FSSAI doubles down on food safety with expert review of standards

“[We have] formulated a three-pronged strategy for ensuring safe and nutritious food for the 1.3bn people in India. We are in the process of setting up a food safety standards review panel to identify gaps in existing standards for safe and nutritious food against international standards​," said Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

“The FSSAI will also look at ensuring that these food safety standards are complied by stakeholders in the food business through third-party auditing and food inspections​.”

Earlier this month, the regulator announced a INR242cr (US$35.5m) scheme to strengthen India’s food testing infrastructure after Bombay High Court highlighted an urgent need for improvements.

Under the scheme, each state will be given at least one food testing lab, while 14 referral labs will be upgraded, the FSSAI said. 

As many as 62 mobile testing labs will also be established across all states and union territories—an increase from the current four mobile labs in Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The latter will serve as a model for the new mobile labs. 

Speaking in Mumbai, Agarwal said the FSSAI would ramp up inspections while also strengthening its lab capacity increasing the number of food safety trainers. 

"Also, awareness will be create amongst consumers about food safety and nutritious foods, be it at home, schools, colleges, work place, street food, social and cultural centres​," he said. 

India can only address its food safety issues "if we create a brand and work on it wholeheartedly in a collective manner. For this, we have to build the right eco system in food safety​,” Agarwal added. 

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Novozymes to expand production and supply capacity with new Mumbai plant​

Danish enzymes company Novozymes has obtained land near to Mumbai where it plans to establish a new production and supply chain facility through a INR300cr (US$44m) investment.​

The plant, which is expected to be ready for business in 2018, will accommodate expansion at a time when business has seen strong sales growth in Asia. It will also improve Novozymes’ regional supply chain, its regional chief operating officer said.

“We see a big opportunity in India and Southeast Asia, where knowledge-based innovations in the field of industrial enzymes can effectively replace polluting chemical processes and deliver environmental sustainability​,” says Thomas Videbæk. 

“Our business in the region has been growing strongly for years, to a point where we have outgrown current facilities and need to expand for the future​.” 

He added that the Patalganga site was chosen for its size, proximity to customers, future business opportunities and accessibility to ports, airports, highways and other industrial infrastructure.

The plant will produce enzymes using solid-state fermentation, and will also formulate enzymes imported from Novozymes’ production sites outside India. 

The company first arrived in India in 1983 and currently occupies three sites in Bangalore. Its regional focus is on pectinase enzymes, which are used in the wine and juice industries to squeeze more juice from fruit and improve production processes. It also formulates other enzyme types in India to cater to local market needs.

Novozymes India’s solid-state fermentation and supply chain operations will now move to the new production site, while all other functions will remain in Karnataka, including the company’s Indian head office, research and development labs and service centres that provide support to global operations. 

“We will maintain some of our key functions in Bangalore, which has proven to be a great base for pushing sustainable, biological solutions to India and beyond​,” said Videbæk. 

Ifad chief visits Pakistan to renew commitment to rural poor​

The president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development is visiting Pakistan this week to renew the UN agency’s commitment to alleviate rural poverty and boost food security in the country.​

Kanayo F. Nwanze will meet President Nawaz Sharif and other government ministers during his visit to Pakistan, where an estimated 60m people live below the poverty line, mostly in rural areas. 

“Ifad is committed to supporting the government of Pakistan in tackling rural poverty​,” said Nwanze. “In order to end hunger, we have to promote sustainable agriculture, which means investing in rural smallholder producers​.”

Vision 2025, the government’s national poverty reduction strategy, is aimed at reducing poverty by half by 2025, and lifting Pakistan to an upper middle-income country.

Agriculture is the largest sector in Pakistan’s economy, accounting for 42.3% of total employment, and is the primary source of livelihood of the rural poor. But in the country’s many mountainous areas, rugged terrain and ecological fragility make agricultural production and access to markets difficult for the isolated communities who live there.

Ifad financing in Pakistan is focused mainly on promoting the sustainable economic transformation of the rural poor and ultra- poor households by builiding assets, providing vocational training, and access to microfinance and technical assistance

Having provided more than US$604m in financing for 26 projects since 1978, Ifad has also focused building institutional capacity and links to markets, and strengthening policy and institutions for better community-led development.