FDA finds food samplesub-standard

AURANGABAD: Of the 24 samples of food items the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collected from eateries across Aurangabad division on December 31, one was found to be sub-standard.
Since the afternoon of December 31, 2014, the FDA has begun to ensure that people ushering in the New Year at hotels, 'dhabas' and restaurants aren't served sub-standard food. The FDA had deputed 22 officers across the division and the food samples were tested within 24 hours. "The samples were tested for adulteration as well as quality. The officers were on the field throughout the night and visited party spots to collect samples," said FDA (food) joint commissioner, Chandrashekhar Solanke.
"The drive was massive. We did everything possible to get the results in time," he added.
"The food safety officers collected 24 food samples from various hotels and dhabas which were sent for testing to the FDA laboratory in Mumbai. Out of these 24 samples, one was reported to be of sub-standard quality, in which excessive artificial colour was used. Action will be initiated against the guilty," said FDA (food) deputy joint commissioner M D Shah.
Solanke said that on New Year's Eve, many people party, and eateries receive a large number of orders. "To fulfill the customers' demands, hotels resort to using low quality ingredients or serving sub-standard food. Though people fall ill after consuming such food, they either don't register complaints or don't know where to do so. So, we had organised this drive, and would take action against the errant eateries," he added. "We had appealed to the people to come forward and register complaints if they come across sub-standard food in an eatery," he said.

50 food handlers attend training

Chandigarh, January 3
PGI claims to be taking a lead in training its food handlers on food safety issues, in canteens and other outlets on the campus today. A documentary on best practices in kitchen was screened to train them.
Chetan PS Rao, Deputy Director, Administration (PGI), highlighted the importance of the training in view of the Swachhata Abhiyan, declared by the Prime Minister. He also provided a copy of a short film by the Central Government on the topic for screening before the audience.
Dr Puja Dudeja held the training at the School of Public health under the supervision of Prof Amarjeet Singh. The training marked the culmination of the painstaking efforts by Lt-Col Dr Puja Dudeja in this field. She has successfully completed her PhD on the topic this week. Around 50 food handlers along with their contractors participated in the training.
It was asserted during the session that lack of trained food handlers can compromise the food safety in hospitals and thereby the health of people. In kitchens, lack of trained food handlers is a definite bottleneck in achieving food safety. Lapse at any point by a food handler can compromise the food safety and thereby the health of people. However, not much efforts are made to organise their training. Also, the role of Food Business Operators (FBOs) in ensuring proper hygiene of their establishments was emphasized. They were told that they have also to ensure the fitness of their food handlers. They are expected to ensure availability of safe food to all customers inside PGIMER.

Fresh Food Products ‘Spring’ a Surprise on Kerala Homes

KOCHI: Home Spring, a fresh food products brand formed in 2009, is slowly making inroads into the highly competitive packaged-food market.
Founded by Jesluck Peter, who first started JR Trading Company, a seafood export company in 2000 while pursuing his masters degree, ventured into fresh food products business five years ago to tap the huge potential in fresh food segment.
“I wanted to focus on food products that we use in our day to day life. So, I concentrated on food products like fresh chapatis, Kerala parotta, wheat parotta, pathiri and idli/dosa batter etc. Introducing wheat parotta for the first time in Kerala market was a huge success of our brand ‘Home Spring’,” Peter said.
The Kochi-based company has its production centre at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)-approved unit at Kozhinjampara, Palakkad. Peter said while launching ‘Home Spring’, the idea was to introduce food products which are popular but not easily available in the market. “I’ve realised that no matter how health-conscious they are, Keralites can’t resist parotta. With health freaks in mind, we also launched ‘wheat parotta’ without sugar,” he said.
Home Spring struggled to make a mark in the first year. However, over time, the products started getting acceptance from customers, Peter said.
Home Spring products are now available at leading retail malls, supermarkets and bakeries across the state. “My sincere advice to new entrepreneurs is that success will never come your way. You have to search and find the right way to be successful,” he said. The company which received the quality recognition from RTI Council Kerala and consumer protection award for its products in 2014, plans to launch new products such as ‘appam’ batter, multi-grain chapatis, multi-grain parottas and ‘puttu’ powder this year.
Peter, who is inspired by the hard work and success of M A Yusuf Ali of Lulu Group, said he derived more satisfaction from the fact that the products are enjoyed by the customers. Top priority will be given to maintain the quality of fresh food products, he said.