Plea in Guj HC against mandatory warning on betel nut products

A trader has moved the Gujarat High Court, seeking that betel nuts (supari) should be declared as not injurious to health.
City-based H M Products, the petitioner, has challenged a regulation introduced by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India which makes it mandatory to put a label on betel nut products warning the consumer that chewing betel-nut is injurious to health.
Contending that betel nut in itself is not harmful, petition argues that manufacturers of supari-based products should not be treated on par with those of tobacco-based products, who have to fix such a warning label.
The division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala, after hearing the primary submissions by petitioner's lawyer Sanjay Gupta, directed him to produce scientific evidence to support the claim and fixed the next hearing for August 23.

Curd fails purity test, four food samples collected

Ludhiana, August 12
A sample of curd collected by the Health Department from Rajguru Nagar in July has failed purity test. The sample has been found to be substandard as the fat content was less in it.
District Health Officer, Dr Avinash Kumar said, "The sample was collected from a karyana store. Action will be taken against the owner under the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 on the basis of the report.
Meanwhile, four more samples were collected by the Health Department. Samples were taken from eatries. The sample of "Aalu -Chane' was taken from Basant Chowk, cold drink from Ghumar Mandi, while soya nutri from a dhaba at Miller Ganj Chowk and mutton rogan josh from a restaurant at Pakhowal.

DINAMALAR NEWS

VICAM, a mobile app that gives access to mycotoxin regulations for food

Waters, a global lab equipment company, has now introduced VICAM, a first-of-its-kind mobile application that provides instant access to global mycotoxin regulations.
With the application, food manufacturers and exporters can obtain critical regulatory data without general web searches, saving both time and resources. In addition, customers can search products using commodity and finished product images, simplifying the search process and ensuring that clear and actionable results are available to stakeholders in food and agriculture markets worldwide.
The app enables instant searchable results for mycotoxin limits by geography and commodity or food type in seconds.
"The Mobile App for the Global Mycotoxin Regulations Tool expands the functionality of the tool so that farmer, processor and exporter will all have access to the data they need. Users will be able to meet the complex demands of the global marketplace, while knowing they are minimising the impact of mycotoxins on human and animal health," said Marjorie Radlo, GM, director of operations, VICAM.
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring chemical byproducts of ubiquitous mold species, which are natural inhabitants of crop soils. Severe rain or drought can encourage mycotoxin production and, once released, mycotoxins are difficult to manage and virtually impossible to destroy. The USDA, US FDA, and the European Union and international government agencies impose specific regulations and guidelines for acceptable levels of mycotoxins. Producers and exporters use on-site and laboratory testing to ensure regulatory compliance and to protect human and animal health from illnesses associated with mycotoxins, including cancer and feed refusal in animals.

VICAM is a world-leading provider of mycotoxin testing solutions. Since 1985, VICAM has been dedicated to developing USDA- and AOAC-approved rapid tests for mycotoxins. Its mycotoxin test kits offer a choice of rapid qualitative screening and quantitative test methods for a wide variety of mycotoxins.

The Growing Importance of Food Safety Education for Food Handlers at India

NIST opens Food Safety Certification now in India. Food handlers need to know why its safety is important and the only way to do that is through training. In the commercial kitchen, there should be no excuse for handling eatables in an unsafe manner. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been mandated by the FSS Act, 2006 which elicits to provide training program for all to do hygienic practices. Now, NIST helps chefs and cooks to value their role in the food safety culture.
NIST serves as a single reference point for all courses relating to Safety starting from catering unit, manufacturing industry to a single line of retail industry and food auditing. Why this Safety Training is Important? Foodstuff safety is an important public health issue in India now. Eating at restaurants and other service facilities increasingly has been associated with food borne disease outbreaks. Nutrition safety training and certification of chefs has been used as a method for reducing food safety violations at facilities. However, the literature is inconclusive about the effectiveness of such training programs for improving and protecting consumer health.
Here are several reasons why it is important to train staff in safe eatables handling practices:
The employees are the ones actually handling eatables. The recent mid-day meal programme pesticide poison incident at Bihar which killed 23 children was a big tragedy of this year eating contaminated food which is five times more than what is found in insecticides and pesticides. Since cooking professionals are the ones actually handling and preparing the food, it is important that they do so in a safe manner through proper food safety training. This protects both employees and customers to a safe food handling practices and conserve the food premises from legal issues and customer satisfaction.
It is a health code requirement. Currently, the only restaurant workers who need to be food safety certified are managers, but the FDA Food Code does stipulate that all food handlers need to have a working knowledge of foodstuff safety. What constitutes "working knowledge" is left up to the local health departments to decide. Chances are the health inspector will ask employees what safety measures they are using and maybe why those measures are important.
Reduce the risk of food poisoning. Eight people - including a pregnant women-have alleged that they suffered food poisoning after eating at a 5 star hotel at New Delhi. Many Food poisoning issues are prevailing in India and this elucidates the importance of foodstuff safety education by the food handlers as advised by the FSSAI. Despite the investment and focus on training, researchers suggest that the impact of food handler training programs is inconsistent and program evaluation is rarely conducted.
Training helps with quality control. The basic responsibility of any food facility is to prepare, produce and market good quality and safe food that is honestly presented. It is the duty of the government to ensure compliance by industry to national food quality and safety requirements. Eatable safety education is a huge part of quality control. NIST offers courses on food safety, HACCP and lead auditor course FSMS. Not only providing education but also cater auditing services for all the food establishments.
Behavior will change. The best way to ingrain proper procedures into people is to change their behavior. Training and regularly applying those food safety training principles will eventually change the way staff handle and look at food to the extent that safe food handling just becomes second nature.
Employees can gain a better appreciation for their jobs. After so long, preparing food in a commercial kitchen can become monotonous, and employees may begin to question why they have to do things a certain way. Food safety training teaches workers why safe food handling is important. Once they realize that they are directly responsible for the health and safety of the customers, their jobs may feel a little less monotonous.
Conclusion
The number of food-borne disease outbreaks has been increasing around the world. Annually, about 1.5 billion cases of food-borne disease outbreaks are reported, resulting in 3 million deaths globally and also closure of the food business. We handle and consume food in one way or another. As such, the assurance of food safety is a shared responsibility. Through food safety education, NIST hopes to raise awareness about the importance of food safety. Now, you can also join NIST to promote food safety through education, and you too can play a part in ensuring your food is safe to eat.