DINAKARAN NEWS

Quality check of noon-meal in Kerala schools

Step taken in the wake of death of 22 children in Bihar
In the wake of the mid-day meal disaster in Bihar which led to the death of 22 children, district officials under the Department of General Education in the State have been directed to conduct monthly quality check in schools and submit reports on the same.
In a circular issued by the department in this regard on Thursday, noon-meal feeding committee headed by Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) president and school headmaster had been entrusted with the task to implement the scheme.
The committee is also responsible for preparing the daily menu and to ensure the quality of the food before it is served to the children.
Monthly reports on the functioning of the noon meal scheme will have to be submitted by the committee in consultation with the school authorities and school management committee. The committee will have to ensure its presence during the distribution of special rice and maintain records of the various transactions in connection with the purchase and supply of food items for the meal.
It will also look into the appointment of cooks and ensure hygiene in kitchens and store rooms.
The school authorities should mandatorily maintain registers, including those recording the attendance and accounts related to the scheme, the circular said.
Meanwhile, officials of the Food Safety Department conducted a State-wide inspection in 50 government schools and Anganwadis on Wednesday. The inspection continued for the second day on Thursday in which 67 schools and 64 Anganwadis were inspected. Nineteen food samples were collected during the inspection which will be send for testing. The officials closed down a kitchen at the G.V. Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram, which according to the inspection squad was found to be operating in unhygienic condition.
Further permission would be granted only after the anomalies were rectified, an official at the Office of Commissioner of Food Safety said.
Complaints regarding the noon-meal scheme and the distribution of food to children in Anganwadis can be reported to the Food Safety Commissioner using the toll free number 1800 425 1125.

Mid-day horror grips India

As panic spread and more cases related to mid-day meal sickness poured in from across the country, children in various places of Bihar on Thursday refused to eat mid-day meal.

Reports said that in several districts, including Chhapra, Patna and Nawada, there were no takers for the free meal served as inducement to bring poor children to schools.

The mid-day tragedy which claimed 23 lives in Bihar does not seem to be a one-off incident. As the Bihar case fuelled food safety concerns, more cases of children falling ill after consuming free food or contaminated water have come to light from Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharasthra and Bihar.

In a separate incident, two women who ate the food cooked by them for a mid-day meal programme for students of a Government school in Bihar’s Madhepura district fainted, District Magistrate Upendra Kumar said. None of the students consumed the food as a foul smell emanated, he said. At least 50 children had fallen sick after eating food served to them in a Madhubani school on Wednesday.

Eight students, including seven girls, of a Delhi Government-run school in North-West Delhi fell ill after allegedly being given folic acid and iron supplements under a newly launched Government scheme.

In Odisha, at least 12 students — aged between 7 and 15 years — fell sick after taking food at a government-aided hostel for poor students in Nilagiri area in Balasore district, officials said. Several inmates of Bapuji Seva Sadan hostel at Mitrapur complained of nausea, vomiting and stomach pain after having dinner on the night of July 16, they said quoting a delayed report. The affected students were admitted to two hospitals and are stable.

As the quality of mid-day meal comes under scanner and TV channel highlights presence of insects and worms in the food, in a Government school located on outskirts of Patna, children brought food from home and refused to eat the mid-day meal served at their school. Students said that their parents have strictly asked them not to eat mid-day meal and instead packed tiffin boxes for them.

Similarly, students of a Government school in Nawada district also refused to eat mid-day meal as they are totally scared of the Saran incident. Reports of children either refusing to eat mid-day meal or their reluctance to consume mid-day meal have been received from other parts of the State too.

Meanwhile, Bihar Social Welfare Minister Praveen Amanullah was attacked on Thursday by an irate mob, agitated over the mid-day meal tragedy in Saran district. The mob held up for some time and pelted stones on car, breaking glasses of the vehicle in the process.

She was on her way to Muzaffarpur from Patna when protesters held her for some time. Agitators had blockaded the National Highway 77 near Rai Birendra College, about five km from Hajipur town in protest against the mid-day meal tragedy. Later, the police personnel escorted her to safety but the Minister was forced to cancer her programme in Muzaffarpur and returned to Patna after the incident.

Tea Board’s compulsory quality testing brings headache for exporters

Tea exporters are facing a huge challenge, with the new mandatory check mechanism of the Tea Board causing them undue hardship. Exporters allege they are missing out on contracts and losing money as test reports are routinely delayed. India is a major exporter of tea, with shipments of 150-200 million kg annually. The quality of tea exported from the nation has always been under the scanner and, in 2011, 200 containers of tea sent to Iraq were rejected with test reports showing they were was unfit for human consumption.
The Tea Board has put in place a new system from June — mandatory testing of tea meant for export to ensure that only good quality tea complying with the standards set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India enters the global market. The board has established two councils, which will track exports and imports and ensure that quality norms are enforced.
Exporters have to inform the board through the online mechanism of their export orders and the board will take samples for testing. “Delays in getting results from council laboratories is a major issue. Stocking the tea consignments in warehouses for a long period is costly and risky as tea prices change frequently,” Ajith MK, member of Cochin Tea Buyers Association and a buying agent told FE.
“Tea exporters are in big trouble due to the uncertainty involved in the mechanism. The software often fails and delays in getting test results put the exporters under pressure,” a tea exporter from the Nilgiris said.
Tea Board executive director R Ambalavanan said that these are initial teething problems, which would be addressed soon. “The glitches in the software have been corrected and we will soon solve other issues. We are planning new laboratories so that delays in getting test results can be avoided,” he added.
The board has exempted tea bags, herbal tea, tea sticks and flavoured tea from mandatory testing. The parliamentary committee on tea reports that India is perceived as a poor quality tea supplier and is fast losing prominence in global trade. The export share of Indian tea has declined significantly over the years, from 48% in 1950 to 12% in 2011. India is now fourth after Sri Lanka, Kenya and China, with a share of around 10- 12 %.

Three fined for selling misbranded food items

Three Udhampur shopkeepers, booked for selling misbranded food items, were slapped a fine of Rs. 15,000 each here on Friday.
Additional deputy commissioner Surat Singh, also adjudicating officer, imposed the fine on the three defaulters under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006.
The erring shopkeepers were Shakti Kumar of Basantgarh, Vishaw Kishore and Rakesh Gupta of Udhampur.
The three were found selling misbranded food items on prosecution launched by Zulafkar Ali, food safety officer, Udhampur, and Sanjeev Kumar, food safety officer, Ramnagar block. The trio confessed to the commission of the offence under Section 52 (1) of the Act and was warned to desist from indulging in such activities in future.
Meanwhile, the adjudicating officer directed the food safety officer and the designated officer under the Act to launch public awareness programmes by organising camps throughout the district.

FDA starts drive to check centres

Will also verify whether SHGs and anganwadis have licences to prepare food

PUNE: With the death of 23 school students in the mid-day meal scheme tragedy in Bihar, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pune is taking no chances.
It has started a drive from Wednesday to examine the centres where the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and anganwadis prepare mid-day meals for students in schools. The food inspectors are spearheading the special drive.
The FDA shall also check whether the SHGs and anganwadis have licence or if they are registered with the FDA which is mandatory under the Food Safety and Standard Act (FSS Act), 2006.
As per the FSS Act all establishments dealing with food and having an annual turnover above Rs 12 lakh will have to procure a licence from FDA and those having an annual income up to Rs 12 lakh have to register with the FDA. At present, only 18 SHGs possess FDA licences and 103 have registered with the FDA.
However, as per the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), there are 170 SHGs providing mid-day meals in 275 PMC schools.
However, records with the FDA suggest that 18 SHGs have procured the licence from the department and 103 SHGs are registered with the FDA.
The FDA joint commissioner (food) SR Kekare said his department regularly conducts inspections.
SAFE FOOD
Under the schedule 4 of FSS Act, general hygiene and sanitary practices have to be followed by petty food business operators including water supply, waste disposal, personal hygiene etc. According to the act, preparing and supplying safe food is responsibility of everyone involved right from supplier, contractor, employees, internal and external stakeholders and consumers.

Household mess, canteens must get licences or be registered

PUNE: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pune has ruled that all household mess and canteens will have to either get licences or get registered within the next six months.
With the mushrooming of such household mess and canteens all over the city, the FDA has identified a potential risk in the 'safe food business' and initiated a campaign of 'zero pendency of licence and registration'.
Speaking to Sakal Times FDA Assistant Commissioner Shivaji Desai said on Thursday, “The rules under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 were formulated in 2011. Under this Act, the Food Authority of India wants all petty food business operators in the country to either register or be licence holders by February 4, 2014.”
He admitted that a large number of food establishments are operating without licences and registration in Pune and appealed to the owners of such establishments to get either facility done.
“Besides large and medium scale food operations, a large number of householda are in the business of providing tiffins, and many of them are unregistered. FDA Pune has initiated a campaign, wherein all the food security officers are directed to conduct an awareness drive among these food business operators in their jurisdiction,” Desai added.
During this drive, besides creating awareness the kitchen infrastructure,etc will be checked.
FDA MAKES THE RULES
- FDA has ruled that all household mess and canteens will have to either get licences or get registered within the next six months
- FDA has identified potential risk in 'safe food business' and initiated a campaign of 'zero pendency of licence and registration'.

SC seeks response from 5 states on sale of adulterated milk by July 31

The Supreme Court, on July 2, 2013, expressed concern over the sale of adulterated milk all over the country and sought response from Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi by July 31in this regard.
This was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Swami Achyutanand Tirth on behalf of the Swami Bhumanand Dharmarth Chikitsalya and Research Institute in Haridwar.
The SC has also sought response from the apex food body, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), about milk adulteration and production of synthetic milk.
Speaking to FnB News, Swami Tirth informed, “The petition which was filed by me was a follow up to the milk adulteration study released by FSSAI in January 2012. During the survey FSSAI found nearly 70 per cent of the milk samples adulterated, the samples did not conform to the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006.”
He added, “The synthetic and adulterated milk and milk products are prepared using urea, detergent, refined oil, caustic soda and white paint which accordign to studies are very dangerous for health and can cause serious diseases like cancer. The survey by FSSAI says that most of the samples of milk collected did not comply with standards. Fortysix per cent belonged to the category of low Solid Not Fat (SNF) and this was due to dilution of the milk with water.”
“If the people are paying the money for milk they should get genuine milk. People are being cheated with adulterated milk. In my petition, I have also sought framing of a comprehensive policy on the production, supply and sale of healthy, hygienic and natural milk,” stated Tirth.
Hearing the PIL, a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose queried, “ Milk adulteration is a very serious issue and it is happening all over the country. What action the government is taking to curb the increasing incidence of milk adulteration?
The bench hearing the PIL directed the government of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to file their response stating what action they are taking to put an end to the menace of milk adulteration, after the center submitted that it is for the state governments to take action on the issue.
The ambit of the PIL would later on expand to include all the states in the country on the issue, informed the court. The bench also posted the matter for hearing on July 31 and made it clear that no further time would be given to the states to file their submissions.
The court observed that milk adulteration cases were increasing because of gaps in demand and supply of milk. Mean while, Tirth said, “The SC has given time limit till July 31 to all the states. Some states have replied to the notice and five states – Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi are yet to reply. We will be taking further action after the hearing on July 31.”

விளாத்திகுளத்தில் ரூ.2 லட்சம் புகையிலை பாக்கெட்டுகள் பறிமுதல்

DINAMALAR NEWS

Food business operator licensing goes online

Innovation:Registration and licensing for food business operators can now be done online.

For the convenience of food business operators (FBO), obtaining registration and licence certificate from the Food Safety Department has been made easy with an online process of submitting applications being initiated in the district.

T. Anuradha, Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department said that as per The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, it is mandatory that the FBOs register themselves with the department.

They have been submitting applications manually till now.

The new system enables the operators to log onto websitewww.fssai.gov.inand enter the particulars for obtaining the food safety licence.

The FBO’s have to apply for registration certificate if the annual turnover is below Rs. 12 lakh and obtain licence if the turnover is Rs. 12 lakh.

She said that applications received online will be forwarded to the Food Safety Officers who in turn will carry out inspections and issue certificates.

The new process would help in speeding up the process and issue licences at the earliest, she added.

“All the 14,000 registrations made already would be updated in the system,” she added.

Food business operators had already been informed that new registration numbers would be issued to them instead of the already-issued number during the manual process.

Food safety officers will carry out inspections and issue certificates

Tobacco products seized from locked house

Food Safety Officers on Thursday seized a large quantity of gutkha and tobacco products, worth about Rs.2 lakh, from a locked house at Vilathikulam on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, a team led by M.Jagadis Chandrabose, District Designated Officer, Food Safety Standards Act, seized the banned products in sachets, packed in 20 gunny bags and 10 cartons.

A team comprising Food Safety Officers, police personnel and local body authorities later destroyed them.

Dr.Chandrabose said the district administration had formed a monitoring committee to check violations.

Shops selling gutkha and other tobacco products had been instructed to remove the products. They were given time till June 22 to return the unsold products to the wholesale dealers.

The banned products were packed in 20 gunny bags and 10 cartons

Maha govt extends ban on gutkha, pan masala by another year

Mumbai, July 18: Maharashtra government today extended the ban on gutkha and pan masala across the state by another year. It was in July last year that the state government had issued a notification banning the sale and consumption of gutkha and pan masala in the state. That ban was to be in force till tomorrow. Minister of state for Home Satej Patil today informed the Legislative Assembly that the ban was being extended for another 12 months. The minister later informed reporters at Vidhan Bhawan that gutkha was one of the major reasons for oral diseases, including cancer. 

The state had attempted to ban gutkha in 2002 and then in 2008, but had encountered several legal hurdles. Ultimately, it was the Food Safety and Standards Act, which facilitated the ban last year. Karnataka last month became the 26th state to ban the sale, manufacture, storage and distribution of gutkha and pan masala. A ban on the above products is also in place in five Union Territories. 

The Act prohibits the sale of items containing nicotine and gutkha as ingredients. The manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine as an ingredient, by whatsoever name it is available in the market, is prohibited in the state in the interest of public health, the minister said.

Greenpeace demands safe food in mid-day meal after Dharmasati Primary School poisoning

New Delhi, July 18 (IBNS): Greenpeace expressed deep shock and grief to the tragic incident of food poisoning at Dharmasati Primary School of Chhapra District in Bihar, in which 23 children lost their lives and offered condolences to the bereaved families.

"The news of children dying of food poisoning after eating mid-day meal is tragic. Our immediate thoughts are with the families and the people of Bihar," said Ishteyaque Ahmad, Greenpeace India's  Sustainable Agriculture campaigner, based in Bihar

"Although the reasons behind the incident remain still unknown, media reports point to contamination of a toxic chemical or pesticide in the food that was served to children as mid-day meal. This clearly points out how these dangerous agro-chemicals are handled in rural areas of India. These chemicals are often used carelessly without proper protective measures. Not only are the pesticides misused, even their empty bottles are used to store edible oils and drinking water," Greenpeace said in a statement.
"It is becoming more and more evident that regulatory and extension systems with respect to agro-chemical usage in India is in shambles and there is no proper mechanism to monitor the situation," it added
"Pesticides, often promoted as "dava" (medicine) for agriculture are poisons and whether directly used in agriculture, or come in contact with food  are extremely dangerous to health and can even prove to be fatal. Pesticides are known to have chronic adverse impacts on human health, the environment and soil and biodiversity," said Shivani Shah, Campaigner - Food Safety, Greenpeace India.
"State governments should straight away ban the use of these poisonous chemicals and invest in ecological (organic) agriculture models which does not rely on chemical pesticides and can produce enough healthy food for all today and tomorrow," added Shah.
The mid-day meal scheme, which is the world's largest school feeding programme, has the potential to fight malnutrition in the country if handled with proper care.
Greenpeace demanded that, the Government should ensure mid-day meals to be not only hygienic but also organically grown and safe.

Improve standards of hygiene, food quality: JMC

JAMMU: To generate awareness about new Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Rules and Regulations 2011, the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) organised an awareness camp for eateries at Gandhi Nagar, Dushera Ground on Thursday.
Dr. Vinod Sharma, Health Officer, told shopkeepers about the hygienic conditions they have to maintain in their premises. The eating point owners are directed to get their licences from the Office of the Health Officer, JMC, Jammu.
The Food Safety Officer advised the owners of various eateries to wear mask, apron, cap, gloves and use only potable filter water, covered dustbins and running water for cleaning of utensils.
The JMC team also visited the market and checked the eating points and the customers also made aware that before eating or buying anything from the eatable points they are requested to check everything in advance.

How to report substandard or adulterated food?

When you fell that you have purchased a food which is sub-standard or adulterated (in India), you have the option of getting a sample of the food item analyzed by a food analyst appointed by the government. This is a right provided under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Here are the steps one needs to follow when you wish to get a food sample tested.

• Give a notice to the seller that you are proceeding with the process of analyzing the food purchased at his store or shop. The format is form V B.
• Divide a sample of the food into two parts. Forward one part to the food analyst and other part to the Designated Officer which can be used in case the food business operator appeals against the findings of the food analyst.
• Pay the prescribed fees for analysis
• The food analyst will send the analysis report to the purchaser within 14 days.
• If the analyst finds that the food contains adulterated substance or contaminated or is misbranded, then he/she will send the analysis report to the Designated Officer of the area concerned besides the purchaser.

If you find a food item you purchased or is sold by a food business operator is violating Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 or the rules/regulations framed thereunder, you can make a complain to The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Common problems are

• Sale of expired products
• No nutritional information in packed product
• No Use By or Best before date, etc
• Ingredients not specified

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India currently operates a reward scheme (as on July 2013) by which any intelligence on improper food item, if verified, will be rewarded with Rs 500. The format for reporting can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.fssai.gov.in/Portals/0/Pdf/Reward_Scheme%2810-07-2012%29.pdf

It is claimed that the identity of the whistle blower will be kept secret.