Joshi appeals to PM on rules for food vendors

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to revisit a decision by his government to enforce compulsory registration of all food business operators after February 4, saying it will inflict “untold hardships” on small retailers and food product manufactures.

“I would like to bring to your kind notice that the provisions of this Act and rules and regulations under it put unreasonable restrictions on doing food business. The licensing provisions, particularly the documentation required to run the business, are so numerous and harsh that a small trader will not survive under them,” he said in a letter to Singh on Thursday.
Joshi, who is also chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has sought the prime minister’s intervention on the issue after a delegation from the Confederation of All India Traders approached him, expressing their reservations with the government’s decision to make registration of all food business operators compulsory after February 4.
The BJP leader requested Singh to listen to the grievances of the food business operators, who demand that the government should defer enforcement of compulsory registration for “at least one year” and constitute a special task force to make an in-depth study of the Food Safety and Standard Act and its rules. “It is requested that an opportunity of personal hearing may also be granted to the federation to place their views in person before the committee,” Joshi urged.

The implementation has been facing hurdles since the provision was brought in. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has so far extended the deadline to obtain licensing and registration for the food business operators twice since 2012.  The first deadline to obtain licensing and registration was extended from August 4, 2012, to February 4, 2013. The time frame was against extended to February 4, 2014.
As per the rules, anyone engaged in selling anything edible, including those from roadside tea stalls, dhabas, fruit and vegetable hawkers, grocery shops, milk vendors, canteens, caterers, restaurants, hotels and food processors, must get a licence or register by February 4, 2013, or will be penalised by the food regulator.
“It appears that the technical facilities, laboratories and technical staff required for implementing the above said rules are almost non-existent. It will not be advisable to enforce the rules without having proper infrastructure both scientific and administrative in the field. I do not know whether the number of laboratories, technical manpower and trained administrative staff is available,” Joshi noted in his letter.

HP imposes ban on use of non-biodegradable material for food packaging

The Himachal Pradesh High Court vacated the stay on the state government’s notification dated June 26, 2013  and directed it to implement the notification banning the storage, supply, sale and entry of non-essential food items packaged in plastic and non-biodegradable material with effect from January 26, 2014. This excludes packaged and mineral drinking water.

The Division Bench, comprising justices Rajiv Sharma and V K Sharma, further directed the government to ensure that edible oils and fats are not sold in plastic bottles or pouches (they should be packed in tin containers). With effect from March 31, 2014, milk and milk products, edible oils and fats, fruit and vegetable products and meat products would be manufactured, transported, sold, packaged and distributed as per the regulations of the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011.

The Bench also directed the government to ensure that with effect from March 31, 2014, no foodstuff, including primary and essential food is manufactured, transported, sold, packaged and distributed without conforming to the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006, and the Food Safety & Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulation, 2011. The court also directed the state to appoint a food commissioner, if not already appointed, within four weeks. It also directed the government to ensure that no person is permitted to commence or carry on any food business without either registering or obtaining a licence.

The court further directed the district magistrates and the superintendents of police in all the districts in Himachal Pradesh to enforce the notification of ban on non-essential food items in non-biodegradable packaging, and added that they would personally be liable and accountable for the non-enforcement of the notification.

In a statement released by the office of the High Court public relations officer, the following is the list of non-essential food items banned in non-biodegradable packaging: chips; wafers; Kurkure; Mad Angles; biscuits; namkeens; lollipops; candies; candy bars; toffees; sweets; chewing gum; cheese puffs; cookies; aam pappars; ice cream and ice cream candies; chocolates and chocolates candies; Maggi noodles; sugary cereals; corn flakes; breakfast cereals coated with sugar; deep-fried samosas; pakoras; pizzas; burgers; patties; French fries; colas; carbonated drinks; shakes; synthetic and fruit beverages; Indian sweets (i.e. jalebi, gulab jamun, etc.); naans; pav bhaji; gol-gappa and other street foods; creamy cakes and other fruit cakes.

Registration and License for Food Business Operators

As reported in the media that in pursuance of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 it is mandatory to obtain a license or registration by all the food business operators on payment of required fees considering their yearly turnover throughout the State within February 4, 2014. However, they have to obtain a NOC from the local municipal co–operators like street vendors, canteens, hotels and restaurants, milk sellers etc. Operating without the required registration or license will attract penalty. We have noticed in and around Guwahati city that a number of roadside eating houses are coming up and we are surprised to see the conditions in which food is prepared without considering the hygienic aspect, in the interest of the general health of the public.

We fail to understand why the Food Inspectors of the Health department of the State are not taking action against such establishments. We feel that an enactment of an act will not serve the purpose, unless of course the same is implemented wholly in its real sense. We, therefore, request the officials of the Food Safety Organization, Assam to ensure implementation of the act flawlessly, keeping in mind the general health of the people of the State.

Elimination of iodine deficiency disorders discussed

DEPARTMENT of Health in collaboration with international development partners is committed to eliminating iodine deficiency disorders in Punjab through Universal Salt Iodization (USI) Programme.

“The IDD/USI project is playing an important role in the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders,” Dr Tanwir Ahmad, director general, Health Services Punjab, said this while addressing the IDD/USI programme review meeting held at DG Health Punjab office on Thursday.

Executive district officers, health and district focal persons IDD/USI from 20 districts of Punjab participated in the meeting.

He stressed upon more efforts from EDOs/DFPs to consolidate the achievements and directed them to strengthen the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms so that adequate iodization of edible salt at production level might be ensured on sustained basis.

Dr Muhammad Jameel, director, Health Services, said that this review was important as it would provide an insight into the achievements of high performing districts. At the same time, he said, it would be beneficial for those districts that were lagging behind and they would learn new ideas for improvement.

Dr Tausif Akhtar Janjua, country director, Micronutrient Initiative (MI) Pakistan, stressed upon the commitment from the participants to sustain and consolidate achievements shown in National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011 which indicated that 79 percent people in Punjab province were consuming iodized salt as compared to only 17 percent in 2001.

Dr Khawaja Masuood Ahmed, NPM IDD/USI programme from MI Pakistan, shared that Pakistan was among those countries where IDD was still a public health problem and research proved that iodine deficiency was the major cause of mental impairment, brain damage and 13-15 percent low IQ in growing children. Dr Mahmood Ahmad, programme manager, F & N Punjab, said district level by-laws notification on USI by DCOs of all 36 districts helped to improve and sustain the edible salt iodization. He stressed on effective monitoring and strong enforcement.

Amul fined for selling products with wrong information – Ahmedabad Mirror News

A local court here sentenced an employee of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union to one year’s simple imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 5,000 on Amul Dairy for selling products with wrong information.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate R S Rajput sentenced Ashok Patel, an employee of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, which is a part of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under the brand name Amul Dairy, to one year’s simple imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 5,000 on Amul Dairy for selling products with wrong information.

When a Food and Drugs department had raided Amul Dairy in January 25, 2005, it was discovered that it had printed the packaging date, a day later than it was actually packed.

Pouches of seized milk were sent to a Vadodara laboratory for testing and a complaint was registered against Amul Dairy and Ashok Patel, the employee who was in-charge of packaging milk packets, under relevant sections of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.

The prosecution produced 27 documentary evidences, based on which Rajput sentenced Patel to one year simple imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 5,000 on Amul Dairy.

Food safety wing’s lone lab lying defunct

PATNA:

The only lab of state food safety wing ofhealth department in Gulzarbagh area is lying defunct. The wing itself is suffering from acute shortage of manpower.

The lab at Gulzarbagh became non-functional after the food analyst retired two years back. The lab did not have the specialist to check the presence of micro-bacteria, if any, in the samples. The food items seized by food safety officials are now sent to Mines Area Development Authority Lab, Dhanbad which charges Rs 200 per sample. Some four months back, the services of a private lab in Kolkata were pressed into service and the department pays Rs 1000 for each sample. The Kolkata lab is accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration (NABL).

According to officials, every food safety inspector has a target of collecting 12 samples per month. The officials, who did not wish to be quoted, admitted that the entire process was cumbersome and, on many an occasion, even the test reports are delayed. Also, spending Rs 1000 per sample is a huge burden.

But the department has lofty plans in the pipeline. It has approved the proposals to set up one lab at every divisional headquarters and a well-equipped super lab in the state capital. The lab at division level is proposed to have 10 staff members including food analysts, technicians and assistants. The super lab will have food analysts who test any adulteration for chemicals, while another specialist will look into bacteria and other harmful microbes. It will be headed by a director. The ball is now in the finance department’s court.

At present, there are only 14 food safety inspectors against a sanctioned strength of 30. They are expected to look after all the 38 districts of the state. There are nine designated food safety officers who are expected to keep tab on adulteration in all the divisions. “The existing manpower is definitely not enough in implementing the objectives of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. So, we have proposed to create new posts in all the ranks,” said Sanjay Kumar, state food safety commissioner. The proposal is to create posts of one food safety officer (FSO) at block level and one FSO per one lakh population at town level. Also, two posts of joint commissioners are proposed to be created at the state headquarters to look into legal and enforcement aspects. The food safety officials claim the new set-up will be in place in about a year’s time.

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

Perfetti Van Melle India launches Stop Not Stixz in three new flavours

Perfetti Van Melle India (PVMI), one of the market leaders in confectionery category, is expanding portfolio of its snacks category, Stop Not, with the launch of Stop Not Stixz, in addition to the existing two variants – Golz and Disks.

Stop Not Stixz is a tasty, crunchy, spicy new snack. It will be available in three flavours – Wow Masala, Pudina Passion and Tomato Tadka. The new range will be available across India in convenient pack sizes of Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20.

Call for food safety Act compliance

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, January 2, 2014

The Food Safety wing has pointed out that several school and college hostels and canteens, as well as several office canteens are functioning in the State without registration or licence as stipulated under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006

Commissioner of Food Safety Biju Prabhakar has said that under the Act, which began to be implemented in the country since August 2011, all individuals and institutions engaged in handling food – including school mid-day schemes, office canteens and school / college / hostel canteens – should possess either a registration or licence under the Act as the case may be. Non-compliance to this regulation can invite a jail sentence of up to six months and penalty of up to Rs.5 lakh.

The last date for all institutions / individuals engaged in food handling and food business operators to secure FSSA licence or registration will be February 5, 2014.

Details are available over the toll free number 1800 425 1125 or from the websitewww.foodsafety.kerala.gov.in