Aug 8, 2013

MAALAI MALAR NEWS


Steps initiated by Government to ensure food safety compliances for export of agricultural products

There has been an increase in the RASFFs issued by EU for the last three years. The Government has initiated following steps to ensure food safety compliances for export of agricultural products:
- Residue monitoring plan for exports of fresh table grapes to the EU through control of residues of chemicals.
- A web based traceability system for grapes has been put in place to ensure compliance with the EU requirements.
- Control of aflatoxins for exports of peanuts and peanut products to all countries.
- Standards for 51 fruits and vegetables have been prepared. These standards are notified by Govt. of India under AGMARK Act.
- APEDA has introduced schemes for registration/recognition of pack house/processing units for fresh fruits and vegetables like grapes, mangoes, pomegranates, peanuts and peanut products, meat etc.
- Taken up laboratory recognition and upgradation programme for making available testing facilities to ensure the quality of produce exported. 23 laboratories have been recognized.
- Recognition of food safety management system implementation and certification agencies for HACCP, ISO and GAP certification.
- Development of packaging standards and sea transportation protocols for fruits.
- Negotiations/Talks are held with EU at bilateral meetings, Joint Working Group meetings and Sub Committee on Trade meetings to ensure Indian food exports is not compromised.
The information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Dr. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

DINAMANI ARTICLE


DINAMALAR NEWS




JMC holds awareness camp for shopkeepers

JAMMU: To generate awareness about new Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and rules and regulations 2011 to improve the standards of hygiene, quality of food etc. Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Wednesday organised an awareness camp at CPO Ustad Mohalla for food business operators.
Health Officer JMC, Dr. Vinod Sharma and Food Safety Officer of the concerned area made shopkeepers aware about hygienic conditions they have to maintain in their premises.
The eating point owners/rehriwalas are directed to get their licences/registrations from the Office of the Health Officer JMC Jammu.
Dr Vinod advised the cooks of the eating joints/rehriwalas to wear mask, apron, cap, gloves, use only portable filter water to the customers, use two types of covered dustbins i.e. green and blue colour to separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable garbage and use soap and running water for cleaning of utensils.
The team also visited the market and checked the eating joints and made customers aware of precautions to be taken before eating or buying anything from the eating joints they are requested to check everything in advance. The food business operators assured the authorities that the irregularities be removed within a short span of time.

JMC organises awareness camp to improve quality of food
Jammu Tawi, August 7
To generate awareness about new Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 and rules and regulations 2011 to improve the standards of hygiene, quality of food. The JMC organised
a awareness camp at CPO Ustad Mohalla on Wednesday for Food Business operators like dhabas walas,
restaurants, karyana shopkeepers, juice shops, meat shops, rehri and phari walas dealing with sale of food items, the undersigned Dr Vinod Sharma and Food Safety Officer of the concerned area aware the shopkeepers about the hygienic conditions they have to maintain in their premises.
The eating point owners, rehriwalas are directed to get their licenses, registrations from the Office of the Health Officer JMC Jammu. The cook of the eatable points, rehriwalas must wear mask, apron, cap, gloves etc. They have to use only portable filter water to the customers.
After the awareness camp the team also visited the
market and checked the
eating points and the customers also aware that before eating or buying anything from the eatable points they are requested to check every thing in advance.

FSSAI draft guidelines do not propose ban on junk food in schools

Guidelines submitted to Delhi High Court dwell more on promoting consumption of water and hygiene among school kids through Facebook,Twitter
The nodal agency for food safety in the country, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has submitted to the Delhi High Court the draft guidelines for discouraging children from eating junk food and developing healthy habits. The guidelines were submitted on August 5 following a court direction on a public interest petition by Uday Foundation, seeking ban on junk food in schools. The stakeholders have been asked to send in their comments within two weeks from August 5 after which FSSAI is expected to submit the final guidelines.
The guidelines, titled "Guidelines for Making Available Quality and Safe Food in Schools", fall short of expectations and demands of the public health experts who have been vigorously campaigning against unhealthy food in school canteens. The guidelines devote some chapters to explaining nutrients and nutritional value of healthy and hygienic food. The rest of the chapters advise schools on how to include good practice in eating. It suggests that schools should promote consumption of water among children because "water is the most important nutrient of all and assists in the upkeep of our health". It also advises schools to promote hand-wash before every meal.
The high Court had asked the government in January to submit draft guidelines in six months; the deadline expired on July 24. The government asked for 10 more days as the guidelines were still under preparation.
Wrong categorization
The guidelines are more of an advisory rather than a document meant to address the health hazards posed by junk food. The guidelines do not mention about banning junk food though the document itself defines junk food as "those containing little or no proteins, vitamins or minerals but are rich in salt, sugar, fats and are high in energy (calories)." The guidelines have also termed unhealthy/junk food (chocolates, potato chips), fast food (burger, noodles), instant food (instant noodles, soup, cornflakes) and street food (samosa, wada, chat items) separately, thus bringing very few items under the category of junk. Items like burgers, pizzas and sandwiches, proven for their unhealthy content by various studies, have been put under fast food category.
The guidelines do not suggest any replacements to unhealthy food. They focus more on improving hygiene and good practices among students, rather than putting responsibility on the canteens to serve healthy food. They suggest that healthy practices should be promoted through social media platforms like facebook and twitter. They have also suggested the Ministry of Information and Broadcast should promote healthy practices among children.
Silent on regulations
The guidelines are also silent on the matter of regulation. They say, "The rationale of this guideline is to provide a set of model standard operating procedures to schools in order to achieve a high degree of compliance with the food regulations as well as attaining higher standards of food safety through adoption of good practices."
However, whether the schools comply to the suggested model and ensure that students have healthy food, has not been addressed in the proposed document. The guidelines also do not suggest any penalty and follow up of the same in case schools fail to promote healthy practices.
The guidelines were framed based on a survey conducted by a private market research company, AC Nielsen, covering six zones and 12 states. The school profiles included state as well as Central government, government aided, private, private aided, local body and tribal schools.
Junk food PIL
February, 2010: Uday foundation files public interest petition
January, 2013: Delhi High Court passes order, asking FSSAI to prepare guidelines on junk food in six months
July 24, 2013: Deadline for preparing guidelines expires
August 5, 2013: Draft guidelines submitted to court
August 20, 2013: Last date for stakeholders to submit responses
September 4, 2013: Last date for submission of final guidelines to court