from across the border, food safety officials have decided to track vehicle operators and also buyers in the state who procure fruits/vegetables/fish and dried fish. The aim of the food safety officials is to track buyers in the state who are relying on business enterprises in the neighbouring states and to ascertain the quality of the stuff they are receiving.
It was at a recent meeting of food safety officials that its commissioner Dr Navjyoth Khosa decided to enforce their mechanism and also broaden its horizons. It was decided that since several trucks are coming from the neighbouring states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, there is an urgent need to keep a tab on them which are carrying variety of food items other than fruits and vegetables. During the recent session of the Legislative Assembly, legislators had raised lots of questions during the Question Hour as well as through submissions on various steps taken by the agriculture and food safety departments to ensure quality.
“At the same time, we wanted to know the buyer and the seller’s details. We can’t prosecute the seller as he might be belonging to a different state where we can inform the food safety authorities there. But we might be able to enlighten the buyer in Kerala on the quality of the product he is getting from across the border,” Ms Khosa told this newspaper. She has also demanded that surveillance and statutory samples of all the food items have to be checked which are coming to the state.
The samples of fish and dried fish have to be checked at Central Institute of Fisheries Technology and the statutory samples at the labs belonging to food safety department. At the same time, Ms Khosa has also urged that the outlets of food business operators in the state have to undergo checking so as to ascertain whether they have got the requisite licence and registration. Currently the state food safety department has got two mobile labs and is being put in to rigorous use for testing of pesticides in fruits and vegetables.
'Manufacturers agree to fortify edible oil with Vitamin A&D'
The regulator also discussed the issues related to the sale of loose edible oil and the industry was advised to adopt small packaging of edible oil to discourage sale of loose oil
New Delhi, Mar 25 All major edible oil manufacturers and processors have agreed to fortify cooking oil with Vitamin A & D within the next three months, the food regulator FSSAI said today.
Fortification means deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in food to improve its quality.
This decision is the outcome of a meeting convened by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently here. Over 130 persons, including the representatives of the edible oil industry and its associations, and academia attended this meeting among others.
The FSSAI is promoting food fortification in a big way and had last year issued standards for fortification of salt with iodine and iron, of vegetable oil and milk with Vitamin A and D, wheat flour and rice with iron, folic acid, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin A and some other micronutrients.
"All major edible oil manufacturing and processing sector decides to fortify the edible oil with vitamin A and D within the next three months," FSSAI said in a statement.
"During the deliberations industry partners, including Patanjali, resolved to adopt fortification of all their edible oil variants as an industry norm and have agreed to initiate fortification within 8-12 weeks," it added.
As per the National Institute of Nutrition, there is a high prevalence of vitamin A and D deficiencies amongst Indian population. Almost 50-90 per cent of the Indian population, across all socio-economic groups, suffers from vitamin A and D deficiencies.
FSSAI said the fortification of edible oils with vitamin A and D, offers the most feasible and cost-effective intervention, as India has a fairly high consumption of edible oils, ranging from 12-18 kg per annum per person.
The country imported 14.5 million tonnes of vegetable oils in the 2015-16 oil year (November-October) to meet its domestic demand.
"Food fortification has a great potential to enrich the nutritional quality of various foods. It is encouraging to see such a traction and commitment within the food industry to initiate fortification of foods. This would indeed help India to improve the nutritional status of millions of people, both the poor and the rich." FSSAI's CEO Pawan Agarwal said.
The regulator also discussed the issues related to the sale of loose edible oil and the industry was advised to adopt small packaging of edible oil to discourage sale of loose oil.
At the behest of governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat, entire edible oil industry is already selling only fortified edible oil across these States.
Several state and UT governments like Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, etc. Have started providing fortified oil through the public funded programmes like the PDS, ICDS and MDM.
"Edible oil processors also decided to come out with oils in small pouches in order to ensure effective ban on loose oil sale in the country," the statement said.
Most Delhi University canteens running sans valid licence
Canteens have been flouting guidelines issued by the FSSAI.
Delhi University has not laid down rules and regulations for food safety and precaution.
New Delhi: While provision of quality, hygienic and nutritious food has always been a concern for parents in schools, food safety and standards has not found any place in the canteens of the prestigious Delhi University either.
The canteens in the varsity have been flouting guidelines issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) with majority of them running without a valid FSSAI license.
However, on ground, the canteens do go through the routine checks and inspections by a general university body.
The shocking facts came to light in response to an RTI query filed by law faculty student Mohit Kumar Gupta through advocate Ms Shashi. The assistant registrar (AR) (estate) had made the reply on August 28 with all tender documents and agreements.
“DU has not laid down rules and regulations for food safety and precaution. Further, other contents regarding food safety and precaution are mentioned in the cafeteria services tender inviting notice,” the reply stated.
“The agreements state that there is no need of licence and when I asked them about the copies, they simply said that the information for the same cannot be disclosed. There are even illegal and unauthorised canteens running in Arts and Law faculty,” the final year law student said. In October 2016, the UGC had made it mandatory for all the messes and canteens running in varsities and colleges to get a licence from FSSAI under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, while ensuring to follow the guidelines.
In another response, SRCC administrative officer/PIO stated, “Any statutory authority or DU has never issued any guidelines/rules which prescribe bearing of FSAI license as mandatory condition for grant of contract for food operating canteen.” Mr Gupta also alleged that canteens are using domestic subsidised LPG cylinders for commercial purposes, which is a punishable offence.
Speaking to this newspaper, the general secretary of DU canteens, said, “We will check the papers and then only will be able to tell whether our canteen falls under the guidelines as the canteens were established long time back. So far, we have not received any such scrutiny regarding safety,” he said.
DU canteens lack licences
According to FSSAI guidelines, all canteens should facilitate clean water storage tank, proper open windows and doors with suitable fly-proofing and fitted with strip curtains but as many as 80 canteens do not adhere to these norms.
Under the UGC guidelines issued in October last year, FSSAI licence is mandatory for every educational institution.
The RTI query also revealed that JNU has implemented the UGC guidelines and all its canteens have valid licenses from FSSAI.
“Adequate cleaning, disinfecting facility for equipment and Utensils, proper facilities for washing of raw material and utensils, workers should be provided with clean aprons, head wears ,hand gloves and foot wear and so on,” the guidelines by FSSAI stated.
Another letter from a student of DU Law faculty has reached FSSAI seeking inspections in the college canteens so that a minimum standard is followed for serving food to the students.
Delhi University has 16 faculties, 86 academic departments, 77 colleges and five other recognised institutes spread all over the city with over one lakh students attending it on a daily basis and 50 percent of them depend on the canteen food.
The Sunday Standard inspected some DU canteens and found that the food is cooked on the domestic LPG cylinder illegally instead of on the blue cylinders meant for commercial purposes. Canteen workers don’t follow the basic norms; they don’t wear gloves, no cleaning and sanitation is maintained in the canteens.
“I come from Noida Extension everyday to Art faculty to attend the early morning lecture. I often miss my breakfast and lunch, and choose to eat at the canteen but a few months ago I got infection and food poisoning,” Chitranjali, a student, said.
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