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20% of Indian food tests revealed adulterated or misbranded products

By RJ Whitehead

- Last updated on GMT

20% of Indian food tests revealed adulterated or misbranded products

Related tags Nutrition India

20% of Indian food tests revealed adulterated or misbranded products

Around one-fifth of all food samples analysed by India’s food watchdog were found to be adulterated or misbranded over the last year.

According to central government figures, 12,077 out of 60,548 food samples were affected; and of these, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) lodged 1,989 criminal and 7,241 civil cases, health minister JP Nadda informed parliament. 

"The FSSAI has ordered the recall of food products and/or withdrawn provisional no-objection certificates issued in respect of various food products manufactured by multinational companies who violated the provisions of the FSS Act or Regulations​,” the minister said in a written reply. 

Nestlé’s Maggi noodles featured on the list of products that had their no-objection certificates taken from them after state inspectors claimed to find elevated traces of lead and monosodium glutamate in samples of the snack.

Monster, Cloud 9 and Tzinga energy drinks, as well as Akoaroma flavoured water, were also named by the minister has having been prevented for sale.

Government rules out ceding to US labelling request

India will not change its unpopular packaging and labelling requirements even in the face of pressure from the United States.

India’s regulations dictate that maximum retail price and official food category must be printed directly on packaging, rather than the details being added on a sticker that can be placed on arrival in India, as US officials had requested. 

In a meeting with the deputy US trade representative, India’s commerce secretary said the labelling requirements were Codex-compliant and applicable to all countries without discrimination. 

A government official told Livemint: “We have asked [the US] to let us know where we are not Codex-compliant. Today, when we export to the US, it requires that we print the MRP in dollars. Will they accept if we print the MRP in euro?​” 

Nestlé proposes new India head in wake of Maggi affair

Etienne Benet, Nestlé India’s beleaguered managing director at the time of the Maggi noodles affair earlier this year, has returned to head office in Switzerland. 

He will likely be replaced by Suresh Narayanan, who has been nominated for the role by Nestlé SA. Until his appointment is approved, Narayanan will occupy the post as a designate.

An Indian, Narayanan joined Nestlé India in 1999 before transferring to other offices, including posts in Southeast Asia and Northeast Africa. He is currently the chairman and chief executive of Nestlé Philippines.

Snacking Vadodara housewives at massive risk of diabetes than those who work

Indian housewives in a Gujarat city are at much higher risk of of contracting so-called lifestyle diseases, research has found.

Statistically, three-quarters of women in Vadodara who stay at home will suffer from obesity and heart conditions compared to 15% of working women. 

The study, which surveyed women aged 30-35 highlighted the common housewives’ diet of fried snacks as being behind the heightened risk.

"Lifestyle and daily habits of an urban stay-at-home mother is such that she tends to have more food. They are among those who have a hearty four-meals-a-day diet along with tit bits throughout the day​,” the study said.

Most consumed food that is heavy on deep-fried farsaan​—or snacks—that are integral to Gujarati cuisine. 

It found the most popular daytime foods consumed by housewives in Vadodara were biscuits, puffed rice, bhakhri, chevda and thepla. 

This indicates that the people consume around 250 to 300 kilo calories from these snacks alone daily​," the study added. 

FSSAI must hurry up with nutraceutical regulations

India, which currently has no standards for the approval or monitoring of nutraceuticals, herbals and functional food, has been urged to move in this direction quickly.

A task force was set up in 2013 to discuss standards from which specific requirements for labelling and composition will be set out. 

Assocham, one of India’s powerful chambers of commerce associations, called on FSSAI, India’s food regulator, to complete the process quickly.

"Nutraceuticals are gaining popularity but its growth is restrained by lack of a solid regulatory framework which is crucial for medial credibility​," Assocham’s BK Rao said.

FSSAI should come up with proper guidelines for manufacturing and marketing of nutraceuticals, herbal and functional foods, Assocham has recommended in a policy paper.

The draft nutraceuticals regulation is reportedly being vetted by the legal department.

Assocham estimates that India’s nutraceuticals market will grow to US$12.2bn over the next five years, though it also claims that 60-70% of supplements are fake or unregistered.

Its paper also suggested the government to introduce various functional foods and beverages in Midday Meal schemes to address child malnutrition.

TB, lifestyle diseases on the rise in Mumbai

While tuberculosis is making an unwelcome return as one of Mumbai’s biggest killers, it is now joined by hypertension and diabetes as lifestyle diseases take their toll on India’s commercial hub.

Of the 90,552 deaths in the city in 2014-15, 6,496 were due to tuberculosis, while 5,055 were associated with hypertension and 2,472 caused by diabetes. The latter corresponded to a 19% increase over the previous year. 

Explaining the results by the Praja Foundation NGO, Nitai Mehta said: "The burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases is on a rise.” 

Government launches street food safety initiative

India’s food distribution minister has launched a grass-roots movement that the government hopes will promote awareness among street vendors about the risks caused by unhygienic cooking practices.

Ram Vilas Paswan, on launching the Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan​, a pan-India campaign for safe food, said more people would be safeguarded by his ministry’s targeting of working-class vendors.

He said there was currently a pressing need by society to promote awareness of basic practices of hygiene, sanitation and safety on the food vendors sell.

Food safety was an inseparable part of food security, Paswan said, adding that food-borne disease outbreaks, which can only be prevented by good hygienic, could have severe health consequences. 

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FROM STREET FOOD TO PROCESSED FOODS---INDIA HAS THE LEADING EDGE INTHE WORLD OF FOOD

Posted by Ajoy Daspurkayastha,

FROM STREET FOOD TO PROCESSED FOODS---INDIA HAS THE LEADING EDGE INTHE WORLD OF FOOD -------INDIA URGENTLY NEEDS A NATIONAL STREET FOOD POLICY CULMINATING INTO STREET FOODS RULES AND REGULATIONS ULTIMATELY CRYSTALIZING INTO NATIONAL STREET FOOD ACT.

INDIA AND THE WORLD OF STREET FOODS

EDOUARD SAOUMA AWARD

QUOTE-----The Edouard Saouma Award is presented biennially to an institution that has implemented with particular efficiency a project funded by the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) of FAO. The award is named after a former Director-General of FAO, Edouard Saouma, and is directed towards the goals he served.

The Edouard Saouma Award for 1994-1995 was presented jointly to three national institutions, in Chile, India and Kenya, for their outstanding contribution to the implementation of TCP projects. The All India Institute for Hygiene and Public Health in Calcutta, India received the award for the project described in this article, which improved food quality and safety in street foods in Calcutta using a thorough and innovative approach.

Author Chakravarty accepting the Edouard Saouma Award from FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf

UNQUOTE

Reference:--- http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3699t/w3699t06.htm

QUOTE--Calling Street Food Lovers: 7 Epic Mumbai Eateries That are a Must-Visit

Neelambra Lahori, Modified: July 09, 2015 19:35 IST

Reference:----http://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/calling-street-food-lovers-7-epic-mumbai-eateries-that-are-a-must-visit-779399?utm_source=taboola#comments

INDIA AND THE WORLD OF PROCESSED FOODS

Food processors, retailers, Food advertisers, consumers, food safety authority (FSSAI), Consumer Commission----National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) ---are all major stakeholders connected with processed foods----------UNDER Consumers affairs Ministry.

The most important task for FSSAI is to induct Indian food laws and regulations to world standards so that processed foods export from India to destinations in the western countries, Europe, Australasia and the whole of gulf countries get a quantum jump.

As on today India is already world’s highest producers of rBST-hormone free milk while the advanced world in the western hemisphere is struggling with rBST-hormone laced milk confusion among consumers .

Reference:--- http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/1044/rbgh/guide-to-rbgh-free-dairy-products#

QUOTE--- Some U.S. dairy farms inject the genetically engineered hormone rBGH, also called rBST, into their cows to boost milk production—so be sure to purchase products with a label that indicates cows free of rBGH or Rbst---UNQUOTE

India is again world’s largest exporters of rectopamine(antibiotic)-free meat while the advanced world in the western hemisphere is struggling with rectopamine(antibiotic)- laced meat .

Reference: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/24/ractopamine-beta-agonist-drug.aspx





Here below, I am trying to give you an idea how a food regulator(FDA,USA) while visiting FSSAI in New Delhi,India about 3 months back expressed a good feeling for a food regulator (FSSAI,India)which speak volumes in itself that in the present world, no food regulator can work in isolation. They need collaborative alliance to each other to upkeep food safety of utmost importance. And that is one of the main reason ,as to why every food regulator remain duty-bound to rise to the noble occasion of protective food safety in the global scenario of food processing industry where 5 ingredients can be sourced from 5 different continents and had to face 5 different (may look like apparently the same) food safety/quality checks in different challenging scenarios.



Quote----Although we don’t know most of the 22 official languages spoken here, we nonetheless realized after meeting with FSSAI that we “speak the same language” in terms of our food safety challenges and solutions. ----Unquote



Quote----But the Indians are no strangers to sweeping change to improve food safety---Unquote



Quote---- Our counterparts, known as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), are also undergoing a significant regulatory overhaul, known as the Foods Safety and Standards Act. Passed in 2006, it was the law that actually created FSSAI. At its core, the Act seeks to ensure that India’s food industry is adhering to international, science-based standards for food safety. Not unlike FSMA, this law poses many challenges in terms of how it can be successfully implemented, with both laws mandating comprehensive change, including marked increases in authority that require new resources to implement.--- Unquote



Quote--- The sounds and sights of Delhi and D.C. are certainly different. But with our MOU signed, we look forward to building our partnership with India, recognizing that sometimes the most fruitful relationships result when people with diverse perspectives come together to find common ground.---Unquote



India urgently needs a “National policy on “Processed foods advertisement SPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN—the most vulnerable group in our society”

Reference:---

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/business/29label.html



QUOTE--- U.S. Seeks New Limits on Food Ads for Children

By WILLIAM NEUMANAPRIL 28, 2011 –UNQUOTE

QUOTE--- The federal government proposed sweeping new guidelines on Thursday that could push the food industry to overhaul how it advertises cereal, soda pop, snacks, restaurant meals and other foods to children.

Citing an epidemic of childhood obesity, regulators are taking aim at a range of tactics used to market foods high in sugar, fat or salt to children, including the use of cartoon characters like Toucan Sam, the brightly colored Froot Loops pitchman, who appears in television commercials and online games as well as on cereal boxes.----- UNQUOTE

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FDA'S(US FOOD REGULATOR) PRAISE ABOUT FSSAI(INDIA'S FOOD REGULATOR

Posted by Ajoy Daspurkayastha,

About 3 months back a team of high-profile FDA,USA officials visited India and made the following bright remarks(please see Quote---- Unquote-- text only) about India’s vision on food safety headed by FSSAI(Food Safety and Standards Authority of India)



Food Industry, be it in india or, elsewhere in the world should look Food regulators in a positive attitude to help protect the public health and safety of the country's citizens in question which obviously includes protecting the health and safety of the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers and relatives of all the stakeholders of the food processing industries in india and abroad because food industry is no more only local, it is global too.



Here below, I am trying to give you an idea how a food regulator(FDA,USA) has a feeling for a food regulator (FSSAI,India)which speak volumes in itself that in the present world, no food regulator can work in isolation. They need collaborative alliance to each other to upkeep food safety of utmost importance. And that is one of the main reason ,as to why every food regulator remain duty-bound to rise to the noble occasion of protective food safety in the global scenario of food processing industry where 5 ingredients can be sourced from 5 different continents and had to face 5 different (may look like apparently the same) food safety/quality checks in different challenging scenarios.

Henceforth, food regulations never get an opportunity for dilution of food regulations just merely because food industry stakeholders on and off feels panicky about food regulations destined to upkeep the public health and safety of utmost importance as like that of India and USA whose national priority is “Food Safety”.

Web-reference:-- http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/tag/food-safety-and-standards-authority-of-india-fssai/

Tile/Authors reference: --- In a country full of differences, common ground

Posted on March 27, 2015 by FDA Voice By: Michael Taylor, Howard Samberg and Camille Brewer on FDA Voice’s Tag Archives: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)



Quote----Although we don’t know most of the 22 official languages spoken here, we nonetheless realized after meeting with FSSAI that we “speak the same language” in terms of our food safety challenges and solutions. ----Unquote



Quote----But the Indians are no strangers to sweeping change to improve food safety---Unquote



Quote---- Our counterparts, known as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), are also undergoing a significant regulatory overhaul, known as the Foods Safety and Standards Act. Passed in 2006, it was the law that actually created FSSAI. At its core, the Act seeks to ensure that India’s food industry is adhering to international, science-based standards for food safety. Not unlike FSMA, this law poses many challenges in terms of how it can be successfully implemented, with both laws mandating comprehensive change, including marked increases in authority that require new resources to implement.--- Unquote



Quote--- The sounds and sights of Delhi and D.C. are certainly different. But with our MOU signed, we look forward to building our partnership with India, recognizing that sometimes the most fruitful relationships result when people with diverse perspectives come together to find common ground.---Unquote

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