Zero demand for genetically modified crops!

• This is not new, as a matter of fact there has been no demand for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from anywhere in the world, ever. On the contrary, ever since foods containing GMOs were introduced in the nineties, they have been under scrutiny for the health and environmental risks associated with them. This also explains why there is zero demand for GMOs and consumers are actively trying to avoid these. Clearly if consumers don't want it, there is no economic incentive for food companies to sell these.
  At least some food businesses seem to be getting the link and are taking precautionary steps to steer clear from GMOs. The Kerala Flour Millers Association and Kerala Bread Manufacturer's Association wrote to the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stating that they have taken a GM-free position.
  They have demanded that the GEAC ensure none of the states from which they make procurements have any open releases of GM crops including field trials. Field trials or experimental fields by nature are open and are the first step to contamination. This is not a mere hypothesis, there have been hundreds of cases of contamination from across the world in the last few years alone.
  In 2010, the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed - the border control warning system - issued 47 alerts over the presence of GM rice in Chinese imports. This when China has not even permitted GM rice for commercial cultivation.
  The contamination was from field trials alone and 47 cases in one year is by no means insignificant! As a consequence, Europe's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health has demanded that as opposed to random checks, which was the norm earlier, all consignments of rice products originating in China will be verified. China will bear the brunt (read costs). The only way China, or any other country for that matter, can secure crops from contamination and ensuing costs is by stopping field trials.
  What the two aforementioned Indian associations have demanded then makes logical sense. It is not a whimsical ask from a rose-tinted glasses-wearing business-head. After all collectively they represent a market which accounts for close to Rs 6,000 crores. That much at stake.
  This is not the first time a step of this sort has been taken. Back in 2006, the coveted basmati exporters took a similar step to safeguard their Rs 7,500 crore market. We expect this is not the last either.
  

Public release of USDA inspection, testing data may have benefits

Publicly posting enforcement and testing data corresponding to specific meat, poultry, and egg products’ processing plants on the Internet could have “substantial benefits,” including the potential to favorably impact public health, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Publicly posting enforcement and testing data corresponding to specific meat, poultry, and egg products’ processing plants on the Internet could have “substantial benefits,” including the potential to favorably impact public health, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report adds that the release of such data could contribute to increased transparency and yield valuable insights that go beyond the regulatory uses for which the data are collected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled. It collects voluminous amounts of data at thousands of processing facilities in support of its regulatory functions and is considering the release of two types of collected data on its website. These include inspection and enforcement data and sampling and testing data—such as testing for the presence of foodborne pathogens like Salmonella, pathogenic E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes. Some of this information is already available to the public via the Internet but is aggregated and does not contain names of specific processing facilities. However, most of the data FSIS collects, with the exception of information that is considered proprietary, can currently be obtained by the public through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The National Research Council committee that wrote the report examined a substantial body of literature documenting the impacts of disclosing establishment-specific regulatory information similar to that collected by FSIS. Based on this information, the committee believes there are strong arguments supporting the public release of FSIS data that contains the names of processing facilities on the Internet, especially data that are subject to release under FOIA, unless there is compelling evidence that it is not in the public interest to release them. Several potential benefits of releasing such data include enabling users to make more informed choices, motivating facilities to improve their performance, and allowing research studies of regulatory effectiveness and other performance-related issues.

The benefits of releasing FSIS data must be balanced against potential unintended adverse consequences, the report says. These could include impacts on facilities’ profitability, possible misinterpretation of the data, pressure on inspector performance, and unintentional release of proprietary or confidential information. However, the committee concluded that while adverse impacts are possible, there is limited systematic evidence documenting their likelihood.

Because of the complexity of issues associated with public release of data with facility names and the potential for adverse effects, the report suggests the need for an effective disclosure plan to inform the process. For example, potential adverse effects could be minimized if FSIS ensures the data’s integrity, provides definitions of what is being quantified, and is careful to protect confidential information associated with particular facilities. To help make sure that the public release of the data will be useful, the committee suggested that FSIS define a timetable for its release and commit the resources necessary to allow the data’s accessibility, quality, and timeliness.

FDA Maharashtra to put FSSA online for Mumbai and Thane

Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra is in the process of making the licensing and registration under the new Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) available online on www.fda-mah.com. According to Mahesh Zagade, Food Commissioner, FDA Maharashtra, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is currently working on the software required for the same. The online forms will be available in English and Marathi.

“It is complicated as this is being offered in our field in India for the first time. We plan to launch this online option by the first week of December but it depends on when the software comes to us. We will first introduce the services to Food Business Operators (FBO) in Mumbai and Thane and based on its success will be available across the state,” Zagade revealed.