Food joints go under scanner

Insects and flies found in sweets at one of the food processing chambers in a hotel in Dimapur. (Morung photo)

Food safety officials find many discrepancies

Food safety officials along with police on Wednesday visited restaurants, hotels, bakeries, lounges and eating houses along Circular Road, Dimapur to inspect facilities and to verify that safe food handling practices are followed. During the inspection, it was found that the food being handled processed, manufactured or stored and the persons handling them did not conform to the sanitary and hygienic requirements. Most of the places did not adhere to the basic hygienic requirement of wearing gloves, masks, aprons or sanitary paper headgears.

However, in places that were inspected later, the employees were found hygienically prepped and working, when the food safety inspectors arrived. However when employees were asked if they wore gloves and headgears daily while working, the response was negative; making it obvious that they were tipped-off about the inspection going on. Many of them said they were asked to prep up only few minutes earlier, before the inspection team arrived. In most of the hotels, newspapers were used instead of butter papers at the bottom of cakes and other items. Food safety inspectors cautioned the restaurants and hotels against the use of newspapers as its ink contains substances that might cause substantial health hazards.

During the inspection, it was found that the salt used in one particular restaurant did not have any iodine content. In other places, the inspection team seized items that were either expired or did not have the manufactured date. The seized items included coconut powders, dry fruits, pasta maga & mamma giri, cardamom and soya sauce. The food safety inspectors took note of ash trays provided on tables in restaurants and hotels despite such places being declared no smoking zones.

Sentong Jamir, Food Safety Officer (health department) under Chief Medical Officer Dimapur has asked all food manufacturing units to print food safety license or registration numbers on all labels of their produce by December 6. The manufacturing units include home-made processed foods for sale like meat packets and pickles.
Managers of some hotels and restaurants were asked to report to the office of CMO Dimapur on Thursday to cross check their licenses.

SC asks for report on steps taken over adulterated milk

The Supreme Court has asked the Commissioners of Food Safety of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to be present in court Dec 5 and inform it about the steps taken by them to curb adulteration in milk in their states.

An apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice A.K. Sikri Tuesday directed the personal appearance of the Commissioners of Food Safety of the four states as the court was told that these states have not taken any steps to clamp down on large-scale milk adulteration.

"We have perused the affidavits filed by the parties.

"The various states have not explained what steps they have taken for the effective implementation of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the rules framed thereunder," the court said.

"Non-implementation of the provisions of the Act violates the right to health and safety of the human beings guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," it said.

"In such circumstances, we are inclined to give directions to the concerned Officer In-Charge of the Food Safety and Standards in the States/NCT of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to be present on the next date of hearing and explain to the court how they are functioning and what effective steps they are taking to implement the provisions of the Act and the regulations and explain their accountability."

It also said the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act must be done in a serious manner.

Justice Radhakrishnan said: "If they are not taking any steps, it is the violation of Article 21."

The court's observation came as Anurag Tomar appearing for PIL petitioner Swami Achyutanand Tirth told the court that these states were in a denial mode and have not taken any steps to check adulteration of milk.

In the course of the hearing, the court inquired as to what steps have been taken in the wake of the 2011 report of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

As the court was told that the report was forwarded to the concerned states, the court asked if the centre was aware what action was taken on the report forwarded by it.

The counsel for the centre, Bina Tamta, sought time so that the centre could file a status report on the action taken by the state governments.

The court directed the presence of the Commissioners of Food Safety of the four states as it did not get any satisfactory response from the counsel representing them.

In 2011, the FSSAI had taken 1,791 samples from 23 states, from both urban and rural areas, and found that 68.4 percent (1,226) samples of milk were non-conforming to FSSAI standards.

The food safety and standards regulator told the court that its study also "indicated traces of detergent in some cases".

Even the centre had Oct 22, 2012, told the apex court that overwhelming quantity of milk being supplied in the market both in pouches and in loose form were not conforming to the quality standards laid under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The court was hearing a PIL by Swami Achyutanand Tirth, head of the Bhuma Niketan Ashram in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, contending that "apathy and inaction" of the central government and the state governments in taking "effective and necessary" measures in curbing the sale of synthetic (chemically prepared) and adulterated milk was violative of the fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution. 

Research themes identified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority

1.    Issues involving hygiene and safety in the agricultural supply chain traceability.

2.     Hygiene and safety of traditional foods.

3.     Innovative and simple methods for testing of food products in unorganised sector.

4.     Safety aspect of Novel foods including genetically modified (GM) foods and processing techniques.

5.     Food contamination: to provide information on chemical contaminants in food and their movement in food chain. To establish ways of reducing the level of these substances in food by identifying good practices during manufacturing processes. Development of improved and rapid methods of analysis of food contaminants.

6.     Improved methods of analysis: to ensure that fully validated analytical methods are available for the Authority - survey work and to develop quality procedures for analysis and operating proficiency testing schemes to test the performance of analytical laboratories.

7.     Chemical safety and toxicology, including food additives, food contact materials and risk assessment for the underlying research needed to improve risk assessment for food chemicals that are of a particular concern. To ensure that consumers are adequately protected from unsafe exposure to additives in food and chemical migration from packaging of food.

8.     Risk communication: to develop ways of communicating risk so that consumers are better able to understand the risk messages put out by the Authority.

9.  Hygiene and good practices in meat, fish and poultry sector.

10.     Microbiological food safety: to provide information on the presence, growth, survival and elimination of micro-organisms throughout the food chain and the extent, distribution, causes and cost of food borne diseases.

11.   Research on nutritional composition: to carry out research on major food constituents and their role in the health of the population. To support the Authority for providing advice to consumers on healthy balanced diet.

12.     Food quality and authenticity: to investigate the authenticity of various types of food in the market and develop improved methods for checking such authenticity.

13.     Food law enforcement: to help the Authority prioritise various tasks in  enforcement and to raise the standards in food business.

How can consumers, NGOs and other institutions associate in food safety?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India  (FSSAI) has been established to lay down science based standards for articles of food and ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. Under Article 16 of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), the Authority will conduct surveys of enforcement and administration of the Act in various parts of the country, search, collect and analyse relevant information relating to food consumption and exposure of individuals risks, incidence and prevalence of biological risk, contaminants in food, residues of various contaminants etc.

The Authority is also expected to promote and issue guidelines for development of risk assessment methodologies and forward messages on health and nutritional risks to the stakeholders. Among its mandates is the task of establishing a network of information and best practices in food safety. Authority proposes to ensure that public, consumers and other stakeholders receive comprehensive information regarding food safety periodically.

An important and critical stakeholder in food safety is the consumer who is directly impacted by the safety of food in the country. It is necessary for the Authority to devise mechanisms for associating the consumer in the development of standards as well as apprising him of the emerging trends in food safety so that consumer concerns are appropriately reflected in the food safety system in the country. Keeping the above in view, the following scheme is notified by the Authority for inviting and processing proposals from consumer organisations, citizen groups, educational institutions and research institutions. These do not include research proposals for which a scheme has been developed separately.

Eligible organisations
Eligibility under the scheme will be for non-governmental organisations, schools and colleges, voluntary organisations, and government-supported institutions having at least three years experience in the food safety related field.

List of areas
The following is a list of areas in respect of which proposals are invited by the Authority:
i.     Disseminate the information conveyed in food labels and enable consumers to obtain information from labels.

ii.     Capacity building and skill enhancement of small food business operators, street vendors or any other registered/licensed food vendor.

iii. Innovative projects which involve the community in promoting food safety practices, raising hygiene levels etc.

iv.     Encouraging testing of key food and food ingredients, testing of water quality and safety as well as presence of contaminants in commonly consumed food items.

v.     Surveying and profiling levels of hygiene and safety in food businesses, households and food distribution units at panchayat, municipal and other levels.

vi. Disseminate food safety messages among children, housewives and others.

vii. Food Authority will also encourage proposals to develop communication material for disseminating the food safety messages of relevance to the consumers.

How to apply
An initial concept note of about three pages should be submitted to the Authority, outlining the proposed work, the contents and how the project will be executed along with deliverables. After approval of concept, the detailed proposal should be submitted. See www.fssai.gov.in for more information.

Processing of the proposal
The concept paper will be examined in the Authority by an expert committee involving internal and external experts and applicant will be informed within a period of 30 days whether the concept is approved or not in view of its relevance under the mandate of the Authority and usefulness for promoting food safety. After approval of the concept, the applicant would be expected to submit the full proposal within a period of 2 months. The complete proposal will be considered by the Authority and a view taken within one month of receipt of proposal. The Authority may at its discretion consult such other organisation or agencies or State Food Safety Commissioner(s) as considered necessary and time taken in such consultation will not be counted for the purpose of one month limit mentioned earlier. The State Food Safety Commissioner concerned will be kept informed of any project sanctioned in that State.

Time frame
The scheme will cover projects to be executed normally within a period of six months or less.

Financial assistance pattern
The limit of financial assistance would be Rs.2 lakhs subject to appraised/actual cost of the project, whichever is less in each case will be extended. FSSAI will not release any advance amount for execution of the project; the financial assistance will be disbursed only after completion of the project, submission of income-expenditure statement duly certified by CA, final report and feedback from the target group.

 

41 students hospitalized due to food poisoning

KUMBAKONAM: At least 41 school children were hospitalized at the government hospital in Kumbakonam on Tuesday after they complained of nausea and stomach ache.

The students from the Pandanallur High School are said to have consumed idli from a nearby shop run by one Krishnamoorthy (55). The moment the students consumed the food, they started vomiting and complained of stomach ache, which panicked the shopkeeper. Soon the residents called the 108 ambulance service and took them to the government hospital here.

According to police, the students used to consume their morning breakfast from the shop daily. However, on Tuesday, everyone started vomiting after consuming the food. Krishnamoorthy, who immediately checked the food, found a dead lizard, which was said to be the reason for the students throwing up.

Police said that Krishnamoorthy has been running the shop for a long time in his house. Unfortunately, on Tuesday, when the students visited the shop in the morning, the lizard in the idli batter went unnoticed and was consumed by them.

The school children were aged between eight and 14 years. The doctors said that 24 children were treated as outpatients and were sent home while the remaining have been hospitalised and are still undergoing treatment. However, they have assured that the children are out of danger.

The Thanjavur district collector N Subbaiyan and other health officials visited the children at the hospital. Moreover, he ordered to test the samples of food sold in the food joints and also insisted the food inspectors to monitor the outlets. Following the incident, food samples from the locality were taken by the health authorities and have been sent to the labs, the revenue authorities said.