FSSAI initiates online licencing; Many states yet to start the process

After the fourth extension to the licencing and registration deadline, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked all the states in the country to initiate online licencing and registration, in order to reduce the inconvenience caused to food business operators (FBO).

Some states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Chandigarh and Punjab have already started the online registration and licencing of FBO and succeeded in issuing more licences and registered more FBO within a few months of its commencement than they did manually. 

However, states like Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka and Jharkhand, and the Union Territory of Puducherry have not commenced online licencing and registration due to a combination of reasons, including the lack of manpower and inadequate infrastructure.

States on track

Tamil Nadu’s joint commissioner, food, said, “In Tamil Nadu, online registration and licencing of FBO started in June 2013. To date, our food safety officers (FSO) have issued licenses to 15,488 FBO and registered around 57,312 FBO.” 

“We are also in the process of providing tablets to FSO, so that they can complete the work as fast as possible. They can expect to receive the tablets by the first week of May, and when they do, they can go to the FBO’s premises and register or issue licences to them, as the case may be on the spot,” he added.

K B Sankhe, joint commissioner, food, Maharashtra, said the western state was the leader in manual licencing and registration, and had also secured the top rank in online licencing and registration. 

“We have issued licences to over 40,000 FBO across Maharashtra and registered around 80,000 FBO online. Our FSO are training the FBO about the importance of having licence/being registered. Awareness camps are being organised on a regular basis to educate the FBO about online registration and licencing. The daily monitoring of designated officers’ and FSOs’ targets is undertaken by the enforcement director and commissioner,” he added.

Hemant Rao, food safety commissioner, Uttar Pradesh Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), informed that online licencing and registration commenced in November 2013.

“To date, we have registered and issued licences to one lakh FBO. We are providing the FBO brochures containing information about the procedure to register/obtain licences online. The state food safety department relentlessly undertakes grassroot-level trips to uniformly implement the system across all the 72 districts in the state,” he added.

H G Koshia, food safety commissioner, Food and Drugs Controller Administration (FDCA), Gujarat, said, “Online registration and licencing is complicated for many FBO, but we have been organising awareness and seminar programmes for them on a regular basis to make them understand the process.” 

“Therefore, FBO in Gujarat are now registering and obtaining licences online without any difficulty. To date, we have issued licences to about 25,000 FBOs and registered about 60,000 FBO online,” he added.

Anil Kumar, additional commissioner, food, Food and Drug Administration, Kerala, said, “In Kerala, the online licencing and registration process has been very smooth.” 

“To date, we have issued licences to over 19,000 FBO and registered 59,600 FBO online,” he added.

Laggards

Ashish Kumar Singh, designated officer, Bihar Food and Drug Administration, said, “Due to the lack of manpower and infrastructure, we have not commenced online licencing and registration of FBO. We expected FSSAI’s support and guidance, but we have not got any support from them.”

L R Nampui, designated officer, Assam Food and Drug Administration, said, “We haven't started the online licencing and registration process due to inadequate infrastructure facilities. We are in the process of procuring computers and Internet connections, and have appointed 22 FSOs to help in the online process.” 

“Of the 27 districts in the state, seven have been identified for the first phase of the online licencing and registration process, which would commence immediately. We are training the newly-appointed FSO. The online registration and licencing process would commence either on April 29, 2014 or in the first week of May,” he added.

Dr Vikas Patnaik, joint commissioner, food, Odisha Food and Drug Administration, said, “Odisha has not started online licencing and registration yet. But we are training the designated officers and FSO to issue licences and register the FBOs. We expect to start the online registration and licencing of FBO by May 20, 2014.”

Karthik A N, licencing officer, Puducherry Food and Drug Administration, informed, “Fifteen days ago, we commenced the clearance of our backlog. The online registration and licencing of FBO hasn’t commenced yet.” 

“We have appointed data entry operators to prepare the list of FBO in the state. Once that is done, we would start the online registration and licencing of FBOs. We are completing the backlog under the guidance of the National Informatics Centre (NIC),” he added.

What role do preservatives play in food products?

The process of treating and handling food to prevent or slow down its spoilage caused by microorganisms is called food preservation and the substances used in this process are called preservatives. Sometimes microorganisms such as; benign bacteria, yeast or fungi is added to a food to enhance its quality or to preserve it. For example, a lactic acid bacterium is used to preserve cheese and yeasts are used in production of alcohol.

Preservatives not only inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms, but also retard the oxidation of fats which cause rancidity. The preservatives also inhibit the natural ageing and discoloration of food such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples which causes browning when apples are cut.

Sterilizing the equipments, sanitization and sealing of food products in packets are used to keep microorganisms out of food and to reduce the contamination during the food processing. Microorganisms may be removed from liquid foods by filtering and sedimenting them or just by washing and trimming them. Washing is particularly valuable for vegetables and fruits, and trimming is useful for meat and poultry products.

Some common food preservation techniques are:

Refrigeration

Freezing

Drying, curing and conserving

Vacuum and oxygen free modified atmosphere packaging 

Carbon dioxide enriched and/or modified atmosphere packaging

Addition of weak acids such as sodium lactate

Lactic fermentation

Sugar preservation 

Ethanol preservation

Emulsification

Addition of preservatives such as nitrite or sulphite ions

Pasteurization 

Food irradiation

Application of high hydrostatic pressure 

Pulsed electric field processing

In harmonization with the guidelines issued by CODEX and WHO, the FSSAI has laid down regulations for the use of preservatives. As per FSS (Food Products Standards & Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, the preservatives have been classified into Class I and Class II based on their inherent properties & usages.

It is mandatory for the food business operator to declare preservatives on the label of a packaged food product in the list of ingredients. FBOs also required to send the food articles for testing to validate the claims regarding the ingredients made on the label.

Energy drinks allowed to increase caffeine content to ‘dangerous’ level

Overruling warnings from expert, the FFSAI allowed companies to increase caffeine level in energy drink to 320mg per litre from 145mg per litre. Anyone who drinks 700ml of energy drink is at high risk, warn experts

Yajurvedi Rao, an activist had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for permitting companies to increase caffeine content in energy drinks to 320mg per litre from 145mg per litre.

Quoting an official from a popular energy drink manufacturer, an article from Mumbai Mirror, says, "We manufacture drinks not to kill people. Rather, one will find more caffeine in coffee than in energy drinks. The complainant has no scientific backing to prove anything."

The part marked in red says, “Consumption of more than two cans in a day may be harmful

to your health. Not to be used for pregnant women, breast feeders, children under the age of 16, people with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, allergy to caffeine, and athletes during exercise."

However, Dr Arvind Shenoy, senior chemical and consumer product researcher, discards the argument. He said, “It is important to note that if the vehicle of consumption for caffeine is coffee, then, one can tolerate caffeine levels even up to 642 mg per day. The situation becomes completely different when the medium of caffeine intake is an energy drink – where the side-effects start kicking in from levels of even 231 mg per day.”

In short, this means one can tolerate caffeine up 642mg per day from coffee but with energy drink, the concoction becomes dangerous even at a level of 231mg per day. Remember, the FSSAI had allowed the level in energy drink to be increased to 320mg per litre. In other words, anyone who drinks around 700ml of an energy drink is at high risk and may suffer from side effects.

Rao had also filed applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to procure information. As per one such reply received by him, during 2009, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized stocks of Red Bull Energy drink. After testing, the FDA found that the energy drink contained 200mg per litre caffeine, more than the permitted level. After that the judicial magistrate at Alibaug directed the authorities to destroy the stock seized from the energy drink company.

Similarly, in July 2011, the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) had conducted a study on energy drink brands in India, like Red Bull and Cloud 9. The study found that 44% of the samples had caffeine levels higher than the limit of 145 mg per litre back then. The study showed that Red Bull, Coca Cola’s Burn and Monster energy drink had two times more caffeine than Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (PFA)

 (Special report and energy report card)

According to Wikipedia.org , excessive consumption of energy drinks may induce mild to moderate euphoria primarily caused by stimulant properties of caffeine and may also induce agitation, anxiety, irritability and insomnia. Consumption of a single energy drink will not lead to excessive caffeine intake, but consumption of two or more drinks in a single day can. Adverse effects associated with caffeine consumption in amounts greater than 400 mg include nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, increased urination, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia), and dyspepsia.

In the US, energy drinks have been linked with reports of nausea, abnormal heart rhythms and emergency room visits. The drinks may cause seizures due to the "crash" following the energy high that occurs after consumption. Caffeine dosage is not required to be on the product label for food in the United States, unlike drugs, but some advocates are urging the FDA to change this practice, Wikipedia says.

Energy drink manufacturer in India wanted the FSSAI to increase caffeine limit to 320 mg per litre, which they claimed was safe and average for daily consumption. Counter-arguing on this claim, experts warned them against this decision, as the new limit would mean highly excessive amounts of caffeine. Standards for energy drinks clearly mention side effects of caffeine overdose, but the FSSAI still went ahead and increased the caffeine content limit. FSSAI not only failed to take any action against the violators of the PFA, but also issued the new standards in their favour. (Standards of energy drinks)

After increasing the maximum caffeine limit in energy drinks, FSSAI also laid down new standards, which state that “Energy drinks in India will have to strip off their “energy” tag and instead be renamed as “caffeinated beverages”. Such beverages must also carry a safety warning for consumers stating that such drinks are not recommended for “children, pregnant or lactating women, and persons sensitive to caffeine and sportsperson”, and “no more than two cans per day”.

While FSSAI laid down some generic regulations for energy drink companies, they failed to take into account the side effects this caffeine consumption can have on youth as well as adults alike. In November 2010, the University of Texas Medical School at Houston reported that energy drinks contain more caffeine than a strong cup of coffee, and that the caffeine combined with other ingredients (sometimes not reported correctly on labels) such as guarana, taurine, other herbs, vitamins and minerals may interact.

Dr Shenoy says, “Studies show that 30 milligrams or less of caffeine can alter self-reports of mood and affect behaviour and 100 mg per day can lead to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms upon abstinence. Caffeine withdrawal, or lack of consumption of the daily caffeine limit is equally harmful for people. The potential for caffeine withdrawal to cause clinically significant distress or impairment malfunctioning is reflected by the inclusion of caffeine withdrawal as an official diagnosis in ICD-10 (World Health Organization) and as a proposed diagnosis in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association). Although most research on withdrawal has been performed with adults, there is also evidence that children experience withdrawal effects during caffeine abstinence”.

Market research firm Euromonitor calculated that the global energy drink market was worth $3.8 billion in 1999 and this value grew to $27.5 billion in 2013. According to Wikipedia, during 2000 the US energy drink market was worth $350 million and data from the Packaged Facts company shows that the industry grew by 60% between 2008 and 2012 in the US—by 2012 total US sales were over $12.5 Billion. Red Bull and Monster were the two best-selling brands in 2012, accounting for nearly 80% of US energy drink sales, and the energy shot market is worth over $1 billion in 2014.

The energy drink Red Bull did not get market approval in France after the death of an 18-year-old Irish athlete, Ross Cooney, who died within hours after playing a basketball game and consuming four cans of the product. This market approval was challenged in the European Court of Justice in 2004, and consequently lifted. Norway did not allow Red Bull for a time, although this has recently been revoked. The UK investigated the drink, but only issued a warning against its consumption by children and pregnant women.

Considering the widespread sale and popularity of energy drinks such a drastic measure taken by the FSSAI will have a severe negative impact on consumers from India.